Help 3 year old Aubrey fight rare brain cancer
Donation protected
My friends and I are raising money for our friend's 2 year old niece. They found a tumor on her cerebellum. They removed it and sent it to the lab. When the results came back they found out she has a cancer that is found in children and is very aggressive. She is very young and this is very hard on her family. We love our friend and want to help him and his family as much as possible.
Aubrey's Mom will be out of work for several months and without a paycheck. Her Dad is Active Duty Army who recently returned from a year long tour in Korea only to face this beast a couple months after returning home.
From the family:
2/8/19- 2 year old Aubrey took a little tumble down a couple of stairs trying to descend like a big girl using the hand rail. The following day, her balance in standing and walking was very unstable. Thinking possible concussion, we waited a few days to see if her balance got better, however, it didn't. We contacted her pediatrician who wanted to see her the same day on 2/18/19. He feared we may be looking at a concussion, possible acute flaccid myelitis or transverse myelitis. In order to confirm that diagnosis, we were referred to Seattle Children's Hospital for a neurology consult through the ER. After a couple of hours, we were admitted and taken to MRI. Around midnight, we had a visit from neurology who said they had found a 4cm tumor in the cerebellum of her brain, which would account for the balance issues. The following day, 2/19/19, Aubrey underwent brain surgery to remove the tumor where her nationally recognized neurosurgeon was confident that he had removed all of the tumor, though couldn't confirm that there wouldn't be microscopic particles of it left. Thankfully, the tumor was localized and had not metastasized to any other areas. We spent a couple of days anxiously awaiting pathology results on whether her tumor was benign or malignant. On Friday, 2/22/19, we met with the Oncology team (whom we were to meet with regardless of the tumor type), who confirmed our worst fears... Our sweet and feisty little 2 year old indeed has CANCER. She has a rare and aggressive tumor called an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT) with a generally poor prognosis. It is most common in children, but still only affects 1-2% of childhood brain tumor patients. Our girl will require intense chemotherapy treatment beginning later this week. Aubrey had a central line inserted on 3/4/19 for medication administration and lab draws. The HemOnc team will soon harvest healthy stem cells so that they can be used to recover her own cells after treatment. Radiation need will be re-evaluated toward the end of chemo.
Aubrey's Mom will be out of work for several months and without a paycheck. Her Dad is Active Duty Army who recently returned from a year long tour in Korea only to face this beast a couple months after returning home.
From the family:
2/8/19- 2 year old Aubrey took a little tumble down a couple of stairs trying to descend like a big girl using the hand rail. The following day, her balance in standing and walking was very unstable. Thinking possible concussion, we waited a few days to see if her balance got better, however, it didn't. We contacted her pediatrician who wanted to see her the same day on 2/18/19. He feared we may be looking at a concussion, possible acute flaccid myelitis or transverse myelitis. In order to confirm that diagnosis, we were referred to Seattle Children's Hospital for a neurology consult through the ER. After a couple of hours, we were admitted and taken to MRI. Around midnight, we had a visit from neurology who said they had found a 4cm tumor in the cerebellum of her brain, which would account for the balance issues. The following day, 2/19/19, Aubrey underwent brain surgery to remove the tumor where her nationally recognized neurosurgeon was confident that he had removed all of the tumor, though couldn't confirm that there wouldn't be microscopic particles of it left. Thankfully, the tumor was localized and had not metastasized to any other areas. We spent a couple of days anxiously awaiting pathology results on whether her tumor was benign or malignant. On Friday, 2/22/19, we met with the Oncology team (whom we were to meet with regardless of the tumor type), who confirmed our worst fears... Our sweet and feisty little 2 year old indeed has CANCER. She has a rare and aggressive tumor called an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT) with a generally poor prognosis. It is most common in children, but still only affects 1-2% of childhood brain tumor patients. Our girl will require intense chemotherapy treatment beginning later this week. Aubrey had a central line inserted on 3/4/19 for medication administration and lab draws. The HemOnc team will soon harvest healthy stem cells so that they can be used to recover her own cells after treatment. Radiation need will be re-evaluated toward the end of chemo.
Organizer and beneficiary
Claire Smith
Organizer
Seattle, WA
Kylie Gray
Beneficiary