We are reaching out during a challenging time as our Gigi continues her brave fight. Recent updates to her health in November 2024 have brought unexpected hardships, and we humbly ask for your support. Any contributions would mean so much to us. We also ask for your understanding and respect for our privacy during this difficult journey. Thank you for your kindness and support.

With gratitude,

Steph & Marc

Hi, this GoFundMe has been created to help raise funds on behalf of Stephanie Alfaro and Marc Pesina for their daughter Gianna. These funds will be used to cover medical bills and their expenses while at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

Gigi has a long road ahead of her to treat and recover from her brain surgeries and treatments after. This is not only a life-changing event for Gigi, her family, and all of her loved ones but it is also a time where they will be in need of financial support. #gigistrong ❤️

Update 11/20/23:

Latest update on Gigi…

We got the results of the MRI on Wednesday and were informed that the chemo isn’t working and the tumor is starting to grow back. It is only 2% of its original size but the chemo isn’t stopping it. We had to decide whether or not to have her go through another surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible and then start radiation or just go straight to proton radiation. We didn’t want to put Gigi through another surgery because the neurosurgeon wasn’t able to guarantee that the benefits out weighed the risk. Because the tumor is growing on her brain stem and very to close to an artery, there is a greater risk of stroke during the surgery. But a day later the neurosurgeon came back and said that the radiation oncologists is pushing for the surgery to get rid of as much of the tumor as possible. He doesn’t think he is able to give a curative dose of radiation with the amount of tumor that is currently there and because of the location . He is supposed to be the world expert on chordomas. He thinks she has a better chance with the surgery. We have prayed so hard and gotten advice from our family and are okay with the surgery now, if it gives her a better chance. We still haven’t gotten the results from the PET scan but we are hoping no news is good news. We have an appointment scheduled on the 28th at MD Anderson to speak with the radiation oncologist and that is when we will decide whether to move forward with the surgery or not. If we do decide then the surgery will be the next day on Wednesday. They will give her time to recover after surgery, then remove the halo to start radiation. So it looks like we will be in Houston a little longer than expected. We are leaving everything in Gods hands and we have faith that Gigi will come out of this stronger than ever! Thank you for all the prayers and support! Good news is that none of this has really affected Gianna and she is still getting stronger every day! #GiGiStrong #GiannaStrong

Update 11/5/23:

Day 71 in the hospital! Gianna had her second round of chemo this week and it has not been nice to her. She has been vomiting and has had diarrhea since. They are trying different meds to see what can get her comfortable but it’s been hard since she is not tolerating anything in her g tube. So they give her something and then she vomits it. They are switching all meds to the IV for now until we can figure out what is going on. They did an x-ray of her g tube this morning. Good news is she has been pretty much breathing on her so she is getting closer to getting off the ventilator! Gotta appreciate the small victories . Also, she only has about a month to go with the halo !! It’s been a rough few days but our baby is a warrior and she will get through this. The doctors have been really attentive and trying everything and anything to make her comfortable. Prayers are so needed right now! #GiGiStrong #GiannaStrong

Update 10/31/23:

This little mermaid gets her next round of chemo some time today! Keep her in your prayers please!!❤️❤️‍

Update 10/26/23:

Gianna definitely scared us last night! She wasn’t responding and her eyes were rolling back. I told the nurse right away and they took her for a CT scan. She had just had one at 4am that morning so they compared the 2 and they looked similar and didn’t see any internal bleeding. They moved us back to the PICU last night and we actually came back to the exact room we started in! They think she had a seizure but they aren’t 100% sure. They have her on a continuous EEG and also on some seizures meds. She woke up good today and has been all smiles since 6am! They are doing more test to see why she spiked the fever. Thank you all for the prayers !

Update 10/25/23:

Hi everyone! Quick update on our princess. She had surgery yesterday to input a shunt to drain some fluid she had near her incision from her last surgery. It was building up and started causing some pain last week. They were hesitant to do surgery in fear of her getting an infection and delaying the chemo but they got it done. She is recovering okay but she did spike a fever today and is in pain. They are keeping a close eye on her and managing her pain well. Thank you Jesus . CT Scan did look good though. Her next chemo will be pushed back a few days due to surgery but will resume next Tuesday. Hopefully her nausea won’t be to bad this time. Most of her hair already fell out but we know it will grow back. Thank you everyone for all the prayers and support! #GiGiStrong #GiannaStrong

Update 10/22/23:

Good evening to all of Gianna’s supporters!!

Yesterday was simply amazing. As I was driving back up to Houston it still had me speechless the support and love I saw for our Gigi and how lucky Gianna is to have so many people with her in her journey. It means the world to us what everyone did for her and I’m sorry if I wasn’t able to personally thank everyone. But a BIG THANK YOU to everyone that helped in any way! I won’t tag everyone so your phones aren’t blowing up lol but you know who you are!! I will continue to provide weekly updates as we kick cancers ass!!!

Love Gigi, Momma and Daddy!

Update 10/20/23:

Today is bittersweet! Gianna walked for the first time since her last surgery! She walked to and from the couch!! But today I also noticed her hair is starting to fall out! I knew it was coming but it still hit me like a ton of bricks and I wasn’t ready! She is in such good spirits today so I’m trying my hardest not to cry in front of her. She also had her weekly visit from her bestie Bailey . She got to make her some frozen treats yesterday and fed them to her today. They are also currently doing some breathing test so she can get off vent soon! Now we just need to get her secretion’s under control. Please keep praying for us! She still has a long road ahead. Next chemo treatment is scheduled for next week! #GigiStrong #GiannaStrong

Update 9/28/23:

So, Gianna got her a tracheostomy yesterday to protect her airway. They gave her a week to see how she would do but she still has a lot of secretions. She will pretty much be sedated for the next week to let the trach heal enough for the 1st replacement next Wednesday. It’s very hard seeing your baby doing so good with PT and playing to back to a breathing tube! They say it won’t really affect her to much but man she’s been through so much already. We will also need to learn how to care for her trach when she goes home. It will be temporary but not sure how long. Right now the plan is start chemo next week after the trach is replaced and then the following week she will get a PET scan. We were hoping to have treatments in SA but it hasn’t worked out that way. So we will be in Houston for at least another 2 weeks. It’s been rough! We miss home, our family and friends. But still very thankful for all the support we have received this far! #GigiStrong #GiannaStrong

Update 9/21/23:

Good morning! Can’t believe it’s already Thursday and that we have been in the hospital for 26 days! We are still currently in the ICU but waiting to get moved to the regular floor. We get so close to moving and then something happens and the date gets pushed back! Gianna is definitely homesick! And so am I! We miss all of our family and friends so much! We finally talked to the oncologist and have a plan. She will be starting chemo in the next 2 weeks. Trying to get the treatments done in SA but we will see. Gianna did get blessed by “Dec Your Room” and got a lot of Bluey goodies and other things. She has had some good days and bad days but we are getting through. It’s been hard trying to be strong but I definitely have my moments. I am so amazed how much of a fighter she is! Her doc called her a Warrior Princess!! But she is more like our Warrior Queen! Please keep praying for us! We still have a long journey ahead of us ❤️ #GiGiStrong #GiannaStrong

Update 9/15/13:

We are still waiting for them to remove the breathing tube since there have been a few hiccups since Wednesday! They didn’t take her vest from halo into consideration so now she will get a PICC line instead of port and they will need to drill a hole into the vest to have access to the g tube. The procedure was supposed to be done this morning at 10:30 but it has now been pushed back and we don’t know the time. Just hoping it’s done today so she doesn’t have to have breathing tube all weekend. On a good note, Bailey came back to visit and she loved it! She actually smiled..and we cried! It was so nice to see her smile again! Please keep praying for us! It seems like it’s always something but God has us and we will get through this.

Update from Stephanie 9/13/23:

Gianna got the breathing tube out!! Thank you lord! Now they are trying to make her comfortable while making sure she is getting enough oxygen! One more step in the right direction! Next thing we have to prepare for is her last surgery on Wednesday to fuse her spine and skull. And then she will have a little time to recover before she starts chemo. Don’t know how long we will be here but I will stay until I know my baby is good! Please keep praying for us! Thank you and God bless. Oh and Go Cowboys!!

Update from Grace 9/5/2023:

❤️❤️ Family and friends and praying warriors were in need of prayers for Gigi and her parents and her family members: Gianna is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30 it’ll be a two day surgery where they will remove the rest of her tumor 80% , Dr said that if her throat isn’t strong enough after the surgery she will need a tracheotomy it’ll be temporary but God is in control so we’re praying and asking everyone to please pray that she doesn’t need it , They will be putting a halo on after they finish with the surgery and will have to wear it for 3 months, Then she will need to start chemo about 1-2 weeks after the surgery depending how’s she’s healing and then after that she will have the reconstructive surgery to connect her skull back to her spine so she’s got a long way to go But we are placing her and the Dr.’s in Gods hands he is in control! We thank everyone for praying for her and the family and for just keeping her and the family in your thoughts we thank y’all in advance for the continued prayers and support! We love y’all and God bless each and everyone of y’all!!❤️❤️❤️

#Gigistrong❤️

Update from Stephanie 9/1/2023:

Gianna is recovering pretty good from her surgery. The last 2 nights were rough but this morning she woke up in good spirits!! We received the results from the biopsy and found out that the tumor is very rare type of cancer called a Poorly differentiated chordoma, which can be an aggressive form of cancer because it can spread. They did a chest ct scan yesterday to make sure it hasn’t spread to her lungs and we got the news today that it hasn’t! Praise God!! She will now need a bone scan to check the rest of her body since it is a type of bone cancer. Next surgery is still scheduled for Wednesday. They ended up putting on a c collar instead of the halo because they want her to walk between surgeries which she did today!! She practically ran because she was so tired and wanted to lay down! Gianna is still her sassy little self telling all the doctors and nurses no and started waving her finger “NO” lol! She has no problem telling us how she feels! She also had Bailey(a therapy golden retriever) come visit her today but she was too tired to enjoy her company. The outpouring of love and support is overwhelming so THANK YOU to everyone who has reached out, donated or came to visit us and everyone who is praying for us!! We appreciate it so much!! Keep the prayers coming please! We have a long journey ahead of us but we are taking it one day at a time!! #GiGiStrong #GiannaStrong

Note from Stephanie 8/29/2023:

I don’t even know where to begin but on Friday August 25th, we took Gianna to the ER because she was complaining of back/neck pain. The ER doc saw her and heard her symptoms and immediately ordered a ct scan. They found a tumor on Gianna’s brain that is very close to her brain stem. They immediately transferred us to the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and we have been here since. We had been taking Gianna to her pediatrician to try and figure out what was going on with her but never got any answers. Thank God we took her to the ER on Friday! They did a MRI and biopsy right away on Saturday and are still waiting on the results from the biopsy but they think they know what kind of tumor it is. They are going to move forward with the 1st surgery which will be tomorrow morning at 7:30am and it will last about 8-10 hours. They are going to take out some of the tumor. She will then need 2 more surgeries, 1 to remove the remainder of the tumor and the last do so reconstructive surgery to fuse her spine and skull back together. This will definitely be a long and challenging journey but we believe that God will get us through it. We know are are in the right place and feel all the love and support, care and genuine concern for my baby from all the doctors and nurses here. So if everyone can please keep Gianna in your prayers for a successful surgery and fast recovery we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you to all of our friends and family who have already reached out, who are praying for us and who have sent us money and bought us food and snacks and everyone who has even just offered. We are so grateful to have such amazing support! I am usually not one to put my personal business on Facebook but I believe in the power of prayer and we need all the prayers we can get.