Supporting Imi Schneider and Family

Imi Schneider is a smart, sassy, and fun 4 year old. In late August, she started having some blood in her urine. After seeing her doctor and ruling out a UTI they sent her to nephrologist for an ultrasound.   On September 18, 2020 our world stopped for a moment and Imi was diagnosed with a Wilms tumor on her kidney. 

Following her diagnosis she was immediately admitted to the hospital where she awaited surgery. They did a CT scan and delivered the news that Imi also had spots on her lungs, making the cancer stage IV.  On September 21 she had her left kidney removed along with the grapefruit sized tumor that had found its home there. 

After surgery, Imi began chemotherapy. The planned regimen would include three different types of chemotherapy over 25 weeks and a rescan after 6 weeks of treatment. The rescan took place November 3 and, although the spots had not grown, they had not responded as much as they could have. The doctors decided to add to the treatment plan radiation, a new chemo drug, as well as an additional 7 weeks of chemotherapy. This radiation is inpatient and requires her parents, Soraya and Bret, to be with her in the hospital.

Many have asked how they can help. Relieving some of the financial pressures placed on Imi’s family will allow them in to focus on the love and support they need to provide while not having to stress about how they will afford the treatment that is healing our spunky girl. They have living expenses,  medical expenses, and time needed to be off work for treatments that make these already incredibly hard times even harder. Anything helps. I know they are eternally grateful for any support they are able to receive.

Thanks to incredible developments in modern medicine, most of these children (nearly 80-88%) make a full recovery and live a healthy life. But no matter how high the success rates, it is a terrifying experience to learn that your child has been diagnosed with this disease and must undergo surgery, chemo, and radiation to be cured.  It is also terrifying and overwhelming to not know how you will financially be able to handle these treatments to save your child. 

Imi is a fighter. She constantly says how proud she is of herself and we couldn’t be more proud of her.  She has been strong and positive through all of these changes. She tackles each one and continues to offer love to all of us. Any prayers, good thoughts, or positive vibes are also greatly appreciated as we continue this fight alongside her.