Gabriella is a sweet, intelligent and creative little girl. In September of 2014, we were on vacation and woke up to find that the lymph nodes in her neck were severely enlarged. I took her to urgent care that day. They did lab work and examined her and said that she had a bacterial infection that they believe had caused the enlarged lymph nodes and sent us on our way with an antibiotic. We finished our last two days of vacation and went in to see her pediatrician first thing on Monday morning. I knew that there was something very wrong all along in the back of my mind, but it was too horrible to believe.

After examining Gabriella, her doctor looked at me and I could tell by his face that he was thinking what I was. He said she needed to go and get a chest x-ray and some more blood work. Both tests were completed that day and at around dinner time, he called and said that she had a mass around her heart and that he wanted us to see an oncologist the next day. My husband and I completely fell apart and felt like our hearts were literally breaking, like we were going to die. She saw the doctor the next day and after reviewing her tests he concluded she did not have cancer and sent us on our way with more antibiotics and said we would never be coming back here…He was totally wrong.

Every child who has been diagnosed with childhood cancer inspires us to Rally On to find better treatments with fewer long-term side effects and, ultimately, cures. Please join us in the fight against childhood cancer by making a donation or setting up your own Rally fundraiser today.