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Team Violet - Fight Like a Girl hasn't added a story.
Hi! My name is Karen Sawada - Crown. I would like to share with you the story of Violet and the battle that this 2 year old warrior princess has already fought in such a short time period.
On June 12, 2017 the lives of my close personal friends Christa and her partner Wayne changed within mere minutes. Their vivacious and vibrant 2 year old daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
On June 13, 2017 Violet was rushed into surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain that the tumor was causing.
On June 14, 2017 Violet would have her f irst brain surgery. Her tumor is in the Posterior Fossa, which is the small space in the brain between the stem and cerebellum. The cerebellum is responsible for our movement, balance and coordination and the brain stem is responsible for controlling our primary body functions like our breathing. Because this is such a small space the tumor was pressing on her cerebellum and brain stem causing havoc within her body.
During her surgery she suffered a stroke in the brain stem which caused her to lose movement, speech and the ability to express any emotion since the brain stem controls basically all life functions. The part of the tumor removed was to sent away for pathology and for almost a week it was a waiting game.
On June 15, 2017 while recovering Violet had a seizure and they were not sure what caused it and why she was not waking up. As everyone waited on the results the swelling started to go down in her brain stem and she started to slowly open her eyes. At that point they realized the extent of the stroke damage and that Violet will require long term therapy to possibly gain back her basic functioning abilities.
On June 23, 2017 Christa and Wayne received devastating news that would turn everyone's world upside down; Violet had stage 4 Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT), which is an extremely rare aggressive brain cancer that mostly affects children under the age of three.
The AT/RT regimens are very intense treatments. Violet's treatment plan will start out with a round of chemotherapy; three cycles and each cycle will last 22-30 days each. She is currently on her second cycle. After she will require another MRI and possibly another brain surgery. Than she gets another round of chemotherapy which she will require stem cell transplants during to help her recover. Finally she will need radiation therapy to finish up her treatments
Violet and her family REALLY, REALLY need your help and support during this time. She is not in a local hospital, she is currently at McMaster Hospital in Hamilton. Christa and Wayne want to stay with Violet every step of the way, right now they are not working and the bills at home are piling up, they have had to use their savings to stay with her. The expected stay between McMaster and eventually Sick Kids is between 8 - 12 months.
The generosity and kindness that has already been shown has been overwhelming, my hope is that we raise enough funds so that Christa and Wayne do not have to worry about any financial matters, that they can concentrate on the well - being of their daughter and the long road that she still has ahead of her.
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