Three-year-old Eli loves to play sports including football, basketball, and soccer. He also likes arts and crafts — his favorite is finger painting! Some of his favorite things are anything related to Darth Vader, fire trucks and construction vehicles, and dinosaurs.
Eli was diagnosed with brain tumors at the end of the summer of 2016. After two months of unexplained vomiting and lots of phone calls and trips to the pediatrician, his parents took him to our local hospital, where they sent them to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at another hospital. One of the tests they performed was an MRI, which revealed tumors in his brain. Eli immediately underwent brain surgery to remove one of the tumors, which was analyzed in order to make a diagnosis. His mom, Jennifer, says “The diagnosis was pretty devastating — a rare and aggressive form of cancer called ATRT that typically occurs in young children under the age of 3. At this point, we transferred to a children’s hospital in the area, where he began four cycles of chemotherapy.”
Eli recently finished his chemotherapy treatments for the time being and has just begun radiation — both full craniospinal and focal radiation treatments. Jennifer says: “We are not sure what the future holds for our precious boy, but this whole journey has taught us to take one day at a time and enjoy every moment that we have with our little guy!” Little Eli has been so brave with everything he has been through so far! His joy for life amazes his parents every day! His mom says: “We are so thankful that he continues to keep that sweet smile on his face and have lots of energy to run around and play football. He even actually likes going to the hospital for his treatments so he can see all of the doctors and nurses, and play in the art room and the playroom.”
WE NEGU FOR YOU ELI! STAY STRONG BUDDY!