Help Emily Beat Cancer Again!
Donation protected
I have started a go fund me for Christy & Bryan to help them with the costs that they face for Emily's cancer relapese. During this challenging time, the Navarra family is faced with mounting medical expenses, the task of maintaining their careers and family, and most importantly just remaining strong for Emily. In times like this, we all need help and I know we all can pitch in to help those in need. Bryan & Christy thank everyone for their prayers and donations. All donations are welcomed small or large. This family has been through so much in the past three years that most, thankfully, never have to experience. I am sharing their story below.
Thank you all for your support, love, prayers & donations!
“In October 2015, my husband and I had noticed that our two year old daughter Emily was beginning to get have some facial paralysis. After a few days of it slowly getting worse, we became concerned and took Emily to her pediatrician. The pediatrician suggested we take her to the neurologist to be seen. We saw the neurologist who then assessed Emily and determined that she believed it was Bells Palsy and to keep an eye on it and that she would have Emily come back for an MRI in a month. Slowly we noticed that the paralysis got even worse and her face became a little swollen. She also started falling a lot and her balance was off. One day Emily woke up and wouldn’t eat or drink and was very lethargic. I decided then that she needed to have an MRI immediately. I took her to the emergency room where they tried to tell us that she wasn’t sick and to take her home. Trusting my motherly instinct I demanded that they do an MRI right then. They were not staffed to do an MRI at that moment so I settled for a CT scan. When they completed the scan, they saw a large mass on her brain. They immediately transferred us to Fairfax Hospital for Emily to have a biopsy done. The biopsy revealed it was Brain cancer. Emily was diagnosed with Medduloblastoma and underwent surgery on December 17, 2015 to remove her brain tumor. She also had some cancer in her spine which meant she would need chemotherapy and radiation to treat the those tumors. After doing some research on Medduloblastoma we felt like St Jude was the best place for her. St Jude was transported to St Jude hospital within a few days. Emily completed ten months of chemotherapy and six weeks of high-dose cranial spinal radiation. She has been in remission for 18 months until a couple of weeks ago when we noticed something was off with her. We took her to Fairfax hospital and they had been able to see that she had masses on her liver. We quickly got the team at Fairfax in touch with our oncology team at St Jude’s and it was determined that we would need to come ASAP. We arrived at St Jude’s and after CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds they determined that she has cancer on her liver, intestines, lymph nodes and spleen. Her brain and spine are still cancer free but now she has a whole new battle to fight. We are looking at several more months of chemo and that will be followed by radiation therapy. Emily and I will be moving to Memphis immediately and the rest of our family are mentally preparing to go through this nightmare all over again."
Thank you all for your support, love, prayers & donations!
“In October 2015, my husband and I had noticed that our two year old daughter Emily was beginning to get have some facial paralysis. After a few days of it slowly getting worse, we became concerned and took Emily to her pediatrician. The pediatrician suggested we take her to the neurologist to be seen. We saw the neurologist who then assessed Emily and determined that she believed it was Bells Palsy and to keep an eye on it and that she would have Emily come back for an MRI in a month. Slowly we noticed that the paralysis got even worse and her face became a little swollen. She also started falling a lot and her balance was off. One day Emily woke up and wouldn’t eat or drink and was very lethargic. I decided then that she needed to have an MRI immediately. I took her to the emergency room where they tried to tell us that she wasn’t sick and to take her home. Trusting my motherly instinct I demanded that they do an MRI right then. They were not staffed to do an MRI at that moment so I settled for a CT scan. When they completed the scan, they saw a large mass on her brain. They immediately transferred us to Fairfax Hospital for Emily to have a biopsy done. The biopsy revealed it was Brain cancer. Emily was diagnosed with Medduloblastoma and underwent surgery on December 17, 2015 to remove her brain tumor. She also had some cancer in her spine which meant she would need chemotherapy and radiation to treat the those tumors. After doing some research on Medduloblastoma we felt like St Jude was the best place for her. St Jude was transported to St Jude hospital within a few days. Emily completed ten months of chemotherapy and six weeks of high-dose cranial spinal radiation. She has been in remission for 18 months until a couple of weeks ago when we noticed something was off with her. We took her to Fairfax hospital and they had been able to see that she had masses on her liver. We quickly got the team at Fairfax in touch with our oncology team at St Jude’s and it was determined that we would need to come ASAP. We arrived at St Jude’s and after CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds they determined that she has cancer on her liver, intestines, lymph nodes and spleen. Her brain and spine are still cancer free but now she has a whole new battle to fight. We are looking at several more months of chemo and that will be followed by radiation therapy. Emily and I will be moving to Memphis immediately and the rest of our family are mentally preparing to go through this nightmare all over again."
Organizer and beneficiary
Marcia Kitzerow
Organizer
Braemar Tartan Hills Parkway, VA
Bryan Navarra
Beneficiary
