Violet's Fight

Hello, I am Violet’s grandmother and I am fundraising for Violet’s care, treatments, expenses and anything that Violet may need.  This has 
been very difficult on Violet’s parents and your help is very much appreciated. 

In 2019 When Violet was just 8 mos old a lump on her right side was discovered. After further testing she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. Our world was turned upside down. This news was devastating to say the least. The scans revealed violet had a tumor the size of a grapefruit on her right adrenal gland, and that it had spread to other parts of her body. Her doctors quickly came up with a plan for treatment. Violet began chemo therapy at Yale New Havens Children Hospital. She endured 6 months of chemotherapy. The plan was to reduce the size of the tumor then perform surgery to remove it when it shrunk enough to be safely removed. In June of 2019 the tumor was successfully removed. By this time Violet had gone through bone marrow biopsys, scans, and even a aphresis which is a procedure to collect stem cells to be later transplanted back in to her. Throughout all of this Violet has remained in good spirits and has continued to thrive.

By the end of phase one of the treatment plan Violet was doing very well with all her treatment. Each scan revealed significant progress. By September of 2019 Violet showed no evidence of disease. Yale wanted to continue treatment by giving violet two stem cell transplants. The stem transplants had significant risks that we just didn’t want to take . So we got a second opinion from memorial Sloan Kettering in NY and decided to treat Violet there. Violet started radiation therapy and immunotherapy called hu3f8. This was a painful treatment.

In February 2020 Violet relapsed and scans revealed there was a tumor on her knee. She received chemotherapy and it seemed to have done the trick. In august of 2020 Violet relapsed again. This time there was a tumor in her abdomen, and groin. She received chemotherapy and the tumors did not respond. She also became MIBG negative which means that the scans used to see where the cancer was in her body no longer gave indication of cancer cells. We became frantic and started to look for other options of treatment. After months of trying different chemo treatments and immunotherapies we had a consultation with Dr. Sholler in Charlotte, NC at Levine’s children hospital. Dr. Sholler was able to remove a tumor from Violets groin and biopsy it. The tumor revealed there where two genes that can be targeted with drugs. The family relocated to Charlotte, NC so that violet could be under Dr. Sholler’s care.

This journey has been a roller coaster and through it all Violet continues to fight. Her strength is something to marvel at. She is a happy three year old despite all she has been through. If it is in your heart to donate to Violet’s fight we thank you. If it is in your heart to pray for Violet we thank you.