Help Cece Fight Cancer!

Cecilia Stygles (Cece) was born a beautiful, healthy girl on July 7, 2016, in Burlington, Vermont. Up until November of 2017, Cece lived a perfectly normal life at home with her older sister Madelyn, and her parents Dylan and Alanna Stygles in Rutland, Vermont.

Around Thanksgiving time of 2017, Cece came down with what doctors thought was just a stomach bug. After four days of feeling better, she got sick again the day after Thanksgiving. Her parents took her back to the doctors, where she was eventually sent to the ER and admitted for observation. After suffering from a seizure, a rush CT scan was ordered, which showed bleeding on her brain and a tumor. Cece and her family were rushed to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Children’s Hospital, and within hours, she had a tube inserted into her head to relieve the pressure in her brain from the buildup of cerebral spinal fluid, and the next morning Cece underwent brain surgery to remove the tumor.

On Wednesday, November 29th Cece’s parents received the worst possible news. The tumor found in Cece’s brain was cancerous. The type of tumor found is called Atypical Teratiod Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT). ATRT is a rare and fast-growing cancerous tumor of the brain and spinal cord, and it is found in less than 1-2% of children with brain tumors. The Stygles were informed that this type of tumor would require Cece to undergo aggressive treatments of chemotherapy and radiation.

About half of ATRT tumors begin in the cerebellum or the brain stem. The cerebellum is located at the base of the brain and controls movement, balance and posture. The brain stem controls breathing, heart rate, and all of the muscles used in seeing, hearing, walking, talking and eating. Unfortunately, the survival rate for anyone diagnosed with ATRT is low, but over the course of nine months, Cece defied all odds. She endured an aggressive 32 weeks of treatments, and we all started to think that she might actually beat this thing.

On September 1, 2018, Alanna and Dylan took their strong, amazingly beautiful little Cece in for her next treatment, only to find out that the MRI they took on August 31st showed that her tumor had grown back along with many others. On September 10, 2018, Cece’s oncologist from Massachusetts General Hospital, informed Dylan and Alanna that Cece’s cancer is incurable, and the most that they can do now is make her comfortable enough to enjoy what time she has left with family and friends during these last few weeks or months.

No parent should ever have to endure something as awful as this, and no child should ever have to suffer the way Cece is right now. The Stygles Family has already been through so much this past year, and they still have such a difficult road ahead of them.

Dylan and Alanna have persevered through this last year with grace and strength; they are an inspiration to all who know them or hear their story. More than ever, Alanna, Dylan, two-year-old CeCe and four-year-old Madelyn need us. They need us to pray for them, be there for them, hit the share button, and donate if we are able. The Stygles deserve to spend every last moment together as a family, so let’s make this happen for them.

The Stygles would like you all to know how tremendously grateful they are for the outpouring of love and continued support for Cece that they are receiving. There is not really any words to describe how thankful they are.

#CeceStrong #SupportfortheStygles #Cancersucks #Thankyou #Prayforamiracle 

Please note that this campaign has Alanna's cousin, Wynter Snow, listed as the beneficiary; as she is handling all of the funds raised by this campaign for Alanna and Dylan so that they have one less thing to worry about. Rest assured that all of your donations will be going to Alanna and Dylan directly!