Kick Cancer with Emma

Dear Family, Friends and all other Angels on Earth,

If you haven’t met this beautiful little girl, please meet Emma! As you all know, every parent or grandparent tells you that their toddler is amazing! But trust me, having seen her in action I can attest to the fact that Emma is loving, sweet, caring and constantly in motion! In fact, Emma was so excited to get here and stir up some fun that she surprised her mom and dad and showed up way too early, resulting in a long stay in the NICU. Emma’s parents, Shannon and Ben Ellingson, stayed by Emma’s side every day, and thanks to the care provided by her wonderful nurses and doctors, Emma came home in early 2021 and has been keeping everyone on their toes for the last 20 months!

She has thrived at home in the loving care of her parents. Mom, Shannon, has worked heroically to keep Emma on track to meet all her milestones, even while working hard to keep herself healthy while she battles her own diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. Shannon’s disease has been aggressively treated for the last 35 years by her heroic medical teams, which has allowed Shannon to stay relatively healthy and continue with one of her passions – teaching special education students. Shannon takes lots of medication and undergoes regular daily treatments to clear her airways, but sometimes even that isn’t enough to keep her out of the hospital. Her health took a downturn this Spring and Shannon was forced to take leave and ultimately resign from the job that she loved. Despite becoming a one-income family, Ben and Shannon have been able to satisfy all of their financial obligations to the medical facilities that provided Emma her early care and Shannon her ongoing care.

Last month, Emma was diagnosed DHPN (Diffuse Hyperplastic Perilobar Nephroblastomatosis), a childhood condition in which abnormal tissue grows on the outer part of one or both kidneys. This typically develops into a type of childhood kidney cancer. Unfortunately, Emma has tumors on both of her kidneys. This brave little girl and her loving parents, have started a long and painful journey that includes chemo, radiation and eventually surgery to shrink and remove the tumors.

Between Shannon’s ongoing care for cystic fibrosis and Emma’s recent diagnosis, the family is currently swamped with medical bills and the flood won’t stop anytime soon. Shannon and Ben’s number one commitment is to love and care for Emma and nothing will take them off task. But in the meantime, the medical bills pile up. While they never expected to be here, Shannon and Ben are seeking some help.

Any financial support you could provide for Emma, Shannon and Ben during this difficult time would be so appreciated! And please know that when Emma is cancer-free (and she will be!), the Ellingson family will pass their good fortune forward to other families with similar challenges!!