Prayers For Piper

On April 11, 2019 my beautiful niece, Piper, was diagnosed with a brain tumor at only 16 months old. After immediately being transferred to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, Piper underwent emergency surgery to put a brain shunt in to relieve the excessive amount of cerebrospinal fluid built up in her brain. After multiple MRIs and other diagnostic tests, Piper was diagnosed with an Ependymoma (cancerous) brain tumor which was wrapped around her brain stem. Piper underwent extensive brain surgery at Mayo to remove the tumor. After 8.5 hours of successful surgery, a post operation MRI confirmed a total removal of the visible tumor. However, this is only the beginning of Piper’s long journey as she continues to fight and hopefully beat this nasty and aggressive cancer! Currently, Piper is 1.5 weeks post brain surgery and there is still a lot unknown about her future. As of now, she has some right sided physical deficits and it is unclear if they will get better with time or be permanent effects. She is still in the intensive care unit at Mayo continuing to heal from surgery. Once she has had a few more weeks to recover, she will begin 6 weeks of daily radiation to hopefully kill off any remaining cancer cells. Piper has already been through so much and she continues to be our amazing little fighter! My family, friends, coworkers, friends of friends, and our communities continue to pray every day for our sweet Piper and we greatly appreciate any prayers and support that we can receive for her! My brother, Devin, and his wife have been so strong through all of this so far. They have 3 children 3 yrs old and under, including a newborn. They have their hands very full! Unfortunately with all of the surgeries, tests, treatments, etc, there comes extra costs as well. Piper will have a lifetime of doctor appointments (trips to Rochester, MN), imaging scans frequently, other medical tests, and treatments that are not cheap. My brother and sister-in-law have always been hard workers and have earned every single penny they have made. Unfortunately, my sister-in-law will have to quit her two jobs and my brother will have to miss some work as well. They need our help at this point in their lives. We will greatly appreciate anything you are willing to donate, whether big or small. Every dollar counts! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And some day, Piper will too. Thank You.