Our Little Hero

On July 27, 2021, our family was blessed with a beautiful gift, the birth of Elizabeth "Ellie" Doan. The first child of Tori and Jonathan Doan. Ellie's personality is contagious; she's always happy and can light up the room with her smile.

Here's the story so far (it's happened incredibly fast). At the end of June, Ellie wasn't herself and had a persistent fever with bouts of nausea. So Tori took Ellie to the pediatrician and ultimately the emergency room in Indianapolis, where they were visiting Tori's mother. That's where the bad news got worse, Ellie was diagnosed with liver cancer, and the doctors were unsure if it spread to other organs. The cat scan showed a huge mass that smothered her entire liver. Surgery was not an option due to the tumor size, but a transplant was possible. Due to this type of cancer's severity, complexity, and aggressiveness, the doctors referred Ellie to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital for further evaluation.

On Friday, after some challenging days, more bad news, cancer had spread to her lungs, and she was officially diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer. To make matters worse, it's a rare type of tumor called a Rhabdoid, which only appears in 20-30 infants each year in the US. The Rhabdoid tumor also has the potential to develop immunity to chemotherapy. Let's hope that's not the case.

Here's the good news, cancer did not spread to her brain - so there's hope! She has dozens of family members and friends cheering her on to win this battle. With a change in luck and lots of your prayers, she will overcome the odds, and Ellie will welcome her new brother into the world in November. Ellie is a little trooper, a fighter, smiling through this whole process - we call it #EllieStrong.

Jonathan and Tori did not want us to create a GoFundMe, but many of you have asked what you can do, and a helping hand would at least minimize some of the financial pain. Fortunately, they have insurance, but the doctors and the hospital copays add up fast. Your prayers and generosity are very much appreciated.

#EllieStrong