Princess Ava Battles the Evil Brain Tumor

Ava loves princesses so it is only fitting that we begin her story with Once upon a time...

A beautiful, sassy, little girl named Ava was living her very best 4-year-old princess life in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother and father battled many miscarriages and fought to bring Ava into the world. Ava is their miracle and until Sunday, September 5th she was the epitome of your typical healthy 4-year-old. What we didn't know, was that lurking deep in the back of Ava's brain was an evil tumor. Over the last month Ava had been waking up with a headache and upset tummy. After an hour or so she would feel fine and go about her day doing what princesses do, like riding her bike, going to the pool, or looking for the neighborhood cat.

Kassi, Ava's mother, was worried about her. After speaking with the doctor, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong, so she took her to the Children's Hospital. Once at the hospital, Ava was taken for a CT scan where they confirmed there was a tumor. The evil tumor is in the cerebellum and pressing on the spinal cord at the base of the brain causing the headaches and nausea in the morning. Ava was admitted to the hospital and placed in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. On Monday, September 6th, Ava was taken for an MRI. The MRI confirmed everyone's fears, the evil tumor was thought to be a Medulloblastoma and most likely malignant. The Neurosurgical team determined the evil tumor needed to come out as soon as possible and the 5-hour surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, September 8th. We are hopeful the team will be able to remove the entire tumor and for the best possible outcome from the surgery and pathology.

Kassi and Brian are right by Ava's side. Their family not only has a long road ahead of them with Ava's treatment and medical bills, they are victims of the employment crisis caused by Covid-19. Please help us take some of the burden off them so they can focus on getting our spunky, sassy, little princess back to ruling the land and her happily ever after. #prayforAva

Thank you for your positive healing thoughts and prayers!

Melissa Hayden aka Auntie Lissa as Ava calls me on behalf of Brian, Kassi, and Ava Thomas

"Where there is kindness there is goodness, and when there is goodness there is magic" - Cinderella