My name is Kimberly Romero. I am Elijah's mom. Many of you know our story and how this journey started.

Sometimes in life, the journey that you've always been on suddenly turns in a different direction. This year our journey has had many challenging roads, but one thing has remained the same: our faith. Without our faith, I truly believe we would be lost.

On the 9th of May, our son Elijah had a fall at the playground and hit his back. For precaution, my husband Mauricio took him to the hospital to get an x-ray. Everything came back OK, and he was sent home. When Elijah came home, I wanted to take a look at him myself. I saw the bruising on his back where he had fallen and also noticed little purple spots on his side. Although it looked like bruising, I wanted to continue to look at his little body. That's when I discovered there were more of these spots on his body. Back at our local hospital, they ran some labs and had a CT scan. After his results came back, the doctor recommended we see a specialist. Elijah's white blood count was elevated.

An ambulance took us back to CHLA, where it was confirmed our baby boy has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) . Seven days and six nights back in a hospital just months before with Jade, and now our baby boy.

So many labs taken, x-rays, EKGs, echocardiogram, CT scans, ultrasounds, bone marrow biopsies, numerous lumbar punctures with intrathecal chemo, medications, a port placement, platelets given, and even multiple blood transfusions. Our baby boy is only 3 years old. Elijah is such a strong little boy, and his strength is what is getting us through this unbelievably hard new reality. Our world has been turned upside down yet again. My kids are my heart ❤️ living outside my body. If they suffer, I suffer. I know in my heart I need to leave this in God's hands. He knows how strong we are and what we are capable of. I've said it before, God gives everyone a cross in life, though at times some are heavier than others. The weight of this new way of living is not going to be easy, and I know this journey is gonna be rough.

My husband and I have been holding off setting up a GoFundMe for quite some time. We get asked a lot when we will set one up, but I always felt like once I did, the reality of all of this would really set in for me. It has always been very hard for me to surrender and be vulnerable to people, especially when they want to help. I always say everything is OK and we are getting through it. But in reality, it has definitely been a difficult new reality for us. We are at the Children's Hospital every Wednesday, where we stay for many hours and some weeks where we actually have to be admitted. Then we come home to our other two children. I thank God that I have such a supportive husband and family during this time. I'm a SAHM, and since May, my husband has worked very little, so he can be there for our son. I never imagined how expensive medical bills would be, gas back-and-forth to LA, and eating on the run. Coming back home to reality to our everyday bills hits differently.

I never thought I would say this, especially speaking about our son, but my family and I would truly appreciate any donation to help us out during this unthinkable time in our life. Even if you cannot donate, sharing our GoFundMe page and keeping us in prayer means more than anything.

I wanna take a moment to thank all my family and friends that have been by our side. Your love and prayers mean so much to us. Elijah truly has a huge army behind him, and we are forever thankful for all of you holding us up in prayer. For this is just the beginning of this new journey of ours. ❤️ #TeamElijah #WeFightTogether #OurSuperHero #YouGotThisBubba