Support Ella Through Thyroid Cancer

Hi, my name is Quinn and on June 13, 2012 I gave birth to the most wonderful little girl in the world named Eleanor. She has always been fearless, dynamic, and a leader. She came out of the womb giving everyone a thumbs up.

This school year has been very rough for Ella. She missed a week of school twice for unknown illnesses. On December 13th, she was sent to the ER with pneumonia. Three days later, she cut her foot open which became a medical disaster. It was infected, stitched poorly, and caused her to miss another ten days of school.

We moved into a new house, a new school, and it was a false start. 72 hours after moving in the house caught fire. Luckily, no one was hurt, the pets go out safe, and the kids were at school. This started a cascade of problems. Ella started having severe anxiety. She was having daily panic attacks, insomnia, and depression. This really concerned me when it was going on for a few weeks with no sign of slowing. I brought her to the doctor and while we were there, she checked Ella's thyroid and casually said "Oh, she has a little bump here. Let's get labs and an ultrasound to rule out a thyroid problem."

We got the labs done, which came back normal, but we were told to still go to the ultrasound. It took a few weeks for the ultrasound appointment to happen but on Aprill 11, we were there. They took a lot of pictures. I wasn't too concerned because it was a student and I thought she was just being diligent. Then another person came in an took a lot of pictures. They went to show the radiologist and came back saying "Oh, we just need two quick videos and you can go!" I was worried.

When my phone rang at 830am, I knew it was bad. We finished the ultrasound appointment at 445pm. Ella's PCP called me and said "There's a tumor on Ella's thyroid and we're worried about cancer." We were at Boston Children's 5 days later, getting four biopsies done, two on the thyroid and two on her lymph nodes. We then had to wait for the longest 10 days for the results.

On Monday April 28, her doctors told us it's thyroid cancer that has metastases to her lymph nodes. She needs to have an entire thyroidectomy which will take place on May 23rd. She will also lose two lymph nodes, and probably at least 2 parathyroid, which are under the thyroid and make vitamin D and calcium. 8-12 weeks after her surgery, she will need to take RAI which is radioactive iodine. This will kill any remaining cancer cells.

I am taking off work to help her with her homeschooling, since she's missed so much of this year and would have continued to do so, we're making it up on our own to keep her in the same grade with her friends. Her anxiety is a little better now that she doesn't have to go to school every day, but she's still on medications and in therapy. She has been spending her time chatting with her friends, reading Harry Potter for the first time, and coloring- a lot! She's really into coloring and art right now. I love watching her create.

In the middle of all this, Ella turns 13. I can't believe everything she's been through this year, and we're not even at the worst of it yet. Her golden birthday is Friday, June 13th, the ONLY Friday the 13th in this year. She wants to have a small horror themed party with 12 of her friends.

While I'm taking off work to coordinate doctors, schedule appointments, transport to Boston, Lexington, Waltham and Pepperell, and homeschool Ella, I'm only taking home 60% of my pay. In this economy, that's unsustainable. I do have some help from my parents, but they are on a fixed income. I'm trying to get through this time without completely bankrupting my family. If you can help, I truly appreciate it.

Ella also has an Amazon wishlist that she updates when she finds cool things she likes so we can give it to family and friends who say "Oh, Ella's birthday is coming up! What does she want?!" It's right here if you'd like to get her something specifically. Ella's Amazon Wish Listhttps://gofund.me/070444bf