Avas Cancer Treatment Fund

On Wednesday March 1,  10 year old Ava Winslow was running when she fell and her leg broke. As a happy, healthy, girl what was initially assumed to be a "straightforward" break,  turned out to be much worse. Her leg did not break from the fall, but rather because she has a 4" tumor in her femur.

After 2 weeks of tests, waiting,  and overnights in Boston it was determined that Avas tumor is in fact cancerous:  osteosarcoma ( A form of cancer that starts in the bone.)

At this point there are still many tests to be run, and plenty of unknowns, but what is known is that the Winslow Family has a long road ahead of them. 

Ava lives in New Gloucester, Maine - a three hour drive from Boston.  Avas testing, and treatment, will require multiple overnight trips resulting in not only high out of pocket costs, but extensive other costs from missed work.  The total costs of treatment, time missed from work,  and travel expenses cannot even be measured at this point: however, they could quickly become insurmountable.

 Ava is a fantastic 4th grader, with an engineers brain full of bright ideas, imagination and so much determination. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, going to camp, playing with Dutch, riding her 4-wheeler, making slime, baking, skiing, and doing a variety of crafts. Oh and I can't forget, she has a wide assortment of different collections; such as, Squishies, rocks, Beanie Boos, Quarters, lip balms, sanitizers, Shopkins, erasers, etc. Her huge heart gives her a strong passion for making sure everyone around her is happy! Ava's sense of life and free spirit are solid guidance for her throughout this journey. Her strong will and stubbornness will defeat this, without a doubt.

 

While many questions will be answered over the next few weeks, the current treatment plan appears to follow this progression:

Back to Boston for heart tests, hearing tests and bone scans.

Then next Monday back to Boston for surgery to install a port. Chemo starts this day, then:

4 days in the hospital to recover.

2.5 weeks of rest

Chemo

4 more days in hospital

1 week of rest

Chemo

4 days in hospital

Return to Boston: Surgery to remove part of her bone and tumor. Followed by rest and more chemo.

This seems to get us to 9mo.

__________

While I do not beleive that our starting goal will come even close to covering the total expenses, I do think it is important to start fundraising now before the financial burdon of this spirals out of control.

_______

Why I (Taber) have created this: 

When I was going through a difficult time personally Ava and Jake opened up their home to me. I lived with them for ~4 months when Ava was 5 years old: I remember her hosting LONG fashion shows on my bed, blowing purple bubbles, coloring together, and movie trips. There is no way for me to ever repay their kindness to me ... but I can do my best to help with this.

While the total scope of this is unknown, what Im sure everyone knows, is that the costs of dealing with something like this can quickly become insurmountable. Especially for a small business owner in Maine, who doesnt exactly get paid time off or sick leave.

 Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Taber