#ArielsArmy

#ArielsArmy

Ariel Porter is a 16-year-old vibrant, beautiful young lady.

Her frightful journey started back on June 26th when she was experiencing headaches and nausea.
On August 1st, Ariel was found by her mother on the floor of the bathroom having a seizure. She had aspirated on her vomit and stopped breathing. Her brother called 911 as her mother worked to resuscitate her.
Emergency personnel arrived and transported her to a Denton hospital where she had another seizure. After a scan of her brain she was flown by helicopter to Medical City of Dallas Children’s Hospital.

The seizures, the pressure of the cerebral spinal fluid and the overall sickness that Ariel had been experiencing since late June were found to be caused by tumors in her brain.
After more testing and a brain biopsy, the surgeons created a reservoir for the fluid to flow to. Helping to relieve the pressure on her brain. It was discovered the tumors in her brain are caused by a cancer called Diffuse Midline Gliomas with the H3.3K27M  mutation, which is a very lethal form of pediatric brain cancer.

Ariel has three inoperable tumors, two sit in the right hemisphere of her brain, and the third tumor is at the base of her brain stem.

Ariel has been a fighter! She woke up from her surgery smiling and alert to the doctors and her family’s dismay.
She has put on her armor and is ready to fight this “war”.
Ariel is a “trooper”! She has been through 30 days of proton radiation treatment and 42 rounds of chemotherapy. She has not complained once through any of her procedures and treatments. She continues to maintain a positive attitude.

She went to MD Anderson yesterday October 30th hoping to be accepted in a new trial drug ONC201 from Oncoceutics that could offer her more time with family and friends. This is a diagnosis no one ever wants to hear. It has brought our family to our knees.

As as you can only imagine the cost of all the medical procedures that have already been done and the future cost can be debilitating. Not to mention the cost of insurance coverage and deductibles. They will also experience lost wages and travel expenses to Houston.

My hope for my brother Dustin and his wife Alexandra is to have an opportunity to spend quality time with Ariel, and not to have the huge financial costs weighing in the back of their minds and allow them to share in the wonder of  some things Ariel has expressed she would like to like see and do.
She talks about seeing the beauty of a crystal clear ocean, the snow-capped mountains of Colorado.
Her Dad wants to share the experience of the lights and the dancing water fountains and family friendly shows of Las Vegas. (she can’t gamble) her Dad went on a trip as a young boy and the experience has stayed with him throughout his life,  seeing the grandeur of the Grand Canyon. 

Things that she loves ...dogs, sloths, and elephants, and playing her guitar with her Dad.  She also enjoys sharing the enjoyment of comic books with her family, and playing the computer game Zelda! She shares the love of horror movies and all things creepy with my brother Dustin.

My beautiful niece “Princess Ariel” has such a positive attitude! Her goal is to fight this cancer to the end.

Will you join #ArielsArmy to help bring some financial relief to her parents and joy to Ariels life?

I am April Wilson, Dustin Porter’s sister,  my husband Chris Wilson,and so many other family members and friends have “armed” ourselves to help fight and bring joy to Ariel’s life and financial relief to her parents.

Thank you reading and sharing this post! Anything you can offer to fight this “WAR” will help.

Sadly, time is of the essence.

My and my family’s gratitude is endless,

April Wilson

*Any remaining unused funds with be donated to MD Anderson childhood brain cancer research