Elizabeth: A Star with a special story
Elizabeth is one of our PBTF-Georgia Chapter Stars who will be walking the runway at next month’s Couture for Kids Atlanta. We are incredibly grateful to her parents, Susan and James, for sharing Elizabeth’s story in their own words.
Elizabeth was the most vibrant, precocious, precious toddler you could or would ever meet! It was two weeks before her fourth birthday that she felt ill, and we had several visits and phone calls to her pediatrician believing she had a stomach virus or an ear infection. By the Friday of THAT long week, it was clear she needed to be seen in the ER after another doctor visit and nausea shot hadn’t stopped the vomiting and continued malaise.
Leaving her father in charge of her 6-week-old sister, I headed to Egleston ER to get answers. The ER doctor didn’t like her exam and immediately ordered a head CT scan.
It was February 4, 1994, the day our lives changed forever.
Elizabeth was admitted after a large tumor was discovered in her brain. Soon after, she had a v-p shunt placed inside her head to relieve the pressure the tumor was causing, but her symptoms worsened over the next few days. Initially, MRI sedation and tumor location near her respiratory center in her brain caused her to go into respiratory arrest, and she was placed on a ventilator to sustain her. MRI and cerebral spinal fluid confirmed a large medulloblastoma/PNET in her brain and throughout her spine.
It was apparent the doctors had to relinquish the thought of following a protocol for treatment, and she started emergency radiation to relieve the size of the tumor shutting down her breathing. Elizabeth initially stayed in the hospital for three weeks and finished radiation after six weeks, enduring general anesthesia each and every time. By now she had her port-a-cath for chemotherapy and blood tests to follow over the next many months.
Elizabeth also lost the ability to walk or stand and spent many days in physical therapy. She took her first “new steps” on her Make A Wish trip to Disney World (cue the tears) between completion of radiation and beginning nine rounds of chemo. Elizabeth has remained cancer free ever since! We thank God for walking with us every step of the way.
Now 27 years old, Elizabeth has endured multiple surgeries and treatments for various late effects of treatment and has rallied back each time.
She graduated from high school with a modified diploma and loves to do art, watch sports, listen to music, shop and all things Disney — especially Disney World! If you have a Disney question, Elizabeth is your girl!
We know that sharing a Star’s journey can be difficult, and we appreciate the honesty and time Elizabeth’s parents gave in writing this reflection.
You can see Elizabeth and other Stars sparkle on the runway by joining the PBTF at Couture for Kids Atlanta on September 20, 2017. Learn more at http://bit.ly/coutureforkidsatlanta2017.
