Reminder: if you wish to donate/help the Ealy family - Please chose "Ways to Help" above and not "tributes" (Tributes donates to CaringBridge to keep their sites operational. This is great, as this is a free platform, but if you wish for the Ealy family to receive a donation from you, chose a way under the "Ways to Help" section. Thank you, Sam ------ Ella's Story:
Daniel (a Chief in the US Navy) & Sarah’s world was turned upside down on 6/24/2020 when they found out that Ella, their 6-year-old daughter, had a brain tumor that was putting pressure on her brain and needed immediate surgery. Ella had the surgery to remove the tumor the next day, where after a biopsy, found that it was a malignant tumor called medulloblastoma. As if that was not enough, Ella had a complication from surgery called Posterior Fossa Syndrome which caused her to lose the ability to walk and talk and even swallow. she also had to battle severe meningitis post-surgery.
In an effort to get Ella the best care possible, Sarah contacted St. Jude children’s research hospital as they have the most experience in treating medulloblastoma. Ella was transferred via a medical flight to Le Bonheur Hospital in Memphis (07/09/2020) where she had to have immmediate surgery to repair her incision that was leaking CSF fluid and place a new lumbar drain to decrease the pressure on her brain. Once transferred to St. Jude to begin getting ready for radiation an MRI showed that there was residual tumor left. The first surgery was not a complete resection so Ella had to have a third brain surgery to remove the rest of the tumor as the chances for relapse are much higher without a total resection.
Ella has now finished 6 weeks of radiation and 5 months of harsh chemotherapy and can begin to heal physically and emotionally from the past year. She has continue to make progress and work very hard in physical, occupational and speech therapy throughout her cancer treatment.
Daniel + Sarah also have a 5-year-old son, Benjamin, who has never been away from his Mom or his sister until this dreaded diagnosis. This family’s entire life changed in the blink of an eye. They are going through every parent’s worst nightmare.
Thank you for taking the time to read their story & their updates, and please continue to keep them in your thoughts + prayers. For the most up-to-date news, please check out our journal entries.
From Sarah | Apologies for the lack of updates, we’ve truly been living in the here and now and soaking up all of our family time.
As always, we truly appreciate everyone’s love and support. Right now we are concentrating on having the best Christmas and New Years and hope the same for everyone else. Please make sure to slow down and love extra hard on your family and friends.
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