On May 23rd, Cecilia was seen at urgent care for headache and a right hand tremor. She was told she had a migraine, given some medication and prescriptions, and sent home. Later that same night she awakened with the worst headache of her life and went to the emergency department. There she had a CT scan which showed an abnormal mass in her brain. Shortly thereafter she had an MRI which showed a near plum-sized glioma in the thalamus regions and was sent to the Neuro ICU. On May 28th, Cecilia had endoscopic brain surgery to obtain a biopsy and release the headache causing fluid build-up. She got to come home on May 31st. Pathology confirmed that Cecilia has DMG, Grade IV, with the statistic of "8-11 months prognosis with treatment." In the weeks to follow she met with the amazing neuro-oncology teams from Baptist Health Louisville, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and Louisville's Norton Healthcare Brain Tumor Center. She begun her six-week journey for photon radiation therapy at Norton's on June 25th. And she will participate in the ONC 201 Clinical Trial when radiation is complete. 

Cecilia is an absolute delight. She is magnetic and charming. At the young age of 23, she has more emotional intelligence and social skills than folks twice her age. You can't help but immediately love her and feel like you have known her forever as soon as you meet her. 

Needless to say, our families have been rocked by this devastating diagnosis. We are hopeful that Cecilia's relentless attitude of "I am not going down without a fight" as well as the knowledge, skills, and expert oversight of her healthcare team push her past this.

She is such a beautiful, old soul. She is fighting the battle of her life. And we love her dearly.

Thank you for choosing to donate to The Cure Starts Now Foundation. 100% of this donation, after credit card processing fees, goes directly towards research to find the homerun cure for cancer starting with pediatric brain cancer research.

If you would like to make a donation by mail please send a check to:  The Cure Starts Now Foundation; 10280 Chester Road; Cincinnati, OH 45215 and put the child's name in the memo.

The family receives notification of all donations made to this tribute fund automatically.