Avery was diagnosed with a PXA grade 2 thalamic brain tumor at the age of 11. They were able to successfully remove 49% of her tumor and it was deemed benign. Once released from the hospital and inpatient physical therapy center, she celebrated her 12th birthday and began 2 oral chemos shortly after. Her chemo treatments have had to change multiple times over the years because they would stop working at a point. Her quality of life had been good until last year. In June 2024, we discovered Avery’s tumor had spread to her lower spinal cord. This is very rare for this type of tumor. Her new chemo she began in June led to an extreme loss of weight for her due to terrible nausea. In August, she was admitted with gallstones and underwent a procedure to relieve them. She was switched to a new chemo and steroids and was improving, but her pain began to get worse. During her clinic visit on 9/17/24, she was admitted to the PICU at MD Anderson. She was admitted for pain management and kidney stones. She had a stent placed on 9/18 and an ng tube as well. On 9/20 she began throwing up consistently and on 9/21 she coded 3 times and was intubated. Over the next few days she was extubated and coded for the 4th time on 9/28. She was intubated again and now suffered from a pneumothorax as well. She received a tracheostomy and GJ tube and was making progress daily. She began radiation as a last effort to rid her body of the cancer on her spine and her brain tumor. In January, she completed radiation and began breathing in cpap mode on her ventilator for long periods. Then the pressures in her brain began to build up again and she needed a VP shunt. She continued to slowly progress until after her 16th birthday, when she suffered her first stroke. She has since had multiple strokes and restarted chemo in hopes that it will help. Despite this, we believe she is a miracle and God can do all things! 

This girl is a fighter and she’s so very brave🩵

She is the youngest of 4 children and before cancer she loved volleyball, doing art (she is very talented), spending time with her friends, playing with her dogs, listening to music and movie/game nights with her family. She is known for her face making and sassy attitude.

There is no cure for her leptomeningeal disease and her brain tumor is incredibly rare. Our sweet girl deserves a cure.

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