Emalee was a perfectly happy, healthy, fun-loving 2 1/2 year old little girl until one day out of nowhere she developed two large “bumps” above her eyes that swelled out like golf balls. We had no idea what they were from - she did not fall or bump into anything - so we took her to the E.R. that night. After hours of waiting and not knowing what was wrong, a CT scan showed they were some type of tumors and she was immediately taken to Geisinger Medical Center for further testing. We were then told that Emalee had cancer, which was stage 4 high risk neuroblastoma. It apparently started as a large tumor in her abdomen and had already spread to her knee, clavicle, bone marrow and head. Since that day, Emalee has undergone many rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and a stem cell transplant at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She is now beginning the radiation therapy phase of her treatment, which will last a month, and then will need to have many months of immunotherapy following. In our eyes, Emalee truly is a fighter and has been through way more than any 3-year-old little girl should ever have to go through. We are hoping and most especially praying everyday that when the treatments are finally complete she will be a true miracle and be cured!

Written by Tara Kachurka, Emalee's Mom
09/10