We know you may be thinking this is different than our usual registry articles and it is. We are very sad to inform you that one of our newest Human Defense Initiative babies, Arianne, was diagnosed with eye cancer at a month old.
As you may remember, Arianne Jane was born on October 8th and arrived early before her registry, which we launched the same day. Upon being born, her mother, Liz, had her tested for retinoblastoma, which she, herself, had been diagnosed with when she was 7 months old. Unfortunately, the tests returned positive, and Arianne inherited the gene. Not even a month later, on November 4th, Aria went in for her first routine eye exam to screen for the cancer and was diagnosed with retinoblastoma in her right eye. Fast treatment was critical, so Liz and Aria traveled immediately to an eye surgeon in Utah to start treatment. Since she already has tumors in her right eye, there’s a higher chance she could develop more tumors or cancer in both eyes.
This is what happened to her mother when she was a child. Liz battled tumors from 7 months to 2 years old. While the doctors were able to clear her right eye from the tumors, she lost her left. However, thankfully she was considered cured by the time she was six. Quick removal of any tumors that develop, as well as chemotherapy, can hopefully save Aria’s eyes, especially since it was caught so early!
While the future is uncertain, one thing is – that it will be a long road of treatments and doctor appointments, so we want to help ease the financial burden this family is facing. Liz and Aria have a lot of traveling to appointments and treatments across state lines ahead of them, which is financially difficult for anyone, especially a single mother in her twenties who’s still in college.
Although we don’t usually share financial fundraisers, we are making a one-time exception due to the life-threatening circumstances of one of our HDI babies.
Please consider giving to their GoFundme and sharing this story far and wide. Please also keep both Aria and Liz in your prayers as they navigate this difficult journey. Thank you for your support in advance!
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO ARIA’S GOFUNDME
For those who don’t want to give through Gofundme, you can also give through Venmo to angel-18 or PayPal to angellizn.
