Meet Jealyn!
“Our lives changed forever on July 25th of 2017! My daughter came home sick from school that day with a headache and vomiting. This headache, stomach ache and vomiting had started about 6 months prior to the 25th but this day I noticed something just wasn’t right. She was delirius and didnt know her name or what day it was so we rushed her to our local emergency room where the did a neuro exam and failed so within 15 min she was rushed to Valley Childrens.

That night our lives changed forever. We were told she needed an MRI to see what was going on with her brain. An MRI that was supposed to last 2 hours only lasted only 10 minutes because it was obvious that she has a very large mass right behind her brain! We were told the mass was a bit bigger than a golf ball. Her dad and I completely lost it! A neurosurgeon was contacted that same night and told us she needed emergency surgery the next morning to try and get this tumor out.

So next morning she went right into surgery and the surgery lasted about 6 hours. Jaelyn did well and there were no complications. We received the news that Jaelyns tumor was completely recected! But were were still scared and didn’t know if this tumor was cancerous or not and were told it was being shipped off to be biopsied and would take a week.

Well… 3 days later the results came back and yes indeed it was cancer- a very, very aggressive tye of cancer stage 4, medulloblastoma. We were numb! Our hearts shattered and all we could think about was how much time we really had. All we had to rely on was hope and faith!

A few days after surgery she developed posterior fossa syndrome which made her loose the abitlity to walk, talk, and was basically a vegetable. Although she was still able to move her legs and she kicked and screamed 24/7… It was a nightmare. Not knowing what she was feeling or if she needed something. but after about 2 months she started to open her eyes. The kicking and screaming became less and 5 months later she said her first words.

My poor baby has gone through hell and back but shes been so stong and brave. She was transferred to UCSF Children’s Hospital in San Fransisco to under go radiation for 6 weeks and also intensive physical therapy for 4 weeks. A week before Thanksgiving she got the opportunity to go home! Although after 3 days at home she had to be admitted to start her chemo treatments. 6 months of chemo. It was tough but she was tougher!

She never once let this illness get her down! She has such an amazing personality! Shes so sweet and so goofy! She loves to joke around and has the most contagious smile! She’s been so strong through her fight and she’s coming out on top! On Tuesday, April 24th Jaelyn had her last chemo treatment! And I couldn’t be more proud of her! She’s one amazing kid! She’s my hero!

Her favorite activies are listening to music (Bruno Mars is her fav!) arts and crafts, playing with her squishies and making slime!” her momma bear Amber