A crowdfunding campaign has been launched for a two-year-old Wallaceburg girl, who is suffering from a brain tumour.
GoFundMe page launched
Olivia Formosa, 2, has been diagnosed with a brain tumour that is grade 3.
She is set to be undergoing chemotherapy treatments and will be traveling to the U.S for radiation treatments.
Ultimately, Olivia has a long road to recovery ahead of her.
A GoFundMe campaign was started in the hopes of raising enough funds to help relieve any financial stress Olivia’s family will experience during this difficult time.
In just 13 hours, more than $3,200 was raised to go towards the cause.
After six days of the campaign, a total of $8,775 of their $7,000 was raised.
“This is a very fast growing cancerous tumour,” said Charlene Kelvin, on behalf of Olivia’s mom Brooke Formosa, on the GoFundMe page created for Olivia.
“She is undergoing numerous surgeries and now starting chemo treatments and will be going to the states for radiation. This young family needs as much help as they can get. As I personally know among many others, this is a very expensive process and pulls parents away from there jobs. Together as a community we can help them along there way. Thank you for your support.”
Diagnosis
Olivia first complained of neck pain in the beginning of July.
“When I would put her hair in a pony tail or she sat in her car seat, she would complain of the neck pain,” Olivia’s mom wrote om the GoFundMe page.
She said by mid-July, things got worse.
“She didn’t only have neck pain, but did not want to eat or drink, did not want to do anything but lay down and was very agitated,” she said.
After seeing a nurse practitioner, they were sent to the Emergency Room in Chatham.
“They sent us home without doing any X-rays and said it’s just a strained muscle in her neck and to put a cold pack on it if she will tolerate it and to give her Tylenol for pain,” Brooke wrote.
“They also referred us to a pediatrician. The next day we saw the pediatrician. He took the neck pain a little more serious and called Victoria hospital in London to get a hold of orthopedic doctors who specialize in children. We went to Victoria hospital the same day to see them.”
Olivia’s mom said the doctor also prescribed Motrin, and set up a follow-up appointment.
“The orthopedic doctors focused on muscle and bone and none of the other symptoms,” Brooke said.
“They at least did x-rays and ruled out any fractures. Again, we were sent home saying it’s just a sprain neck. They told me to put a warm pack on her neck and give her the Motrin she has been taking.”
After missing their orthopedic appointment, because of writing down the wrong date, they brought Olivia back into the ER in Chatham.
“They had (the neurologist) check her out right away. She got a CT done and the doctor told us that they found a mass in her brain and that they will be doing an MRI when they can, which usually takes at least a day. But within an hour she got an MRI. While Olivia was in MRI, the neuro doctors sat me down and explained what they were seeing.”
Brooke said they told her there was a large mass in her brain that is around her brain stem and cerebellum.
“It’s wrapped itself around nerves that control respiratory, swallowing, hearing, face muscles, speech, balance and coordination,” she said.
“He also explained that these nerves have been stretched from the mass so if it is taken away from the nerve it will not be used to being stretched and can affect the function of the nerve. The tumour was causing lots of pressure and causing her brain fluid to not drain like it should. She had lots of fluid causing even more pressure.”
Brooke said after finding this, they told her that Olivia needed surgery that day.
“She went in at 10:30 p.m. July 27 and came out 4:30 a.m. (on July 28). So her mass was a bleeder, so they only got 30% of it out. If they kept going, they would have had to replace her whole blood volume which would have caused her blood to not clot and her pH balance would be off and cause her further complications. She also got a drain put in that takes out the extra fluid.”
Brooke said since then, doctors have been monitoring her output.
A little over a week, Olivia had another surgery to put the drain from her brain to her intestines.
“The mass was sent to be biopsied and the two week wait was brutal. We got the results and Olivia has a anaplastic ependymoma tumour. These tumours are graded 1,2,3 and 4. Not stages but grades. Grade 1 and 2 are benign and 3 and 4 are malignant cancerous rumours.”
Brooke said her daughter has a grade 3 tumour.
“Her tumour is fast growing and located within the ventricles (fluid filled spaces in the brain). Not in her brain tissue. It’s also located in the back, lower part of the brain and/or the spinal cord. Her tumour could spread to her spinal cord through her spinal fluid. Even if the whole tumour is taken out, cancer cells will still be in the brain and tumours can form once again. Now knowing this, we were told a plan of action.”
Brooke said she will having a hearing test, kidney function test, a lumbar puncture, and an MRI before starting chemotherapy.
“Chemo can affect hearing, and kidney functions so they want a baseline,” she said.
“And also a baseline of how her tumour is looking. And the lumbar puncture will tell us a bunch of information. So, she will be starting two rounds of chemo as soon as the tests are done. (The) first round is 22 days, the second round is 29 days. After chemo she will be having another surgery to remove hopefully all of the tumour. Then she will be receiving radiation for six weeks, which will most likely be in the (United States.)”
Brooke said they conduct proton therapy in the U.S.
“It focuses more on the cancer cells, so her brain doesn’t get radiated, but just where the cancer cells are,” she said.
“After radiation it’s a possibility that she will receive more chemo. So we are going to be a part of a trial. In this trial, the top 200 oncologists from all over the world will be looking at Olivia’s scans and biopsies and making the best plan for her. Also, a computer does a coin flip to see (whether) she gets chemo after or not. They do not know if chemo after radiation helps but that’s why there is this trial.”
Brooke said they can back out at any time.
“If she gets chemo and it helps, then great,” she said,
“And if not, well we tried. And if we will not be chosen to get chemo after, then she can start to hopefully recover and start physio and such. If everything goes well and she is able to go home, we will have to be close to the hospital and rush her there if she gets a fever or even a sniffle. Or if she gets any neurological symptoms. This little girl has such a long road ahead of her. Please send all your prayers and positive energy. We need them desperately.”
A quarter auction is being held in support of Olivia is being held on Wednesday, August 23 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the CBD Club in Wallaceburg. More information about the event can be seen, here.
To donate directly to the family, click here: Olivia’s Journey
– Photo credit: GoFundMe
