Today’s post isn’t about baseball. Or booze. Or school. Or food. It’s about a little girl who needs your help. I hope my readers will take the time to read her story. Why? Because it’s about a kid in the hospital. I hope that tugs at your heart stings a little and makes you think good thoughts for the family/pray. It’s about a financial burden. I hope it makes you dig in your pockets. It’s about internet friends. I hope you identify with this as a blog reader/blogger.
I’m not really sure how to begin today’s post. I guess I should first tell you about the girl above. Her name is Sophia Rivera, the daughter of two friends who live in Northern California. These two friends started as internet friends…people I met in a Yankees MySpace group back in like 2007. Over the years, many of us in that group kept in contact, even during the Facebook transition that left MySpace in the dust. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I met them and their kids Tony & Sophia in real life at a Yankees v. Angels game. Sophia is a little diva princess, who looks fabulous in pink. My day would brighten up a little each time I read about Sophia’s crazy antics.
I’m not really sure how to begin today’s post. I guess I should first tell you about the girl above. Her name is Sophia Rivera, the daughter of two friends who live in Northern California. These two friends started as internet friends…people I met in a Yankees MySpace group back in like 2007. Over the years, many of us in that group kept in contact, even during the Facebook transition that left MySpace in the dust. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I met them and their kids Tony & Sophia in real life at a Yankees v. Angels game. Sophia is a little diva princess, who looks fabulous in pink. My day would brighten up a little each time I read about Sophia’s crazy antics.
Doing my best to summarize…about a week ago, Sophia wasn’t
acting herself, complaining about not being able to see, and bumping into
stuff. She was taken to the hospital and after CT scans and MRI’s her family
learned that she had about 6 tumors in her brain and some along her spine.
Tumors…in a 4 year old. There was one tumor up against her optic nerve that
caused some vision loss, and another that was blocking spinal fluid to her
brain. She had surgery Tuesday of this week, and they removed most of the largest tumor that
was blocking fluid from entering her spinal cord. There is still no official diagnosis for
the tumor but it's been narrowed it down to a kind of aggressive tumor called a
Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor. The reason the diagnosis is not official is
because they don't have the exact
name for it yet. Treatments will have Sophia fighting this for at least 9 months. She will receive an early
round of chemotherapy which may help in shrinking the tumors enough to decrease
the amount of radiation she will need. If this does not show any immediate sign
of improvement, radiation will proceed as planned. This is all intense stuff…stuff a
4 year old should not be dealing with. There is a journal being updated with information as they get it. It's got more details than this paragraph if you're interested in reading...CaringBridge for Sophia.
Her parents are not going to be
working, and a fundraiser has been started to relieve some of their financial
burden. This clickable hyperlink will take you to the fundraising site to donate to the family. Please keep them in your thoughts, and if possible, a donation would be greatly appreciated. Even if it’s just a little, it absolutely helps. Your donation
can be anonymous, and you can hide the amount of the contribution. At the very least share this post for more eyes to see and possibly more donations for this family. It help out some very deserving individuals, friends of mine, including one of the
cutest little girls out there.
