June Mighty Hero Annabelle

                                            Meet our gorgeous Mighty Hero Annabelle. 

Annabelle is 11 months old! We live in Eagle Mountain, UT. Annabelle is a blue eyed beauty with gorgeous curly blonde hair! A lot of people comment on how she reminds them of Cindy Lou Who or Shirley Temple. We have even gotten the "Perfect little baby doll" comment! She was just born with a natural beauty. She has been a relatively healthy baby. No fevers, no real illnesses until January of this year. In January, Annabelle grew what looked like an egg out of her neck. The only other symptom she had when this showed up was not sleeping. She had to have it surgically drained and was in the hospital on IV antibiotics for 2 days. She went home and was doing fine until a couple months later. After 2 weeks of not sleeping again, I was worried that she had gotten another infection.I took her in to the doctor and they said she had just caught a little virus, but other than that she was fine. Two weeks later, she was still not sleeping (a month total at this point). We woke up on April 30th at 12:30ish am with Annabelle screaming at the top of her lungs.Nothing we said or did helped her. After my husband and I were passing her back and forth several times trying to comfort her, we happened to find a little bump just under her rib cage. We immediately took her in.They did an ultrasound which found the large abnormality. They confirmed with a few other tests that it was a hepatoblastoma.

Annabelle has a hepatoblastoma in her liver. Hepatoblastoma's are a very rare case of childhood cancer where Primary Children's Hospital only see's about 4 cases each year. In the U.S. there are only about 100 cases of Hepatoblastoma's each year. So there is 1 case for every 1.2 million people. In order to not do chemo before surgery, the tumor has to be at least 1 cm away from the main vein of the liver. Her tumor was exactly 1 cm away from the main vein when we caught it. They took 70 percent of her liver out. There are 5 types of hepatoblastoma's. There is a type where it is extremely aggressive and there is a type where it isn't really aggressive. Annabelle's fell more in the middle. Hers was a little more aggressive but not the worst kind. Now we are starting our chemo journey. She is doing a fantastic job!

Thank goodness her tumor was 1 cm away from the main vein which meant they could resect it before chemo. We had her surgery on Friday May 6th where they took out 70% of her liver. Annabelle started Chemo on May 20th. She is a champ! We are so grateful to everyone for all of the love, support and prayers offered in Annabelle's behalf!

Ever since the news broke of Annabelle's cancer, hundreds of people have reached out to offer their prayers and love. She has inspired people all over the United States in bringing people together in fasting and prayer. Her smile makes any heart melt and she brings joy to everyone who sees her at the Hospital while during one of her many wagon rides. But I will say that Annabelle has been an inspiration most of all for her Mom and Dad and her brother and sisters. We are strong because Annabelle is strong.

We are sending all our love and prayers to this amazing family. Stay strong Annabelle. We love you! You can donated to Annabelle and her family by clicking here. www.psiadoreyou.com Every penny of your donation will go to Annabelle.