We had 330 beautiful days with our daughter before we lost her. From the day she was diagnosed to the day she passed, it was only eight days. That’s how fast the cancer took over her little body.
Amelia Mae, our sweet Millie, was born July 11, 2016. She was small just 4 pounds and 10 ounces and two weeks early, but she came into this world full of sass, strength, and the sweetest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. She adored her big brother, Kaden, and he loved her just as much.
They made my world crazy in the best way. Millie followed me everywhere. She was my shadow, always talking, always smiling. Her dad was wrapped around her little finger. We thought she was healthy. She seemed perfect. Last May, we were moving from Virginia to California.
Right before we left, she had an ear infection, but the doctor gave us the okay. During our move, she got worse tired, feverish, clingy, and not eating. When we got to Texas, she wouldn’t let anyone but me hold her. We took her to urgent care.
They said she had a double ear infection and gave her antibiotics. Things didn’t get better. In New Mexico, doctors thought it might be pneumonia. They changed her meds and sent us on. By Arizona, things were worse.
Her eye was swollen, she wasn’t eating, and she was completely out of energy. We rushed her to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Tests showed something was wrong with her liver. Then, finally, a CT scan gave us answers: she had stage 4 neuroblastoma. Cancer.
Her tumor was huge, and it had already spread. She needed immediate treatment. During her first MRI, she stopped breathing and was moved to intensive care. She spent the next 8 days connected to machines. We weren’t allowed to hold her.
We just talked to her, held her hand, and told her how much we loved her. After five days of chemo, doctors told us it was too late. There was nothing more they could do. We held her again before she passed.
We told her we were proud, that she could let go. On June 6, 2017, just shy of her first birthday, she left us. Since then, we’ve raised money in her name. We fight for more research, because children like her deserve more than 4% of funding. And I live with the heartbreak but I also live to keep her memory alive.
