Seasons Greetings!
It's the most wonderful time of the year for most of us.
Unfortunately, some families spend the holidays caring for a child diagnosed with a critical illness. Every day, 70+ children are diagnosed with a critical illness and count on donors to help make their wishes come true.
This season, please consider spreading holiday cheer through a donation to Make-A-Wish Mid-South.
The Make-A-Wish Mid-South organization is near and dear to our family's heart. We know what they do matters, and I never knew one little wish would change our lives forever.
Bella's Princess Story
Bella loves everything princess, so her story naturally starts like this...
Once upon a time, twin girls were born, one was named Ava and one was named Bellamy. The first two months were busy managing a five-year-old and twin girls, but we noticed one of Bella’s eyes moved a little differently.
At the twin's two-month-old check-up, we mentioned it to our pediatrician. She said she didn’t think it was anything to worry about, but she referred us to a pediatric ophthalmologist. We made the appointment not thinking much about it.
At the ophthalmologist, the doctor gave Bella a couple of tests and then told us she needed to dilate Bella's eyes. We waited in the waiting room for about 30 min and then she called us back in. When we went back in, she sat us down in the chair and came super close.
She said, "I have a diagnosis for you. Bella has retinablastoma."
"Retina what?" We had no idea what that was.
"It’s eye cancer," she said.
After an MRI a couple of days later, we learned Bella had bilateral retinoblastoma, which meant both eyes had cancer. The tumor in her left eye was about the size of a raisin. Her right eye had been moving differently than the other, trying to see around the tumor.
That next month was a blur, Bella was treated by a world-renowned team at Wills Eye Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She had her first systemic chemo at three months old.
Bella completed six rounds of systemic chemo, had a relapse, and had three rounds of Intra-Arterial Chemotherapy (IAC) at Jefferson Neuroscience Center. IAC in Layman's Terms is where a neurosurgeon threads a catheter through an incision in the femoral artery to the back of her eye, and then administers chemo directly into the back of the eye.
Then we had another relapse and completed three more rounds of IAC. COVID hit after our second systemic chemo, which further complicated everything. Only one parent was allowed for the next two years of treatment.
Bella has spent her whole four years fighting cancer, but today Bella is in remission and has been cancer-free for more than a year!
Our social worker at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia referred Bella to the Make-a-Wish program. Shortly after that, my husband retired from the Air Force, and we moved to Memphis.
Make-A- Wish Mid-South
The Make-A-Wish Mid-South team welcomed Bella with open arms and quickly reached out to walk us through every detail of the program. It was the beginning of a new chapter in Bella’s journey… a happy chapter.
We spent several weeks as a family talking with Bella about this magical wish.
At age two you never knew what she was going to say about what wish she wanted. We heard everything from a school bus to becoming a mermaid… it was a very entertaining couple of weeks for the family.
And for the first time, our family was focused on something happy for Bella. Something fun and exciting! Something the whole family could look forward to watching her enjoy!
The Wish Reveal
Bella consistently told us she wanted to BE a princess, and we eventually settled on meeting a princess. She loved Elsa and Anna, Rapunzel, and Cinderella and she loved Minnie and Daisy. What better place for a 3-year-old than the Magical World of Disney?
So that was her wish… to go to Disney World and meet the princesses… and Minnie and Daisy.
The team of volunteers and staff at Make-A-Wish took care of everything. I cannot say enough about every single person we came in contact with throughout the wish process. They were encouraging, helpful, professional, and most of all they genuinely cared about taking care of Bella and our family.
The wish reveal was an amazing event. The sponsor's wish coordinator planned activities for all three of our girls. They made picture frames, ornaments, necklaces, and at least three other crafts. Employees from the company led the kids through each activity and entertained them along the way. The girls could have spent all day there! But after an hour, they led us downstairs…
There were 100s of employees lining the hallways on both sides. They had individual posters and signs from their departments for Bella. They were cheering and clapping, and then they welcomed us into another room with cake, balloons, and presents. It was there among a cheering crowd of supporters they told Bella she was going to Disney. Bella still recalls this day frequently with a bashful smile and cannot believe everyone was cheering HER name.
To see and hear the employees and staff all encouraging and supporting Bella’s wish was a memory we will NEVER forget.
And like I said, that was just the WISH REVEAL….
Bella’s Wish
Then we actually went to Disney—at the airport in Memphis and Orlando, we had Make-A-Wish greeters that escorted us to the ticket counter and through security, with the help of the local police. We had special passes to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Universal, which gave us lightning lane entry and even money for food and souvenirs.
This was hands down the trip of a lifetime.
And there was more… wish kids stay at a resort called Give Kids the World, which is only for children with critical illnesses and their families. It was an attraction by itself, with pony rides, restaurants, pools, a kid's spa, and an ice cream parlor open for breakfast! Yes, the girls had ice cream... after their breakfast!
Give Kids the World was also run by volunteers, and we were surrounded by other families experiencing the ups and downs of a child with a life-threatening illness.
Wishes Make An Impact
I will never be able to truly describe all aspects of the Make-a-Wish experience. For the first time since Bella was diagnosed with cancer, our family was able to have fun and focus on the little moments that matter, carefree. It was the first time our family had traveled together for vacation since Bella’s diagnosis and the first time we were living in the moment, not worried about what next month’s scans would reveal.
The Make-a-Wish foundation made such a lasting imprint in our family’s story and in Bella’s life that we decided we wanted to be involved in the organization in any way that we could. We want to tell people about Bella, about our experience, and most importantly help grant wishes for others.
I’ll close with something one of the volunteers at the Give Kids the World resort told me that will stick with me forever. He had been volunteering there for 20 years and I thanked him for being there and helping us.
He said, “I started here to help the kids, but soon realized that helping them, helped me more.”
You Can Make A Difference
When a wish is granted, a child replaces fear with confidence, sadness with joy, and anxiety with hope. The majority of wish kids go on to beat their critical illnesses, and research shows that a wish can help children build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight – giving them a better chance of surviving and thriving.
I have seen the impact of a wish first-hand, and I know it makes a difference.
Please consider making a difference in a family's life this holiday season.
Happy Holidays,
The Crosby Family