rest in peace, our brave daughter was too tired to fight any longer. ava jaymes cipriani passed away on april 17th, 2007.ava cipriani is a 3 year old girl who was diagnosed with pediatric neuroblastoma cancer, stage 4.we brought ava into cedars-sinai medical center on easter sunday, and she was originally diagnosed as having a blood infection. with probably a hundred x-rays, tests, surgeries, bone scans, cat scans, mbig scans, bone dyes, etc. done, it was found that she had neuroblastoma. as you can imagine we were in shock.this is a rare type of cancer, that strikes only 1 out of 400,000 children. cedars-sinai (one of the largest hospitals in the world!) says that they see only 4-5 children a year that have this type of cancer. it is non-genetic, and no links to the enviroment are blamed. doctors do not have an answer as to where it comes from.it is usually found when it is at stage 4 (the last stage) and at that point, aggressive chemotherapy and radiation are required. she was in a lot of pain during the first month, in fact she was on morphine a lot of the time to help comfort her.the tumors are in her bone marrow in her lower hip and leg area. there were no signs leading up to her diagnosis.neuroblastoma is called "the great hider". statistics show that after her treatment is done, there is a 60-75% chance it will keep coming back.her treatment is expected to last a year and a half, and will include a stem cell transplant. during that time, she will be in the hospital for about 2 months in absolute sterile conditions.because not many children are struck with this illness, major drug companies are not willing to pour millions of dollars into research and cures for it. the medical expenses are very overwhelming for us as you can imagine.neuroblastoma does not carry the same notoriety as breast or colon cancer. funding and research are very important.ava is doing well during her treatment, she is not in any pain. she has kept her appetite when she is not receiving chemotherapy. she will have a stem cell transplant in 2 weeks.there are a few fundraisers called "A Wish for Ava" happening these are in form of private monetary donations, auctions, clothing donations, toy donations, etc...the latest is an idea for a concert. if you are interested in helping ava, please send an email.thank youMyspace Backgrounds
