Ellie Willaert

Sometimes I think things are meant to happen for a reason. The other night I was just goofing around and perusing on Etsy when I stumbled upon someone's shop. I was admiring her scrappy work and then noticed a message posted to all buyers. The shop owner had stated that she was closing her shop indefinitely. The reason being is that her Daughter,Ellie, had just been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor the month before. This of course made my mind go in a different direction. So I followed a link to her website to learn more about her situation, and this is what I read:


On April 29th Ellie joined a very small group of children in the U.S., in the world even. A few weeks before then Ellie began having vision and balance problems. She tilted her head to the side as if she were having trouble seeing. She took baby steps in unfamiliar places. She was reluctant to walk down steps she didn’t know. Her pediatrician recommended an MRI, which was quickly scheduled. On April 29th, Ellie’s results were in: she has a diffusely intrinsic brainstem glioma, a tumor in her brainstem. It is malignant, it is aggressive, and it is inoperable. The prognosis is serious, and the numbers are grim. The survival rate of this type of tumor is very low - between 5 and 10%. The average life expectancy post-diagnosis is between eight and ten months. This disease follows no hereditary or environmental patterns. It strikes like lightning for no reason the oncologists could give us.



You can read more about it here http://amiracleforellie.org/wp/ and here http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/elliewillaert. On the first website listed there is a a link to the right where you can donate to the Willaert family.



This family are complete strangers to me,but I believe that God brought me to their site for a reason. Every little bit helps. I can't even begin to fathom what they are going trough. Ellie's mom just had a baby boy last week. They are surely are experiencing lot of ups and downs in their lives right now. Perhaps reaching out to her family will make everyday just a bit brighter and give them some hope. Please include them in your prayers...AND feel free to REPOST this ON YOUR BLOG.



Thanks for reading.

(((BIG HUGS)))

Christine