Our Story
On 27th September 2022, following major brain surgery, we got the worst news that every family fears. Mila, age 3, was diagnosed with a grade 3 Ependymoma, which is a rare, malignant brain tumour.
Following this news, everything went so fast and felt very surreal. She was rushed for a lumbar puncture and then a central line insertion, but before treatment the central line moved, so she ended up going for a second.
Then in November 2022 she started Proton Beam Therapy which is a type of radiotherapy, She ended up having 33 sessions.
It always amazed us, throughout all this, she still managed to be herself. She is such a loving, caring, happy child, oh, and we cannot forget her sassy personality LOL.
Throughout all this, it was Young Lives vs Cancer that supported the whole family. It was them that gave us financial support, face to face/phone calls to make sure everyone was doing ok. If it wasn't for them we would have been so lost. We, as a family, will be eternally grateful for their help and support.
Mila continues to have side effects from the cancer and the radiotherapy each day. This can be in the form of fatigue and weakness in her limbs, social anxiety and she easily gets overwhelmed. We take it day by day to decide what memories we want to make, as this type of tumour is very aggressive and has a high chance of re-occurrence.
The three words we would use to describe Mila are, Sassy, Empathetic and Loving.
From Mila's family, the Larsen/Blacks, with love.