18-Month-Old Girl Diagnosed With A Rare And Aggressive Form Of Cancer
Chicago, Illinois. At the Lurie Children’s Hospital, 18-month-old Tessa Dante is being treated for a very rare form of cancer she was diagnosed with earlier this year.
“Tessa was diagnosed with high-risk stage IV neuroblastoma on March 31st, 2021,” a Facebook page dedicated to Tessa’s fight for cancer explains.
This is an exceptionally aggressive and rare kind of cancer for a child to be diagnosed with.
Tessa’s family shared the above photo on Facebook of her in the hospital along with the caption: “Tessa has had tumor and bone marrow biopsies, surgery for ovary preservation, central line placement, two 5 day rounds of chemotherapy, 2 neutropenic fever hospital stays, 3 blood transfusions, 2 days of stem cell harvesting. She has been such a trooper through all of it.”
“She has a grapefruit-sized tumor in her abdomen, a tumor in her right jaw, and some cancer activity in her bones and bone marrow,” the Facebook page continues.
Doctors gave Tessa’s family a treatment plan that involved tumor resection surgery, 5 rounds of induction chemo, 12 weeks in the hospital for high dose chemo, immunotherapy, and a stem cell transplant.
Tessa’s treatment should take a year and a half, and she will have to stay in the hospital for much of that time.
Tessa’s parents dedicated tons of hours looking into her rare form of cancer before they learned about Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York.
Memorial Sloan Kettering doesn’t take a standard approach to the way they treat the cancer that Tessa has.
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Instead, they develop a more tailored way to treat each child in their care.
Tessa’s family is going to bring Tessa there for her 5th round of chemo and a surgery that she needs after she completes 4 rounds of chemo at the Lurie Children’s Hospital.
“We knew in our hearts after speaking with their world-renowned physicians, that these would be the people that would save our sweet Tessa’s life,” her family said about the doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Facebook; pictured above Tessa plays with chalk outside
Now, Tessa’s family is hoping to be able to raise enough money to help cover the costs of the treatments that Tessa will need.
You can donate to the GoFundMe for Tessa here and you can follow along with her journey on Facebook here.
Facebook; pictured above is Tessa in the hospital
More About:Human Interest
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