It started with three horrifying words “Bianca has Cancer.” That moment will forever be etched in my mind. Those were the words that truly began Bianca’s cancer journey! We were living in Portland, Oregon at the time, and she was four months away from her second birthday. In a matter of a week, we made the decision to pick up our entire lives and move across the country to Cincinnati so she could be treated at Cincinnati Children’s hospital. I thank God every day we were blessed enough to pick where Bianca received her treatment! I don’t think our journey would have been as full of joy had we been anywhere else.
Bianca was diagnosed on January 13th of 2016 and completed treatment on December 1st of 2016. We were so blessed that the minute we stepped foot in Cincinnati, things continued in a positive direction. While Bianca had a very aggressive treatment plan that spanned the entire year, she was blessed with an amazing amount of energy that allowed her to go through this process with a smile on her face most days. We would joke that cancer treatment brought her energy levels down to that of a normal two-year-old! You could always find her dancing or playing with a nurse or doctor, which brought smiles to everyone’s face.
A wonderful friend of ours started the hashtag #BabyBStrong. We were blessed to have so many friends and family supporting Bianca and our family through this journey!
Although most of her story is light and happy through what we all know is a not so fun journey, we still had our hard times. For us, one of the biggest bright spots was The Dragonfly Foundation! One of the hardest parts of being the parent of a cancer patient is trying to let them be a kid without all of the limitations. Dragonfly made this part so easy for us with their many events and that notorious blue bag we received on our first day at Cincinnati Children’s! We especially loved being able to sit in the Pilot House at the Reds Game! There were so many great events from amusement park days, concerts, and Christmas parties! The Dragonfly Foundation was truly a blessing for us and like another family. Today we still refer to all of our Dragonfly friends as our “Dragonfly Family”!
Bianca is almost in survivorship as we are almost at her five-year mark from treatment. A lot has changed for her and our family! We have now moved halfway across the world in Dubai, but we keep in contact with some of our Dragonfly family! Our favorite Dragonfly Family, Zak and Courtney, always get a visit from us when we are back stateside, and we always try to share Bianca’s latest and greatest adventures!
Our little fighter, which everyone used to call BabyB, is now a bubbly thriving seven-year-old! She still has tremendous amounts of energy, and she uses that energy in her Jiu-Jitsu and her modeling career here in Dubai! She wouldn’t be where she is today if it wasn’t for her medical team at Cincinnati Children’s or for all the wonderful love we received and continue to receive from The Dragonfly Foundation! We are eternally grateful to you all for helping #BabyBStrong.
