Making a wish

We met Bryan and Amy Boynton in our childbirth classes at Christ Hospital back in 2011 when Amy and I were both pregnant with our first child. We became friends over the course of the 4-class program and as it turned out, Amy and Bryan were also members of the church in Loveland we had just started attending; it seemed fate had a plan for us meeting!  

Later that year, we both welcomed healthy baby girls into our family and over the next two years continued to keep up with the Boytons through church and church functions. After Charlotte's birth in 2013 and a brief hiatus from Sunday services, I noticed that Ella was listed as a prayer request in the church bulletin. A basic e-mail to Amy to let her know we were praying for Ella was returned with the shocking news that Ella had been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) just before her second birthday. She was a fighter though, and already on the second phase of her 2+ year treatment regime. I vividly recall the day I heard the news and later reading through Amy's Caring Bridge Journal entries and sobbing. How could this happen to someone so young and innocent? 

ALL is CLL's cousin leukemia, but I knew little about the diagnosis and treatment. After reading a bit and talking to a pediatric oncology friend, I learned that what was once a death sentence 40 years ago now has a 95% cure rate; mostly due to LLS-funded research! 

Ella has been SUCH a trooper and she's amazed us with the strength and bravery she's shown over the last three years! Ella finished 2+ years of chemo, steroids, and hospital stays last August and is considered to be in remission! Because she received the latest treatments available from Cincinnati Children's, I have high hopes that her remission will be considered a cure in a few years.

Ella and her family have taken their lemons and made lemonade and are now a big part of the LLS family. They've raised over $20,000 through participation in the Moms in Training program (Amy's run two 5Ks with a stroller in tow!) and Light the Night walks. Most recently Ella helped motivate the Cincinnati LLS Man and Woman of the Year candidates raise almost $1M as the honored girl of the year and she was the Cincinnati chapter's Light the Night honored hero in 2015. 

The Boyntons have also become active with the Make A Wish foundation and they were finally able to schedule their own trip through the foundation for this summer; all expenses paid and every detail coordinated to Disney World! I can't imagine a more deserving family or little hero! Part of the Make A Wish program includes a send off dinner and we were honored to be invited to Ella's a few weeks ago. A local Maggiano's hosted the entire meal and made it so special for everyone in attendance, even down to the fact that our servers were Cinderella and Snow White! It took our girls a bit to warm up to the special hostesses, but by the end of the evening they'd been on many trips and tours around the restaurant and grounds with them and even cozied up for a picture. We're making a big wish that Ella is cured and never has to worry about cancer again in her lifetime!