Violet Brielle Spataro

Please head over to our friends at MousekaTools to read our guest blog post on Violet's special Make-A-Wish trip!  <3 If you haven't seen Make-A-Wish's short video of Violet's wish trip to Disneyland, you can watch it HERE . :)

Our sweet and brave Violet is turning 4 and will be celebrating another year of beating cancer!   This December Violet will have to be in the hospital again for her 19th EUA (exam under anesthesia), MRI, labs, oncology and audiology appointments. Before needing to undergo all of this yet again, we would love for Violet to enjoy a wonderful celebration for her birthday on December 6th. Our hope is to provide this celebration for Violet at the Great Wolf Lodge here in Washington. If you are new to Violet's story, please feel free to read more here on the blog. We have documented many of Violet's experiences from the very beginning of diagnosis. Violet began fighting for her life against Retinoblastoma (cancer) at just 7 months old. Over the past 3 years, Violet has had to endure many more difficulties than most adults will experience in their entire lifetime. Through all of this, she has kept a happy heart, a smile on her face and she has inspired us all.  Violet s...

I knew it was coming, but how I felt at the moment it actually happened let me know that I was completely emotionally unprepared for it. I really don't see how a parent could ever be ready to answer something like this. Violet asked me last night, "Mom, why do I have to keep getting my eyes checked?" That is what we call it when we talk to her about her EUAs. We refer to them as simply 'getting her eyes checked'. Violet knows that she had cancer. She understands that she was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma when she was a baby and that she went through chemotherapy to rid her eye of cancer. She knows all too much for such a sweet little innocent girl. Violet has asked about her EUAs many times before, but this time was different. She went on to ask me what the reason was behind having these done all the time. If she was ok and didn't have cancer anymore, than why did she have to keep going through these? I gave her the simplest answer I could and it was...

Violet is so loving with other children. There is just something very special about her caring nature. On many occasions she has told us how much she would love to have a brother or a sister. When we found out that we were pregnant at the beginning of April, we were so overjoyed and thrilled to let Violet know that she was finally going to be a big sister! Violet's face lit up and she jumped up and down with excitement after Josh and I shared the wonderful news with her. For the days to come Violet would sing about the joy of being a big sister and she would hug and kiss my belly. Violet would tell us, "I love our baby sooooo much. I am going to let them play with all of my toys!" After the first month, Violet told us that our baby was a boy and that she was going to have a little brother. It was so precious! She was so happy and our hearts melted as we imagined them playing together in the future. Every week Violet would ask to watch the video online of what our baby...

Violet's next EUA (Exam Under Anesthesia), labs, vision check and oncology clinic are coming up on April 9th and 10th. Please join us in praying for her safety, perfect health and complete healing. We will be posting same day updates to Violet's Facebook page  Violet Brielle - Surviving Retinoblastoma . We are very grateful for all of your prayers! Thank you all so much. (Photo from Violet's special Make-A-Wish trip to Disneyland. :) More to come on that magical trip!)

Wow, Violet's 16th EUA.  That is a lot of under anesthesia procedures for such a little peanut who has just turned 3 years old. And, EUAs are only 1 of the things she has had  to go under anesthesia for. Violet's wish trip to Disneyland was the most amazing and joyous experience. But now, after just a few days back, we have had to snap right into the reality of the hospital again. Still, we are so grateful for the wonderful break we had. It was such a blessed time that we will never forget. ♥ Violet always amazes me with her strength and her resilience. It can't be easy for a child to go from being on cloud 9 at the Happiest Place on Earth and then quickly back into the hospital. It just shouldn't be, but this is her path, and she walks it so gracefully. As her parents, we pray each day that we can also walk it with such grace. It's not easy to do. Violet did tell us that she didn't want to do this today while we were in pre-op. Usually, the concern doesn...

The journey with Violet's left eye has been a lot of back and forth with feeling victorious, then more unknowns and a lot of uncertainty. At the very beginning of Violet's diagnosis with Retinoblastoma, after the specialist had carefully assessed the condition of her left eye, the size of the tumor and the proximity to the optic nerve, we were faced with the decision of fighting to save Violet's eye or removing it completely. Violet's first diagnosis was Unilateral Retinoblastoma, meaning it was found in only one eye. However, Violet was so young at just 7 months old, and so, there was a significant chance that her diagnosis would change to Bi-Lateral Retinoblastoma after time showed us more. With Bi-Lateral Retinoblastoma, there are many more risks.  Tumors could begin to pop up in her non-affected eye in the future and if we removed Violet's left eye she could have the chance of losing both.  We prayed over the  decision and then we took it to heart when the s...