I want to share a story with you about my daughter, Treasure.
Treasure has been diagnosed with a rare type of tumor inside of her tongue.
Due to that fact that the tumor is inside of her tongue it cannot be treated
by laser. She has had 2 unsuccessful surgeries at Children’s Hospital in
Los Angeles and has been a patient there for the past 2 years.

After being treated at CHLA in 2006 Treasure's tumor grew. She had the
most flare-ups I have seen since being diagnosed with the tumor. The
tumor flares-up 4-5 times its normal size. It bleeds in different places; it
stretches her tongue causing her so much pain she has to take codeine.
She has choked in the middle of the night because of the tumor bleeding.
She wakes up surrounded by blood on her pillow in the morning.
It is hard for me to sleep. When I do sleep, it is a light sleep and I
wake up with every movement she makes. I worry about waking up and my
little girl being gone. She drools uncontrollably due the fact that the
tumor gets so big she cannot close her mouth. She has lost weight and is
very pale due to blood loss and not being able to eat. She has to take
steroids during these flare-ups in order to bring the tumor back down. The
steroids have weakened her immune system and have put her at risk for
infections, colds etc. The picture that you are able to view on this site is
of her tumor after being treated by steroids for 6 days. In the picture the
tumor was on its way back down.
 

Thanks to the love and support that was shown to Treasure she was able to successfuly have 11 surgeries in Colorado. The doctor was able to cut off the supply to the tumor. Treasure was able to live for 3 years without any problems. During the summer of 2009 Treasure's tumor came back with a vengence.  This was a devastaing blow to our family.  I did not know which way to turn. How do I begin fundraising again to get her back to Colorado? When are too many surgeries too many? More steroids? I had so many questions and I truly did not know what to do.  A local dance studio that I do alot of volunteer work for approached me and wanted to put on a dance fundraiser. Fox News got a hold of our story again and wanted to do their part. Treasure had a very risky surgery on 8/31/10. I am happy to say the surgery was successful!  The doctor told us that he would be shocked if Treasure were to have any more issues.

3 days ago Treasure woke up in pain and sure enough there was a new spot on her tongue. We will see the doctor on January 24th.

I want to thank everyone who visits this site and who helped in our quest to
get Treasure to see Dr. Yakes in Colorado. I would like to extend a special
thank you to Cheryl Driscol and Mr. Rudd. These two people are a blessing
and have spent countless hours to make this happen for Treasure. Treasure
is the light of our family. Her spirit and personality are truly unique. She makes us
laugh, keeps a light in our hearts and keeps us on our toes. I hope that our story
will not only inspire others but bring hope to those that have lost it and bring faith
to those that need it.