In 2018, Amelia Ellison was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, the so-called T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma.
“It all started very quickly,” says Amelia’s father Jacob Ellison. “It went from a bump on her neck to ‘You’re going to be in the hospital for the next two weeks, up to a month. And then you’re going to go home and then come back. And then we’re going to go repeat that process two and a half years or how.” long it takes. “
She was only in kindergarten for a few weeks, and the Ellisons had two other children at home.
“You sort of put yourself on an island. You start to withdraw from everything else. You try to move away from everything and just focus on that one thing. And then you realize all the things that let you go by.” says Jacob.
Needless to say, the emotions were intense.
“Extreme anger about the situation, extreme sadness. Why us? What did we do? Is it something that just happened,” says Jacob.
And that put a lot of things into perspective.
“I couldn’t have done that without the support of my parents and my brother and sister,” says Amelia.
But the nice thing here is the fact that the Ellisons didn’t have to go through this terrible diagnosis on their own. Enter the Child Life Team.
“A lot of children could come to the hospital and hear and see all these things that are explained to them in scary words and we try to step in as that comforting presence,” says McKenna Hogan, Child Life Specialist.
Hospitals can be weird places for kids, but this group of people at Diamond Children’s take out the scare factor.
“The first thing you see instead of this strange machine is a new stuffed animal waiting for you on your bed or a certificate of bravery with your name on,” says Hogan.
How can you help a family like the Ellisons move from devastation to a new journey that just needs to be lived through?
“Part of it is just being there emotionally,” says Melissa Shiring, Child Life Specialist. “Part of it is just being the shoulder to cry on that day or to indulge in what might have nothing to do with your child’s diagnosis.
Speaking of travel, it’s been a long time for the Ellisons. Two and a half years to be precise.
“I have something else to say,” says Amelia.
Indeed it does. Amelia’s last dose of chemo was in December 2020. And when we finished our conversation with the Ellisons, something pretty profound came out from under the mask of the pale-eyed seven-year-old.
“Now that I know I can get this far, I know I can do it,” says Amelia.
Powerful words from an inspiring little girl who beats odds and spreads hope along the way.
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