This is our general fundraising page for Ella's Monster Journey - for small fundraisers and ongoing donations we have created this central page. Unfortunately due to the previous fundraising platform shutting down we have had to adapt the way we raise money for Ella's two chosen charities. When donating we hope that people will either be happy to split their money equally as both causes are very close to our heart.

Ella's Story:

Ella was diagnosed on 29th November 2018 with a grade 4 medulloblastoma which had already reached the size of a satsuma by the time it was found. We were lucky to have caught it when we did as the symptoms weren't obvious and if it had gone undetected any longer it could well have entered the brain stem. She had been sick for a couple of weeks and even had a misdiagnosed stay overnight in the hospital for gastroenteritis. We decided to get her a routine eye test following this as she mentioned things were blurry and we are forever grateful to our local optician for identifying an issue and referring us to our local hospital.

The next two days were a blur of eye appointments and a lot of waiting around for an MRI. Eventually, she had a CT scan as she was so scared of the MRI machine. Nothing prepares you for that news and whilst Ella played with a nurse - I (Mum) was taken to a private room and told the unfathomable news that Ella had a tumour the size of a satsuma in the post-fossa area of her brain. As I called Rob (Ella's Daddy) and broke the news - the ripple effect of our new reality started to take hold.

We were requested by the neurosurgery department to go to St George's hospital that night and by the next morning she was lined up for MRI, to have an EVD fitted (it's a drain that comes directly from inside the brain cavities to ease the pressure) and the tumour removed. On the Friday morning as she rode the wheelchair down to the MRI machine she was bright as a button and so oblivious about the serious nature of everything around her. The next time we saw her was 8hrs later in PICU and it would take another 6 weeks to leave the hospital.

The journey has been long and it has been one of two paths. There is the cancer journey - which has seen her head to Germany for 6 weeks for proton radiotherapy and 8 rounds of chemotherapy which finished in November 2019 - a year since she was diagnosed. Then there is the post-surgical journey - which has seen her have to learn how to walk, battle with ataxia, lose movement in the left side of her face and struggle with double vision as a way of life.

Every day she takes our breath away with the joy and determination she manages to muster even with everything she faces. She now not only walks but runs around, does rock climbing, swimming, has regular physio and has barely missed a day of school unless we have had to go to the hospital. We are so blessed and lucky to have had such a positive outcome and know this is thanks to having some of the best care and research in the world.

With our hopes for a very bright future for Ella, we want to make sure other children and adults like her are saved.