We were introduced to Nova shortly after her diagnosis. Nova is friends with one of our other spotlights, Lyncoln. They, unfortunately, met at the hospital; however, this is a great example of a lasting and wonderful relationship that can come about in these shared experiences.

How it all started… The past 2-3 weeks Nova hasn’t been walking right. She trips every other step and can’t walk in a straight line. She just seems like she can’t pick up her feet sometimes like she’s losing strength in her legs. She can’t walk or run for a long period. She wants to be picked up because she gets too tired. They think it’s something to do with her brain which could also be causing her speech delay… fast forward. We get the brain MRI done. We are in the clear. We feel relief. Then a doctor comes in, slides his finger across her foot, and orders us to be admitted for a spine MRI. Our lives changed in one scan. Nova has a tumor larger than a grapefruit wrapped around her spine, through her ribs, up to her chest. Nova brought us tissues as we cried over the diagnosis. Neuroblastoma. Chemotherapy was administered just a couple days later. In one week our lives changed forever. We are in the thick of things but have the utmost faith that God will heal little Nova. She is a bright star in this dark world. Other than her walking problems, she is a happy healthy three year-old. Even her white blood cell count came back normal. Doctors are astounded by how she looks as they have said kids with a tumor her size are visibly sick. She is a warrior.

Most of the news we hear about Nova is through Lyncoln’s parents so if you want to follow along some with Nova, you can check out Lyncoln’s Facebook page. Nova also has a GoFundMe account.

On February 9th, Nova had surgery to remove her tumor. Although the surgeons did have to remove two of her ribs, they believe they were able to remove all of the tumor. Nova just turned four! Happy Birthday!