Vienna
B+ Hero Vienna
Please take a minute to read this powerful story.
“Thank you from all of us. Your generous donation is greatly appreciated. This has been Vienna’s Journey…
Vienna's extraordinary journey began when I was 20 weeks pregnant with her. At the ultrasound, the doctor informed us they felt there were multiple findings that indicated she had Trisomy 18 and she had an unlikely chance of surviving to delivery. They said if she did survive to be delivered, her life would be a matter of hours to days. Multiple doctors suggested that it was in her and our best interest to terminate the pregnancy. It was at that awful moment that God put his hand of guidance and wisdom upon Jordan and I, as we questioned the doctors, and chose to love this baby for as long as God would allow. It was at this time that God began to show us how he was wrapping his arms of protection around our daughter and keeping her safe. She was born with Down Syndrome, but she was overall a very healthy little girl. In her first two years of life, she overcame so many obstacles and showed her family and friends how amazing her spirit and joy are.
Shortly after her second birthday, we recieved the diagnosis that no parent ever wants to hear; our precious little girl had leukemia. We were devastated and so so scared that we were going to lose our daughter. We wrestled with our faith in God, knowing that he is in control, yet knowing that there are many children who do not survived leukemia every year. Vienna was so sick for the first 4 months of treatment, we missed our normalcy and our other two children so much. It was absolutely the hardest time of our lives. Yet during those hard times, we were still able to see God's miracles happening often. Her oncologist stated that when it came to her diagnosis, no human could have planned how perfectly early we caught it, and how the diagnosis came to be (doctors are human and make mistakes, don't ever hesitate to pursue and question things that just don't seem right when it comes to yourselves or children). During Vienna's treatment there were multiple complications that could have been fatal, yet God frequently wrapped our little girl in his arms of protection and got her through the complications and really, REALLY tough days. He gave Jordan, Sawyer, Lakynn, and I grace and mercy, and helped us to adjust to our new unpredictable and unconventional lives. Sawyer and Lakynn poured so much love into their little sister and remained so strong for her. God opened our eyes even wider to the incredible family, friends, church family, employers, and coworkers that he has been strategically placing in our lives for years. He opened our eyes to see that every little thing that God has done in our lives up until now, had given us the circumstances, strength, and faith to hold our family together and get our baby through this. God placed wonderful oncologists and incredible nurses at the bedside of Vienna and guided them to help heal our precious girl.
On March 17, after 7 months of mostly being hospitalized, Vienna completed her chemotherapy journey, rang the victory bell, and came home for good! It was absolutely one of the best days of our lives!! Our friends showered us with an incredibly special homecoming..you are all amazing and have been there for us in so many ways the past 7 months 🤍
Vienna will have a bone marrow biopsy next week, and she will have months of follow up appointments and lab draws. Relapse is always something that we will monitor for, but this will also be our constant reminder to live life to the fullest and not wait to make the memories. Down syndrome and leukemia are not Vienna's identity, though they will always be part of her journey. Her identity lies in the beautiful, strong, and joyful soul that God has created, and we will forever celebrate and cherish the beautiful gift that we have been given. We owe everything to God, and on the mountains and in the valleys, we will forever praise Him. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for the thoughts, prayers, and love, past and future ❤️”
If you’d like to help our B+ Heroes like Vienna, please consider participating in our B+ 5k - in Delaware or virtually - on June 19th. Please register today.
If you’d rather support my efforts running the 2024 NYC Marathon, any donations would be greatly appreciated.
Congratulations Students!
In the past two weeks, we’ve been honored to partner with students at NYU, Fordham, The College of New Jersey, Stony Brook, Univ of Alabama, Paul VI HS, Charter School of Wilmington, Susquehanna Univ, and Springfield College. Thank you for raising so much money to help The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation fight childhood cancers.
Thank you for all your support. Make it a great week.
B+
Ali & Andrew’s Dad