Desi Strong Foundation

Purpose:
We were completely powerless when it came to curing Desi's disease. Desi would have less than 5 weeks in between treatments which always kept us on our toes. We learned so much about her disease, the treatments that could keep her alive, the horrible side effects that these treatments had on her body and spirit and most importantly, how to be Desi's advocate. After each treatment we would

do our best to catch the side effects early so that we could minimize the pain and nausea that Desi would endure. Outthinking the disease and trying our best to curb the side effects of the treatments made decisions very complicated; the energy that we spent fighting the side effects became so significant that it was hard to imagine that she was fighting cancer as well. We want to help lighten the load of families who are going through the hardships and obstacles that Desi and our family went through. We want to provide children and their families with items that made our extended stays in the hospital more manageable and our daughter's treatments more comfortable. We want to assist with providing money for food, gas and other expenses. We want the siblings of the patients to know that they have not been forgotten. Through our own experiences we saw our daughter benefit from having a doll as a therapeutic tool. We are very interested in designing and producing a "Desi Doll." While Desi was fighting cancer she would treat her dolls like her patients, they too had cancer. She would give them IV's, ports and check their vitals. Caring for them as if she was their doctor. The Desi Doll will emulate everything that Desi was and continues to be. The doll will reflect children that are fighting cancer by being bald and have the ability to be cared for. It is our mission to have the foundation provide dolls to as many children fighting cancer as we can reach. Our most important goal is to raise funds to find a cure for pediatric cancer in Desi's name. Please help us in this fight! Desi has taught the world so many things in her 6 years of life. She danced through chemo, loved unconditionally & never lost her beautiful smile. We want every cancer fighting child to feel the love that Desi was so graciously given.