Matty’s spirit shines bright in California
Mattea, Matty, is a 10-year-old that likes playing with her friends, swimming, and playing with slime! She has a free-spirit personality that will put a smile on your face. The things her parents cherish most about Matty are her silliness, love of dancing, and caring personality. Matty loves the Marvel and Despicable ME/Minion movies. Recently, Matty was able to see her favorite movie characters on a trip to Universal Studios. Elvi, her mom, shared a few photos of their trip and said it was, “her first time and she had so much fun. It was great to see her happy, to be able feel like a kid, and not have to think or worry about her current situation.” Matty is braving a very rare type of Ovarian Sarcoma.
There are many days when her family is focused on making the long drive to Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California. They travel 60 miles for chemotherapy and transfusions as part of Matty’s cancer treatment. These drives get exhausting, especially when driving in the city. Elvi is grateful to have reliable transportation to get back and forth to Matty’s treatments, but they struggle with paying for gas and tolls.
“Going back and forth to treatment and follow up appointments adds up”, mom told Compass to Care. It’s also emotionally challenging, and to help reduce anxiety for these trips, mom and daughter have small conversations about what to expect, whether it be labs, transfusions or treatment. Mom shared, “We like to point out the positive outcomes to help Mattea feel less anxious.” For parent’s on a similar journey; making long trips to treatment for a child diagnosed with cancer, Evi offers these encouraging words: “I would say take it day by day. Receive help when it’s offered. Something like this definitely takes a toll on your mental and emotional state. All we can do is be there and comfort our child as they go through this journey. Allow your child to feel all their emotions and be that safe space for them.”
Matty wants to be a nurse, doctor or teacher when she grows up. She has appreciated all the doctors and nurses helping her throughout her journey and she says when she gets older, she would like to help kids the way she is being helped and would like to comfort kids to let them know what she has gone through.
Despite her diagnosis, Matty has such a good heart and knows how to have fun. The Compass to Care team sends a big (virtual) hug to Mattea and her family. Thank you to our donors that have made it possible to support our new California family make 6 trips to cancer treatment.