7 years ago, we brought Emmy to the hospital to figure out why she was having so many headaches. She was only 4, hardly old enough to tell us her head hurt. We knew we had to bring her in when she grabbed her head at the breakfast table and kept saying 'owe' over and over. Jenna googled it. PS: Don't ever do that. But seriously, not likely a brain tumor as google said, not our kid. show full storyIt's probably a migraine. Fast forward a few hours when we took her into the ER. They nearly sent us back home without any answers, but something just didn't feel right. After some pleading with the ER doc, they finally did a CT scan which showed the mass in her brain. After Emmy's Auntie Kaycee (a nurse at Gillette Children's) was notified, she helped make plans to get Emmy transferred over to Gillette Children's Hospital. After waiting for 3 hours, an ambulance took Emmy over to Gillette's where she was sedated for an MRI of her brain and neck. Our first piece of good news: the tumor was in tact and had not broken off or traveled down her spine! YAY! But, because her tumor was pressing on her 4th ventricle in her brain, her spinal fluid was not able to drain appropriately, which lead to a major build up of fluid in her brain: hydrocephalus, therefore explaining the headaches. Emmy was outfitted with a brain drain for 24 hours before surgery could take place. On Friday, April 8th, 2016, Emmy had a 6 hour surgery to remove her tumor. Our second set of prayers were answered when Dr. Graupman successfully removed her tumor. Our next set of prayers were answered when the tumor was benign! Truly blessed. Emmy spent 18 days in the hospital recovering. She had to learn how to walk and talk again. For an almost five year old, her determination and strength to walk and talk again was quite impressive. There was not a single complaint for the multiple therapy and doctor appointments she went to that summer and fall. We can't help but give back. We HAVE to help those that will unfortunately come after us, so they have a chance to have the same result as Emmy did. AND that is why we are so excited to participate in the MN Brain Tumor 5K! Every penny raised from this event will be used for brain tumor research. Please help by sponsoring Emmy today! If not for the donations and research that came before Emmy, no doubt Emmy would not have the amazing results she did! Please help Emmy make a difference for others! XOXOXO