Olivia Tassinari (TASS-IN-AR-REE), 8, medulloblastoma, Plymouth, with parents, Andrea and Jason, and Dr. Susan Chi, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Dana-Farber
- Olivia was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma brain tumor, the size of a small egg, in the lower back part of her brain, close to the brain stem in February 2016. Her parents had noticed she was vomiting and had some minor imbalance while walking.
- Olivia had six months of chemotherapy that started in March 2016. During her treatment, she had a Broviac port, several blood transfusions, a lumbar puncture and bone marrow scan, and a stem cell treatment plan. She had five different chemotherapy medications during her 6-month treatment. Her treatment ended
September 2016, although she does have her regular brain and spine scans every six months. - Her doctors are Dr. Susan Chi and Dr. Michelle Lee.
- She also had two surgeries in 2020 after finding a vascular lesion (small bleeding blood vessel) in the front left part of Olivia's brain.
- Olivia is going into the third grade. She plays soccer, does gymnastics, loves doing Ninja, and takes dance.
- Her family is grateful to Dana-Farber for the degree of patient and family care they provide. They feel no details are overlooked or taken for granted. They say, “Dana-Farber makes you feel as though you are the most important person there
and you become part of a group that you have a connection with forever.” - Andrea ran the Boston Marathon in 2016 during Olivia's treatment and Jason runs an "Olivia Strong" night every season at a Bristol Community College soccer game, where he is a coach, to raise money for the Jimmy Fund.
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