By Times Chronicle Staff

Osoyoos’ fiercest warrior now faces the biggest battle of her life after doctors at the BC Children’s Hospital determined Tianna has Ewing Sarcoma, a very rare (one in one million) form of bone cancer.

In an update to the Tianna Strong Facebook page close family friends have shared more details about Tianna’s condition and the long road that lies in front of her.

“We wanted to share a little bit of what this journey is going to look like so everyone understands just how long of a road this beautiful family has ahead of them.

“This is not a ‘few weeks and come home’ situation. This is going to be months and months of treatments, appointments, hospital stays, scans, recovery days, good days, hard days, and everything in between,” the post read.

The post also provides a window into what Tianna’s treatment plan looks like:

  • Evaluations – Doctors gather all the information they need and make sure they have the best plan to fight this.
  • Induction Chemotherapy – This is the first big round of chemo — six cycles over approximately 12 weeks. This stage is designed to attack the cancer and shrink it as much as possible.
  • More Evaluations – Scans and tests will check how her body and the cancer are responding.
  • Local Control – This is when doctors focus on the original tumour area, which may involve surgery, radiation, or both, depending on what Tianna needs.
  • Consolidation Chemotherapy – The fight continues with more rounds of chemo. This stage is to keep attacking anything left behind and give Tianna the strongest chance moving forward.
  • More evaluations, more treatments, more fighting.

The family friends note that while this is the ‘plan’ with stages and time frames, “cancer treatment doesn’t run like a calendar. Sometimes bodies need rest. Sometimes blood counts need time. Sometimes plans change. This is a long journey,” they write.

“Right now everyone’s love, excitement to help, messages, and support have been absolutely incredible. But we need everyone to remember Alison, Travis, and Tianna will need this village just as much months from now as they do today,” the post continued.

And they also notes that while it’s easy to show up in the first few weeks, “the real magic is when the community keeps showing up when the journey gets long.”

In the meantime the community is being urged to:

  • Keep wearing your shirts;
  • Keep putting up those purple and green hearts;
  • Keep sending love;
  • Keep cheering her on;
  • Keep supporting this family.

They also highlight that individuals have been collecting cash donations on behalf of Tianna and her family but are urging those wishing to donate to do so through one of four approved locations: Queen of the South, Junction 3 Coffee House, Sage Pub or directly to the Tianna Strong account at BMO.

“These locations have been set up specifically so donations can be properly tracked and accounted for. Please understand that this message is not intended to offend anyone. We know people have the best intentions. Our only goal is to keep everything organized, transparent, and accountable for Tianna and her family,” they wrote.

“Thank you for your understanding, your support, and for helping us do this the right way.”

For the video by Ron Hiller of the giant heart message of support for Tianna visit here.