Tessa Ebert was only 18 months of age when she was diagnosed with a right retroperitoneal infrarenal mass (a tumor) called a Neuroblastoma Stage 2A. The tumor measured 6.3 cm by 8 cm. Unfortunately, Tessa’s parents were farmers in rural Colorado and couldn’t afford to pay for her treatment at a local hospital. When Boyd Yarbough (board of directions) brought Tessa’s case to UNITED2CURE’s attention during October 2011, U2C decided to help. U2C offered free advice to Tessa’s doctors in Colorado about how to treat Tessa’s cancer.
The plan given was to use several aggressive cycles of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor to a smaller size, and then surgically remove it. During April 2012, Tessa’s surgery was successfully performed. Still, the surgery was costly. U2C decided to help Tessa’s parents pay for the healthcare insurance, but it was discovered that Tessa’s family qualified for Medicaid and all the medical bills were handled. In October 2012, a year after U2C first heard about Tessa, U2C received an update; Tessa is healthy and living a normal life. Other than a few faded scars, she shows no signs that she was ever ill. Tessa is a bright, funny young girl that constantly makes everyone hold their stomachs from laughter everyday.