BMWK: What can you share with people who either have never donated to St. Jude or don’t really understand the magnitude of the donations?
Elnora: The word magnitude, I love that word because it’s–it’s exploring each and every aspect of the hospital… because I’ve seen firsthand what it takes to run the hospital. Each one of my daughters has had to have a different type of treatment. For instance, one walks with a cane, one has braces on their legs. Every aspect of childcare I’ve had to have under that building; from orthopedic doctors to neurologists and other specialists, it’s not a cheap thing. It’s nothing that I could afford out of my pocket. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have St. Jude because my children have to have different types of treatment done.
I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have St. Jude …
It’s very expensive so I’m grateful to St. Jude for what they’ve provided for my family, which I don’t think we would be able to get it anywhere else, the magnitude that they have just given us. I’m thankful and grateful for that. For donors or people that don’t know, come and experience it. St. Jude is a place, there’s no other place like it and I always express, just to come and see, just to go online and look. They’re actual stories, actual people, this is a real-life thing.
BMWK: So how are the girls doing now in terms of their health?
Elnora: They are doing really, really, really good. They’re receiving their chemo and radiation from time to time. They’re doing great. They’re doing awesome. They’re reading, doing things that they probably would have been doing. They’re able to function and I’m so grateful to St. Jude because before, it wasn’t a very optimistic experience. Now I’m looking forward to day-to-day things that they’ll be able to do or are able to do now.
BMWK: That’s really exciting, and I’m so glad to hear that. I know just a couple of months after Jayla and Felicia were cleared of cancer, you were then diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. What was your process like in terms of treatment and how are you doing right now?
Elnora: I’m doing great right now. I had a scare three months ago and I had another scare last week. I got out of the hospital on Friday, but I’m doing really well, really, really well. When you come from the experience that I have, to go into the experience of your own and your life flashing before your eyes, it brings a whole new revelation for life. I was given six months when I found out I was diagnosed.
BMWK: Wow. How long ago was that?
Elnora: Yes, ma’am. That was 2010. I’ve had a possible scare every year since 2010 all the way up to last week. That was–I would flash through my mind who’s going to be here for my children? My husband is great, but it’s just nothing like a mother to be there for her children. It brought on a whole new fight for me. It’s not about me, I’ve got to fight with everything I’ve got. I put in my mind that I’ve got to be here for them. I felt like I had to get a boost, if you will, just to make it. Yes I had some bad days, but I couldn’t let it overshadow the big picture, which was to be here for my children.
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