Bruna B.
For those who don’t know her, she is Bruna! For many years we had prayed to God for our little girl, and He granted us this little miracle. Sadly, when she was 3 months old, she began to have convulsions, a small “cyst” was detected in her brain that was later identified as a brain tumor (cancer/Ganglioglioma).
When she was just 4 months old, she underwent surgery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Before she was 1 year old, the tumor grew 3 times its size. In the midst of a pandemic with all borders closed, God put angels on our path that brought us to the best place for her, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. When she was 1 year old, she already had a second surgery! The following month she would undergo her third surgery.
At 1 year and 2 months old, she started chemotherapy, not the conventional one, but oral, an experimental medicine that allowed her to have fewer side effects. Despite everything, she has had the best medical team giving her all kinds of support that can be imagined. She was truly blessed because God put incredible people in her path at all times who have helped us make all this more bearable. She has had two years of chemo with many good and bad days.
Today, Bruna rang the little bell that says “my chemo is over'' and we thank God and all those who have been here these two years and 11 months of her hard battle.
I know we still have a long way to go. I know we still have to be alert. There are still monthly check-ups, but I know that God is taking care of her and giving her everything she needs to follow her path in the best possible way.
Thank you all for joining us in the way you have been able to. Bruna is incredible! You can’t even imagine how strong, brave, and loved she is...and everything she has taught me in these short 3 years of life.
Update May, 2023:
Today was another day of hospital, although to be honest I was a little sad this time because Bruna has had a small inconvenience with the port she has implanted in her chest, apparently it is damaged and that has been causing her some discomfort... very painful for her, she broke my heart because she always goes with the best attitude but this time it was not so easy "help mom, help, it hurts" were her words between tears and pain and my powerlessness of not being able to do anything to relieve her when she sought support on her mama made me feel even worse ..
The other sad part of these hospital experiences is seeing so many children with problems, some more serious than others, Bruna received a "little gift" from a foundation that was created by a 12 year old girl who battled cancer, @jessiereesfoundation that in her message she said she wanted to spread hope, joy and love to the children who were battling just like her and to NEVER GIVE UP!!! sadly she couldn't get out of this one but her message is travelling through a lot of hospitals giving a smile to our brave little heroes... My heart felt really tight this time, but hey, it's what we got..
I always try to rescue the kind side of this fight, there are few times that I allow this to put me down, to the point that even those around us may think that the fight is less difficult than it seems, but only my mom heart knows how hard What is to see my beloved princess at only 3 years old, shedding tears of pain, asking with her little eyes not to leave her alone, to rescue her in these moments... Thank god Bruna has amazing resilience!!! And it recharges my batteries... Leaving the exam and distracted with everything they do for her, to make her day more bearable, she finished her day telling me "Mom today I'm happy, I love you so much!!! I have an incredible princess!
Raceway Rendezvous Gala 2024
Update April, 2025:
And here we go again! To climb this roller coaster of emotions that no one wants to be in, to continue fighting against this disease that does not want to leave completely the body of my little princess Brunita, God will want the third to be the defeat
Between needles, MRIs, anesthesia, doctors, tests and bad times, I try to make the moment something fun, full of games, stories, activities and more and so we spent a couple of days in the hospital, "life is beautiful" style, playing to pass the bitter drinks... She's enjoying "the ride" to the fullest, like it's a vacation and bad things happen in the background...
Unfortunately in February we were told that the tumor was back in her brain, it is something small but inaccessible for a surgery and next to the marrow, a higher risk area, at that time the doctor decided to wait 2 months to reevaluate it, the longest two months of my life! After these days in the hospital things are still the same, but for our concern of what might affect her decided to start with chemotherapy again, praying that her body assimilates it in the best way possible and that soon that little head is clean forever!
Her daddies will always be with her, tirelessly, starting as many times as necessary to be able to see her as she is! Beautiful, smart, active and full of life!! Plus, she has a big army supporting her in her fight, filled with calls, messages of encouragement, prayers, surprises and lots of love! Despite everything, it's nice to feel that affection and we thank from the heart to all the people who accompany us in a thousand ways in this great battle since 5 years ago!
Let's get this third fight season started...
Chemo Day 1 My brave princess isn’t so convinced she wants to do it but she does, no doubt it’s for her own good. Not everything is rose color, remedies come and go, what you see is only for a month! tears and sadness lurk around, but she even gives the luxury of comforting me and telling me "everything is going to be fine" as the house camera just caught the video.
With faith and hope that this is the final season and that God will leave it healthy and we will pass this battle more without major losses
#braintumorssuck #braintumor #braintumorawareness
Update August 2026:
There are moments in a mother’s life that divide time into a “before” and an “after.” For me, many of those moments have Bruna’s name on them.
Bruna has been fighting since she was just a baby. She was only a few months old when our world changed and we learned that our little girl had a brain tumor. Instead of spending those first years worrying only about milestones, first words, first steps, and birthday parties, our lives became filled with hospitals, neurosurgeries, MRIs, specialists, medications, and the constant fear that comes with knowing something is growing inside your child’s brain.
Bruna underwent multiple surgeries, beginning when she was only 3 months old. Her tumor is a recurrent left frontotemporal glioneuronal tumor with a BRAF V600E mutation, located in an extremely delicate area involving critical structures of her brain. Because it could not be completely removed, part of the tumor remained, and from that moment forward, watching and fighting it became part of our lives.
Eventually, Bruna began targeted therapy with dabrafenib and trametinib. For 104 weeks, we watched our little girl take her medications, go through appointments, MRIs, blood work, heart monitoring, eye examinations, and everything else that came with treatment.
And then she finished, at least we thought that! I wish I could explain what that moment felt like as her mother.
After years of living from one MRI to the next, we finally allowed ourselves to breathe a little deeper. We were so grateful. So happy. So incredibly proud of her. We wanted to believe that maybe the hardest part of Bruna’s story was finally behind us.
For a mother who has spent years afraid of losing her child, that hope is indescribable.
And then came the news we had prayed we would never hear. Her tumor was growing again…
I cannot adequately describe what it feels like to hear those words after watching your child fight for so long. It felt as though the ground disappeared beneath us. All the fear we had tried so hard to put away came rushing back at once.
There was one thing that had not changed: Bruna!
Our little girl was still smiling. Still learning. Still playing. Still making plans. Still finding joy in the middle of circumstances no child should ever have to understand.
So in April 2025, Bruna had to restart targeted therapy. For the third time, we found ourselves facing this tumor all over again. And no matter how many times this fight asks us to begin again, we will. For her. Every single time.
Today, she continues taking dabrafenib and trametinib under close supervision from her pediatric neuro-oncology team at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Her doses are carefully adjusted as she grows. She undergoes an MRI every three months, ophthalmology evaluations, echocardiograms, neuropsychological assessments, and continuous oncology follow-ups.
This is our life again.
We celebrate normal days while carrying the date of the next MRI quietly in the back of our minds. We celebrate school, birthdays, laughter, family time, and every beautiful little milestone—while knowing that another scan can change everything with a few words.
As her mother, I have learned that you can be deeply grateful and deeply afraid at the same time.
But more than anything, I have learned from Bruna.
She has taught us that courage does not always look like someone who is unafraid. Sometimes courage looks like a little girl walking into another hospital appointment and still finding a reason to smile afterward. Sometimes it looks like taking medicine day after day and then going back to being a child. Sometimes it is simply waking up and choosing joy when life has already asked far too much of you.
We do not know exactly what the future holds for Bruna. I wish with every part of me that I could promise her a life without another MRI, another medication, another surgery, or another frightening phone call.
I cannot. What I can promise her is that she will never walk this road alone.
We will continue beside her through every scan, every appointment, every good result and every difficult one. We will continue searching for the best care available to her and doing everything within our power to protect the life she has fought so hard to live.
And while this chapter was not the ending we had prayed for when she completed those 104 weeks of treatment, Bruna’s story is still being written.
It is a story of hope after heartbreak, of childhood in the middle of uncertainty, and of a little girl whose life is so much bigger than her diagnosis.
Thank you to every person who has cared about Bruna, prayed for her, supported her, and chosen to follow her journey.
As her mom, there are no words big enough to explain what it means to know that other people are standing beside our little girl.
We continue to hope. We continue to believe.
And most of all, we continue to let Bruna show us how beautifully life can be lived—even in the middle of the fight
