Last August, while visiting my hometown of San Francisco with my husband and our two kids, I noticed something small but deeply unsettling while giving my five-year-old daughter, Aiyla, a bath. Her right eye suddenly drifted upward toward the ceiling. I had a wandering eye as a child, so at first I wondered if it could be genetic, but something in me knew it wasn’t right.My dad was with us on the trip and urged us to take her in immediately. I kept asking if it could wait until we returned home to Denver, but he insisted. That insistence may have saved my daughter’s life.At UCSF, Aiyla had a CT scan. I truly believed we were about to be sent home. Instead, a doctor came in with a serious expression and gently explained that the scan showed a mass in Aiyla’s brainstem. The compassion she showed us in that moment is something I will never forget. She was a mother herself, with tears in her eyes as she delivered the news. Aiyla was admitted right away. I woke up the next morning in the hospital feeling like none of it was real, like we were living inside a nightmare I hadn’t yet accepted.Further imaging revealed the tumor was located in the medulla of her brainstem, making surgery and a traditional biopsy extremely difficult. Aiyla was later diagnosed with a rare brain tumor: astroblastoma with MN1 fusion.Four days after that first diagnosis, we traveled back to Colorado to continue her care at Children’s Hospital Colorado. In the fall, our family temporarily relocated to Philadelphia so Aiyla could receive proton radiation therapy. After seven long weeks of treatment, Aiyla finished proton therapy on December 3rd and rang the bell — a moment we will carry with us forever.Through everything, Aiyla has remained herself. She has not lost her sparkle. Her resilience, joy, and strength continue to amaze us every single day. We are now living scan to scan, with her next MRI scheduled for January 16. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but we are hopeful. We’ve seen her eye improve, and others have noticed it too.