I wish to meet my favourite princesses

Iylee is a cheery, strong, creative seven-year-old who loves crafting, drawing, cooking, and baking. She especially enjoys eating cherries, watching princess movies, and performing gymnastics.

Just weeks before her sixth birthday, she was diagnosed with anaplastic Wilms tumour, a form of kidney cancer found in children. She started chemo right away to shrink the large tumour. After a month of chemo, her doctors removed her kidney. This was followed by radiation, and almost an entire year of chemotherapy. The extended hospital time was difficult for the family, who lives three hours away from the hospital. Iylee was often separated from her siblings during her treatment.

During her lengthy hospital stays, Iylee had a lot of fun dreaming about her wish and it always brought a smile to her face to brainstorm ideas! Her mother Raeanne recalled, “We would often talk about going to see the princesses, and it brought joy and something to look forward to during some hard times.”

After exploring lots of fun ideas, Iylee ultimately wished to go to a Florida theme park! She loved the idea of meeting her favourite characters, going on all the rides (turns out, Iylee is a bit of a thrill seeker!), and making special memories with her family. Iylee was eagerly counting down the days to her trip.

However, just three weeks before they were scheduled to fly to Florida, her doctors found a mass and worried that the cancer had returned. Two more surgeries followed. Thankfully, the mass they found was benign. The trip was rescheduled once her doctors gave her the “all clear”. Today, she is considered to be in remission.

“After Iylee’s wish got postponed for another surgery, we began to look forward even more to the day we could all go together and celebrate her being in remission”, said Raeanne.

Her favourite part of the week-long trip was finally meeting her favourite princesses and going on all the rides! She even got a sneak peek at a new ride before it opened, making her feel very special.

Raeanne reflected on their journey. “It gave us a positive experience all together after a really tough year and a half – an experience that we often talk about and will remember forever.”