8-year-old fighting rare brain cancer making strides to recovery

HAMPSTEAD, N.C. (WECT) - 8-year-old Deliah Sitorius has been fighting a rare brain cancer for over a year.

You might remember her story when the Pender county community rallied to support her battle.

Well, that support has been much needed as her fight has been a grueling one.

“Deliah did almost a year of chemo, she had seven infusions left of traditional chemo and then she had a brain scan end of September,” said Ashley Sitorius, Deliah’s mom. “Unfortunately, we weren’t expecting that so we stopped treatment immediately and then there was 6-weeks of trying to figure out what next, what do we do.”

Deliah’s cancer is rare because there’s a genetic mutation. What’s in her brain, is normally found in adult lung cancer.

So, Ashley took to Facebook, asking for help. And found it, in the way of an oral inhibitor -- a different form of treatment.

“It is not FDA approved for pediatrics but her tumor shrunk for the first time in 16 almost 17 months,” said Ashley. “We were thrilled because we had never seen that throughout her medical journey and cancer diagnosis. Her tumor had only remained stable and then towards the end it grew, so it’s been amazing.”

They found out Deliah’s tumor shrunk just before this Christmas.

On top of that, Deliah had the chance to go back to school this year, for the first time in more than a year and continue living a normal life. Even with the coronavirus pandemic looming.

The Sitorius family isn’t sure what the long-term effects of the drug will have on Deliah. For now they’re just thankful and hoping for more good news.

“She has her next scan in February and it’s the first scan I’m actually looking forward to and I’m hoping and praying it will disappear.”

“While the future is unknown, we are extremely optimistic and have a lot of faith.

Even though Deliah has been undergoing treatment for a while now, Deliah’s parents say that has in no way impacted her ability to be a kid.

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