Eight months after being diagnosed with cancer, a Timmins girl is in remission.
Eleven-year-old Tori Mills was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkins lymphoma in May 2017. Today, she was with her parents at City Hall to help proclaim March as Children’s Wish Foundation month. The Canadian organization grants wishes to Canadian children diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses.
Tori’s name was submitted to the Children’s Wish group by staff at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).
For her wish, Tori knew she wanted to take a cruise with her family.
“I searched up the biggest one, which was Harmony of the Seas and I saw that it had water slides, a mini mall, almost everything,” she said.
Since starting her search for the biggest cruise, a bigger ship offering even more called Symphony of the Seas, is hitting the water.
While the Mills’ won’t be on the ship’s maiden voyage, the plan is to take the Caribbean cruise in the five-year time span allotted to use her wish.
Tori’s cancer journey started in May 2017.
“One of my best friend’s found a lump here,” she said, pointing to her neck where there’s a light scar.
She pointed it out to her dad, Edward, during supper and they went to Timmins and District Hospital the next day. That was May 17. The morning of May 18, mom Andrea said they were in an air ambulance to CHEO in Ottawa.
It took eight days after getting there to find out that her lymphoma is non-terminal.
“For the first eight days it was scary,” Andrea said.
Since then, Tori has been through six, 21-day rounds of chemotherapy, and four weeks of radiation from Monday to Friday. She also had daily injections to boost her immune system.
Jan. 16 she was officially declared to be in remission.
Tori is back home with her family in Timmins now and will be celebrating her 12th birthday March 20.
