“It was in early June [that] Rox started having headaches and the headaches developed into nausea and she even had double vision,” said her father Scott.
After multiple visits to multiple doctors trying to find out what was wrong with their daughter, little Roxli Doss, Scott and Gena Doss were finally given the bad news.
Roxli had a very aggressive inoperable brain tumor called DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma). Worse, there’s no known cure.
All they could do was pray to God for a miracle. “And we got it,” said Gena. “Praise God we did,” Scott added.
Before the diagnosis, Roxli was a normal energetic 10-year-old.
She loved playing with friends and riding horses.
But that all changed. The inoperable tumor on the back of her brain was pushing on her spinal cord changing the once bright and happy girl into one suffering with headaches, nausea, and double vision.
Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital said this type of brain tumor can control your “breathing, heart rate and the nerves and muscles that help us see, hear, walk, talk and eat.”
Dr. Virginia Harrod with Dell Children’s Medical Center explained, “It is very rare, but when we see it, it is a devastating disease. You have decreased ability to swallow, sometimes vision loss, decreased ability to talk, eventually difficulty with breathing.”
In August, not knowing how long Roxli had to live, her friends, family, and community rallied around her.
They launched a GoFundMe campaign to help pay her rapidly rising medical bills and even hosted a benefit concert in her honor.
Hundreds of people showed up to the benefit concert in support of Roxli.
Heather Arnold, a family friend, was inspired by the outpouring of love from the community: “People are coming here for a little girl they don’t even know and just supporting and giving love to this family.”
According to the GoFundMe page, the family has raised $26,561 of their $50,000 goal.
Roxli’s father was overwhelmed. “It’s a great feeling because when something like this happens to you, in the very beginning we felt so alone, but it didn’t take very long for us to realize that we’re not alone in this.”
“The doctors guide us, but really the true guidance that we’re looking for is from God because that’s who we need our help from right now, and we’re really just praying for a miracle,” he added.
And with Christmas approaching, a miracle was just what God was planning.
After a recent doctor’s visit, scans revealed that Roxli’s tumor had vanished without a trace and without any scientific explanation.
“When I first saw Roxli’s MRI scan, it was actually unbelievable,” Harrod said. “The tumor is undetectable on the MRI scan, which is really unusual.”
According to the local news reporting on the miracle, “Doctors can’t explain why the tumor disappeared.”
“She is just as active as she ever was,” said Scott.
“Every day we still say it,” said Gena. “It’s kind of our family thing that God healed Roxli.”
Please pray for Roxli and her family that the tumor would stay gone and never come back, and praise the Lord for this Christmas miracle!
And if you are able this Christmas season, please consider chipping in to the family’s medical bills here.
