They chose to have one of Millie’s ovaries removed to preserve her fertility before she underwent intensive treatment for a brain tumour.

“They gave us the option to remove an ovary prior to starting the chemotherapy so we opted to do that in the hope that Millie will be able to have children later in life if she chooses to do so,” Jacqui said.

“As a parent of a two-year- old, you don’t think about fertility, you don’t think about egg extraction.”

“We feel there are so many things that have been taken away from her …so many options we didn’t have to give her, and this is an option that we can give her back.”

“If she chooses to not have children, that’s also completely fine, but at least it’s giving her an option later in life.”

Just after Millie’s second birthday, Jacqui and Lewis noticed their daughter had a runny nose and was stumbling. Three weeks later, there was no improvement so the couple took her to The Royal Children’s Hospital.

“We had a CT scan and the results came back with a small tumour pressing against her brain stem and cerebellum,” Jacqui said. “The tumour wasn’t necessarily that big … it was only about 2cm by 3cm – ‘ the size of a small lemon’ is the way they described it,” Jacqui said.

“But because of where it was, it was really precarious.”

“They warned us that Millie may never walk or talk again … it was absolutely heartbreaking news to hear that she may never do those things again.”

Millie had a procedure to drain the excess fluid build-up and the following day she had an operation to remove the dangerous tumour.

After a long 10-hour wait, Jacqui and Lewis received the good news: Millie’s surgery was a success.

“It’s a horrible wait for any parent, no parent wants to be doing it,” Jacqui said.

“No words can express the feeling of seeing her happy, sitting up in bed, calling out for us as soon as she saw us. It was such a beautiful moment.”

But by the end of the week, Millie’s oncology team determined it was medulloblastoma and chemotherapy was a must.

“It was highly aggressive and because of Millie’s age, they couldn’t do radiation so they had to give her an intense chemo dose,” Jacqui said.

“It’s the news that no parent ever wants to get.”

The courageous little girl has undergone two rounds of chemotherapy and faces another four.

“We’re positive about the future,” Jacqui said. “You take joy in the little moments throughout the day like blowing bubbles together or having a laugh.”

“Millie is feisty but also extremely kind,” said her mum. “She’s full of laughter and joy, loves being tickled, loves blowing raspberries and loves being cheeky.”

“We wouldn’t change that for the world.” Jacqui said the nurses and doctors at the hospital had been absolutely phenomenal”.

“The nurses and doctors have advocated on our behalf when we needed them to,” she said.

“They have listened to us, they have taken care to understand our questions.

“We have challenged them on what was happening and not once have we felt disrespected throughout the entire process.”

Jacqui urged all Victorians to donate to the Good Friday Appeal to help other sick children.

“The fact we get all of this for free even down to being able to freeze Millie’s eggs,” she said. “Financially, being here can be quite a burden. Your whole life is uprooted in a heartbeat but the hospital has taken away some of that financial stress of not having to think about some of the costs associated with it.”

“Anyone should donate to the Good Friday Appeal to make sure that everyone else has a really great experience like we have.”