Gianna had undergone eight surgeries and numerous chemotherapy treatments on her brain tumor at Philadelphia Children's Hospital in her 15 months of life before she met Pope Francis in September. Doctors had told her parents, Masciantonio and Kristen, that she would likely not survive.
With the help of their friend Donny Asper — an FBI agent who was assigned to guard the pope's route in Philadelphia — the family made it the location on Market Street where the pope was due to pass.
Masciantonio says he held out Gianna and when the pope drove by, his security head spotted Masciantonio hoisting Gianna and grabbed her. The pontiff kissed Gianna on the head and granted her his blessing.
The euphoria of the moment would not last long, however. Gianna still had two pending chemotherapy treatments and an MRI that would show if they were working. Last week, six weeks after her encounter with the Pope, Gianna's MRI results came back, showing the tumor had shrunk significantly, Masciantonio said.
"It [tumor] was basically just a blush on the screen," he said. "It was virtually invisible."
Doctors told them that, although the tumor had not been completely eradicated, the prognosis was life-changing: Gianna would likely survive.
