Learn about Luli’s Story from her mother, Melissa

We know firsthand the positive benefits that The Goodtimes Project has on children dealing with cancer. I’d like to share with you my daughter Luli’s story of her brain cancer diagnosis, as well as the joy, healing, and sense of belonging she found at Camp Goodtimes.

Luli’s full name, Luljeta, means “Flower of Life” in Albanian. She has always embodied that spirit—joyful, creative, full of music and rainbows. For most of her childhood, she was healthy and thriving… until slowly, something changed. There were countless doctor visits and tests—always reassuring, yet our instincts said something was very wrong.

On July 11, 2022, everything shifted. Luli became so sick we rushed her to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In that emergency room—in a city we’d only lived in for six months—we heard the words no parent is ever prepared to hear: a CT scan revealed a large brain tumor. Soon after, she was diagnosed with ATRT, an aggressive and rare brain cancer.

For eight months, we lived full-time in the hospital as she fought to survive. Luli endured three brain surgeries, multiple rounds of intense chemotherapy, a stem cell rescue, and 30 sessions of radiation to her brain and spine. Some days her greatest battles were simply opening her eyes or taking a breath. Yet her hope never wavered. “Mommy, I just got sick,” she told me one day, “and then I’m going to get better.”

When treatment ended, we returned home to Seattle to begin recovery—an equally long and difficult journey. Luli had gone from performing hip-hop onstage to needing help just walking to the bathroom. We searched for every possible healing resource to help her rebuild strength and confidence.

That’s when we found Camp Goodtimes.

The idea of sleepaway camp felt both exciting and terrifying. Luli had never spent a night away from us—especially not since treatment. She worried about safety, belonging, and what others may think. But knowing medical staff would be onsite, and visiting camp ahead of time, gave her courage to try.

When she arrived at Camp Goodtimes, she experienced something she had been missing for so long: joy. Her favorite moment was the welcome gauntlet. The campers and volunteers surrounded her, cheering, dancing, and singing “Fight Song” while Luli was on the microphone. “It felt like being wrapped in love by people who understand me,” she said.

At camp, she didn’t have to explain her scars or her feeding tube. If she was tired, people simply understood. Once, when her team lost a silly game during lunch and Luli felt disappointed, a fellow camper rushed to hug her—an effortless act of friendship she rarely experiences anywhere else. For one precious week, she wasn’t the girl with cancer. She was just Luli.

Camp Goodtimes remains the only place where Luli feels fully herself—where she builds friendships, shares bunk beds and bedtime crafts, and gets to be a kid again. Even after returning to school, connecting has been hard. But at camp? She belongs.

As her mom, seeing Luli laugh, grow, and believe in her future again has been the greatest gift I could imagine.

This is the healing that Camp Goodtimes creates.

And it is only possible because of people like you.

Will you help more children like Luli experience the joy, safety, and belonging they need? Your gift ensures that families never pay to send their child to any Goodtimes program—and that kids facing cancer continue to rediscover life, friendship, and hope.

Thank you for your help in bringing the joys of childhood back into our daughter’s world, and into the lives of so many others.

With gratitude,

Melissa Muca
Luli’s Proud Mother

Be a champion for goodtimes

You can also mail us a check to:

The Goodtimes Project
6344 NE 74th St, Ste. 102
Seattle, WA 98115