The doctors gave her just 135 days to live.
Her condition deteriorated rapidly but through the pain of radiation therapy Elena found the strength to write hundreds of goodbye notes to her family that she hid all over their house in her final days.
Elena died in August 2007 but her parents Keith and Brooke Desserich are still finding the notes she left behind.
They have published a book called Notes Left Behind as a tribute to Elena and to help their other daughter Gracie, 7, remember her sister.
All proceeds from the book are going to the Cure Starts Now Cancer Foundation, one of the only cancer foundations dedicated to finding a unified cure for all forms of cancer.
Keith, 34, and Brooke, 35, who run a family construction business now also head the Cure Starts Now Cancer Foundation.
