The 5 Year Old With the Lifelong Ribbon
By: McKenzie Mollica
She was 5 years old, headed to daycare, and living a normal life. Her dad lifted her out of the car, and when he lifted her she screamed. He put her down, and then attempted again to lift her out of the car, she screamed again. He didn’t know what was wrong, so he called her mom, and decided that she needed to be taken to the pediatrician.
We got down to the Pediatricians and sat in the waiting room for a little while. About 10 minutes later, she got called into the exam room. They noticed these bumps, they knew what they were looking at, and they knew that it was odd. An MRI needed to be done soon. Her parents could either make the decision to go to Children’s Hospital in Washington DC, or they could wait, and get to Johns Hopkins They decided that we would go to Washington DC, and get the MRI done.
When they got down to Children's, she got prepped and then was taken into the MRI room. They had her lay down on the table and then began. When they were looking at the pictures, they saw it. It wasn’t an easy discovery to make, and they had no clue how to break it to her parents. They finished taking the pictures, took her out of the machine, and they put her in a room. Now the doctors had to break the news.
“How is she?” Her parents asked.
“The good news is, we know what's wrong with her. The bad news is...we haven’t seen anything quite like this before,” replied the doctor.
“Well, what’s wrong with her?” Her parents asked.
“She has a brain tumor, and those dots on her chest are signs of precocious puberty. They’re called breast buds.” the doctor said.
The parents were devastated. They didn’t know what to think. They were hoping it was just a bad dream, that they could wake up and everything would be ok. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of a lifelong journey.
Since her parents aren’t doctors, the first question was “So what’s next?”
The doctor had begun to tell them what the diagnosis is, what they can do about it, how it’s treated, and all the important information. There were a few parts that were pretty hard to hear, and there were a few decisions to be made, but they knew that whatever they chose, would impact their daughter’s life forever.That evening, after the doctor had talked to them, there were a couple of things that just weren’t sittingwell with them. This tumor was in a place where the operation could be fatal, when she has a fever she has to be rushed to the ER, and this would be with her forever, and there was nothing they could do about it. With all this information in mind, they decided to leave her in the care of Children’s National, and little did she know, this place was going to be her second home for quite a while. After a little while, they got to see their baby girl, and they got to explain to her what is going on.
After this moment in time, everything happened so fast. Scans were being done, tests being run, blood being drawn, surgeries happening, and once all that was done, things began to relax a little bit. By the end of the fast working, a couple of things had been done. The daughter had a titanium plate in her head, a port in her chest that would be accessed once a week to provide treatment, and the beginning of a story she would live to tell to everyone.
The next step in this process was 15 months of chemotherapy. Every Thursday, she had to skip school to go to Children’s National where a needle would be stuck into the port, and she would be hooked up to a pole that would hold the fluids being given to her through the port. In addition to getting this treatment, every three months, a shot would be inserted in her leg. It was known to the family as “Lupron” and it was a shot given in her thigh to help slow down the puberty process. The hardest part of it all was taking temodar. Temodar was a pill she had to take every night, and because she hated pills, the family had to break it up, put it in chocolate
sauce, and give it to her that way. Of course, that never went as planned.
After this, all the memories became a blur to the daughter. The pattern was the same, the weekly rounds of chemo, the MRI’s every month, and the daily dose of medicine. Everything was at a standstill point in her life. It was going as well as it could be given her condition, and she had nothing to worry about. The next monumental point in her story was getting the port removed.
After the 15 months of chemo, and seeing that she was getting better, and what the doctors were doing was working, she was getting the port removed. It was surgery day, and she had to get up super early that morning so she could be down in DC by about 6:30. She was sitting in the waiting room, and she heard her name called. She went back, the doctor got her prepped, put her under anesthesia, and the surgery began.
When asked about her surgery, she doesn’t really remember much, but she does remember when she was finally awake, and well again, she noticed this huge orange stain on her arm and these stitches. The stitches were for where they had sewn up the incision to remove the port. Once the stitches went away, she was left with a super cool lifelong scar. However, the orange dye all over her arm was from a contrast used for something, but she doesn’t remember what. The best part of that whole day was when she got to leave, and see her grandmother on the way home.
She would continue to go for checkups routinely, and she would get to see the amazing doctors often. She even participated in a 5k the hospital held and did a fundraising event. She raised over 10 thousand dollars, and she was featured in the news and the Frederick News-Post for this. She met amazing friends, celebrities, and real-life superheroes. The doctors and nurses are the closest you will ever get to a real superhero, as they save lives every day.
She leads a normal life, and you would never know she had a brain tumor by looking at her. She wears her gray ribbon with pride since the gray ribbon is for brain cancer. She celebrated 5 years off treatment in recent years, and she is doing better than ever. She still goes every 6 months for an MRI to make sure everything is stable, and nothing is super wrong. She is so lucky to be here today, and is loved more than she knows.
I am McKenzie, and this is the story of when I was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor.
#GrayRibbon #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth #ISurvived #ItWillGetBetter
We got down to the Pediatricians and sat in the waiting room for a little while. About 10 minutes later, she got called into the exam room. They noticed these bumps, they knew what they were looking at, and they knew that it was odd. An MRI needed to be done soon. Her parents could either make the decision to go to Children’s Hospital in Washington DC, or they could wait, and get to Johns Hopkins They decided that we would go to Washington DC, and get the MRI done.
When they got down to Children's, she got prepped and then was taken into the MRI room. They had her lay down on the table and then began. When they were looking at the pictures, they saw it. It wasn’t an easy discovery to make, and they had no clue how to break it to her parents. They finished taking the pictures, took her out of the machine, and they put her in a room. Now the doctors had to break the news.
“How is she?” Her parents asked.
“The good news is, we know what's wrong with her. The bad news is...we haven’t seen anything quite like this before,” replied the doctor.
“Well, what’s wrong with her?” Her parents asked.
“She has a brain tumor, and those dots on her chest are signs of precocious puberty. They’re called breast buds.” the doctor said.
The parents were devastated. They didn’t know what to think. They were hoping it was just a bad dream, that they could wake up and everything would be ok. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of a lifelong journey.
Since her parents aren’t doctors, the first question was “So what’s next?”
The doctor had begun to tell them what the diagnosis is, what they can do about it, how it’s treated, and all the important information. There were a few parts that were pretty hard to hear, and there were a few decisions to be made, but they knew that whatever they chose, would impact their daughter’s life forever.That evening, after the doctor had talked to them, there were a couple of things that just weren’t sittingwell with them. This tumor was in a place where the operation could be fatal, when she has a fever she has to be rushed to the ER, and this would be with her forever, and there was nothing they could do about it. With all this information in mind, they decided to leave her in the care of Children’s National, and little did she know, this place was going to be her second home for quite a while. After a little while, they got to see their baby girl, and they got to explain to her what is going on.
After this moment in time, everything happened so fast. Scans were being done, tests being run, blood being drawn, surgeries happening, and once all that was done, things began to relax a little bit. By the end of the fast working, a couple of things had been done. The daughter had a titanium plate in her head, a port in her chest that would be accessed once a week to provide treatment, and the beginning of a story she would live to tell to everyone.
The next step in this process was 15 months of chemotherapy. Every Thursday, she had to skip school to go to Children’s National where a needle would be stuck into the port, and she would be hooked up to a pole that would hold the fluids being given to her through the port. In addition to getting this treatment, every three months, a shot would be inserted in her leg. It was known to the family as “Lupron” and it was a shot given in her thigh to help slow down the puberty process. The hardest part of it all was taking temodar. Temodar was a pill she had to take every night, and because she hated pills, the family had to break it up, put it in chocolate
sauce, and give it to her that way. Of course, that never went as planned.
After this, all the memories became a blur to the daughter. The pattern was the same, the weekly rounds of chemo, the MRI’s every month, and the daily dose of medicine. Everything was at a standstill point in her life. It was going as well as it could be given her condition, and she had nothing to worry about. The next monumental point in her story was getting the port removed.
After the 15 months of chemo, and seeing that she was getting better, and what the doctors were doing was working, she was getting the port removed. It was surgery day, and she had to get up super early that morning so she could be down in DC by about 6:30. She was sitting in the waiting room, and she heard her name called. She went back, the doctor got her prepped, put her under anesthesia, and the surgery began.
When asked about her surgery, she doesn’t really remember much, but she does remember when she was finally awake, and well again, she noticed this huge orange stain on her arm and these stitches. The stitches were for where they had sewn up the incision to remove the port. Once the stitches went away, she was left with a super cool lifelong scar. However, the orange dye all over her arm was from a contrast used for something, but she doesn’t remember what. The best part of that whole day was when she got to leave, and see her grandmother on the way home.
She would continue to go for checkups routinely, and she would get to see the amazing doctors often. She even participated in a 5k the hospital held and did a fundraising event. She raised over 10 thousand dollars, and she was featured in the news and the Frederick News-Post for this. She met amazing friends, celebrities, and real-life superheroes. The doctors and nurses are the closest you will ever get to a real superhero, as they save lives every day.
She leads a normal life, and you would never know she had a brain tumor by looking at her. She wears her gray ribbon with pride since the gray ribbon is for brain cancer. She celebrated 5 years off treatment in recent years, and she is doing better than ever. She still goes every 6 months for an MRI to make sure everything is stable, and nothing is super wrong. She is so lucky to be here today, and is loved more than she knows.
I am McKenzie, and this is the story of when I was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor.
#GrayRibbon #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth #ISurvived #ItWillGetBetter
McKenzie Mollica is 14 years old, and a freshman at Oakdale High School. She loves to write, has written many stories, and has received a few awards for some of her pieces. She is also taking Journalism this year as a way for her to continue her writing career for her school. In addition to writing, she also loves to dance.