Battle for Kaylynn

Meet Kaylynn, my beautiful, inspiring and joyous 4 year old cousin. Her mother's name is Mandi and she has three older brothers named Colten (12), Caleb (11) and Deklan (5). Until a couple months ago, Kaylynn was an average and energetic little girl who loved watching Lilo and Stitch and playing non-stop with her mamma and her siblings. Then in the blink of the eye, she began a battle that no child should have to fight.

In the beginning of March, Kaylynn began to complain about a pain in her foot and Mandi noticed lump like tumors growing on her body during bath time. It took almost a month for the doctors in Saginaw to come up with answers about these mysterious tumors because they were baffled with their appearance. But on April 8th a series of test and biopsies determined that these tumors were in fact malignant. Kaylynn was referred to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor where she was diagnosed with stage 3 Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of soft tissue cancer that begins in embryonic muscle cells. She had surgery on April 23rd to insert a port and her first chemo treatment was scheduled for that night. Treatment was delayed when tests came back that tumors were also blocking her kidneys ability to empty waste from her body. On April 24th she had a nephrostomy. During this procedure, a tube was placed through the skin on her back into the kidney allowing her to eliminate waste from her body and her first chemo treatment was successfully administered that night.

Kaylynn now makes weekly trips to Ann Arbor and Brighton for chemo treatments, physical therapy, occupational therapy and blood work. Colten, Caleb and Deklan have been spending lots of time with family and friends while their sister and mom are away and Mandi is trying to balance life as being Kaylynn's biggest cheerleader and sneaking in as much time with the boys as she can when they are not traveling for treatments. Kaylynn has a long bumpy road ahead of her, but she is a fighter and I have the strongest faith that she will make it through this. Please keep this family in your prayers and if you are able to donate anything at all it would be greatly appreciated. All donations will go towards traveling expenses, bills and helping support the needs of Kaylynn, Colten, Caleb and Deklan during this difficult time. Mandi is currently on unpaid FMLA leave and no mother should have to worry about how she is going to support her children during a time like this. Kaylynn needs her mom by her side helping her fight this battle without stress and worries interfering with this precious time. Thank you all and God bless.