Support Mia in Her Battle Against Rhabdomyosarcoma

On Monday, March 18th 2024, the Mednick family's life was unknowingly about to turn upside down. Mia, my 10 year old niece, was scheduled for a routine surgery to remove what had already been diagnosed as a benign mass from the inside of her cheek. Mia was determined to recover quickly from the surgery in order to be able to dance in her first ever solo in her upcoming dance competition as well as to perform in her first school play.

Unfortunately, this "routine" surgery was the beginning of a nightmare. A few days after surgery the mass was determined not to be benign and, in fact, was diagnosed to be Rhabdomyosarcoma, an extremely rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer.

Over the past 4 weeks, Mia and her family have been living a real life nightmare. Mia has been through countless tests, scans, procedures and surgeries to fight this extremely aggressive cancer. Unfortunately, the first two rounds of chemotherapy did not prove to be effective in shrinking the masses in her mouth, resulting in the masses obstructing 2/3rds of her airway. This required surgery earlier this week for both a tracheostomy to support her breathing and a g-tube in her belly to provide nutrition as she has been unable to eat in several weeks.

Mia is currently under the care of the most phenomenal team at the Pediatric ICU Sloan Kettering in NYC, experts in this rare form of cancer. Mia will now undergo radiation and chemotherapy treatments 5 days a week for a minimum of 5 weeks in hopes of shrinking the tumors in her mouth in order to come off the trach, g-tube and be able to return home to continue with outpatient chemotherapy and radiation which could last at least a year.

I am raising money in order to support my sister, brother in-law and beloved niece, Mia in the greatest fight of their lives. In order to provide their daughter with the best treatment in the country, it comes with a great financial cost. Her mother will be out of work for the remainder of the year, which will have a significant impact on their financial situation as well as the costs of traveling, hotel (which will be at minumium 5 weeks stay in NYC) and other treatment related costs.

We would greatly appreciate all donations to assist them in their battle against sarcoma. We are so thankful for the generosity and support received!