Malcolm's Medical Fund

In early October, our 6 year old niece, Malcolm started feeling extra snuggley with her mom, Katie and started falling asleep well before bedtime. Over the next couple weeks she grew more and more fatigued, complaining of headaches and nausea. Mac’s lack of energy is very uncharacteristic and Katie worked through the month documenting the symptoms and communicating with her pediatrician to try to figure out the cause. In November, Katie and Malcolm’s dad, Brent became increasingly concerned as Malcolm started feeling worse and worse.  She had an MRI which showed a tumor encased by a large cyst on her pituitary gland. She was flown to Colorado Children’s Hospital for brain surgery. She was diagnosed with Craniopharyngioma which impacts 1 out of 1 million people. The surgeons were able to drain the cyst and take a biopsy of the tumor, but full eradicating of the tumor will take at least 6 weeks of radiation therapy in Denver.

While we are overflowing with gratitude that the tumor was contained, it is  hard to know how to navigate our feelings about her difficult road to recovery moving forward & all of the unknowns without seeming like we are taking all the good news for granted. She developed chemical meningitis after the surgery, which is extremely painful for her. She also suffered a small stroke on her brain stem causing her to need a variety of rehabilitation. The goal now is to get her strong enough to undergo radiation.

We set up a Go Fund me account in case there are those of you who want to pitch in to help provide some financial support for Katie & Brent because medical care is so expensive and will be ongoing. Katie and Brent started their own business this year and this self employed family could really use a boost especially after the medical flight & in the face of relocating to Denver for 6 weeks of radiation.

Malcolm is so much more than this health condition. She brings the fun in every scenario. She writes in a gratitude journal at night. She loves to label and organize things. She actually watches entire football games and knows the teams and players. She has the talking voice of a comedian and the singing voice of an angel. Her favorite holiday is Thanksgiving & she thrives when planning surprises and making up new traditions. 

Mac and her family have had some big wins, but we won’t be able to take a deep breath for months…more accurately, years. Until then, please keep sharing your love with them in any form that you choose. They will feel it no matter how you do it & there are not words to thank you all enough. 

Love Mac's Aunts,
Lindy Nielsen & Jackie Minick (Katie's sisters)
Crystal Hansen (Brent's sister)