Maelee was born a beautiful, full term, healthy baby. Her father and I had no reason to be concerned about her health, until the day before she turned 4 months old. On that day, she stopped peeing. Over the course of that week, we spent almost every day, either at her pediatrician’s office, or in NCH. Initially, there was concern for constipation and idiopathic urinary retention. Upon further testing, a MRI discovered a pre sacral mass, that ultimately was obstructing both bowel function and nerve function to her bladder. Her mass was removed on July 14, 2015 and sent to several pathologists throughout the country. After many weeks of healing and awaiting pathology reports, her mass was confirmed to be malignant with mixed germ and yolk cell properties. We spent the fall of 2015 doing 3 decently tolerated rounds of chemo, with close scan surveillance to follow.

Maelee had a clear scan in October; however, her January 2016 showed re growth of her tumor in four areas of her pelvis. While it was not clear if these were new malignancies, it was important that they were removed. Upon removal, 1/4 of the masses were malignant. Again, pathologists throughout the country reviewed her tumor cell properties. The new mass was made up of Neuro ectoderm tissues, which is a malignant tissue with tendencies to spread aggressively. Due to the aggressive nature of the cells, we are now on round 2 of 14 chemo rounds in this new treatment regimen. We spend every third weeks with our friends on the 12th floor and most weeks in between fighting respiratory viruses. Maelee fights all of her battles with a huge smile and the doctors and nurses love to fight over her. We are grateful for Dr. Ranalli and his team of nurses for taking care of our baby girl! We look forward to getting this year over with and transitioning into a happy, healthy toddler!

http://nchflutter.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Maelee-1.jpg

http://nchflutter.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Maelee-2.jpg

http://nchflutter.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Maelee-3.jpg

• Name: Maelee L.Maelee Leonard
• Condition(s): Cancer
• Age at Treatment: 4 months
• Age Today: 02/23/20159 Years

Maelee was born a beautiful, full term, healthy baby. Her father and I had no reason to be concerned about her health, until the day before she turned 4 months old. On that day, she stopped peeing. Over the course of that week, we spent almost every day, either at her pediatrician’s office, or in NCH. Initially, there was concern for constipation and idiopathic urinary retention. Upon further testing, a MRI discovered a pre sacral mass, that ultimately was obstructing both bowel function and nerve function to her bladder. Her mass was removed on July 14, 2015 and sent to several pathologists throughout the country. After many weeks of healing and awaiting pathology reports, her mass was confirmed to be malignant with mixed germ and yolk cell properties. We spent the fall of 2015 doing 3 decently tolerated rounds of chemo, with close scan surveillance to follow.

Maelee had a clear scan in October; however, her January 2016 showed re growth of her tumor in four areas of her pelvis. While it was not clear if these were new malignancies, it was important that they were removed. Upon removal, 1/4 of the masses were malignant. Again, pathologists throughout the country reviewed her tumor cell properties. The new mass was made up of Neuro ectoderm tissues, which is a malignant tissue with tendencies to spread aggressively. Due to the aggressive nature of the cells, we are now on round 2 of 14 chemo rounds in this new treatment regimen. We spend every third weeks with our friends on the 12th floor and most weeks in between fighting respiratory viruses. Maelee fights all of her battles with a huge smile and the doctors and nurses love to fight over her. We are grateful for Dr. Ranalli and his team of nurses for taking care of our baby girl! We look forward to getting this year over with and transitioning into a happy, healthy toddler!