From People.com
A 2-year-old girl who was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer in February is now cancer-free — and doctors believe she is going to continue to thrive.
McKenna Shea Xydias, of Senoia, Georgia, had an ovarian yolk sac tumor, according to Good Morning America, and went through four rounds of chemotherapy.
The toddler was first diagnosed after her daycare told her parents, Mike and Meagan Xydias, that she had a fever in January, and just a month later her stomach was bloated and she seemed uncomfortable.
“We took her to the doctor. At that point they thought it was gas, so they told us to give her gas drops and let them know if she got any more fevers,” Mike told the news outlet.
He added: “The whole [next] day she was fine, no temperature. But she had difficulty using the bathroom. Meagan made an appointment for her Feb. 14 in the afternoon. That day, daycare called. She had a fever of 103.”
When she got an X-Ray, “they said her bowels looked full and it looked like a big gas bubble,” said Mike. After an ultrasound, they saw a mass located around her ovaries.
Back in February, Mike told GMA that “Meagan and I both agree that Kenni is our hero with how she’s dealing with this.”
He added: “She is a ball of energy and a stereotypical 2-year-old. She’s the youngest child, where she is the boss and she’s extremely stubborn, which a great character trait in going to fight cancer. She doesn’t let anything stop her.”
It was only four months later on June 12, when Dr. Katie Sutton, a pediatric oncologist for the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, told them their little girl was now completely healthy, according to GMA.
“Dr. Sutton came in — she just got straight to it and said, ‘Scans were clear. There’s nothing there,’” Meagan told GMA. “We sat and cried and held each other for a minute.”
According to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the type of tumor McKenna had is “a rare, malignant tumor of cells that line the yolk sac of the embryo” and is “most often found in children before the ages of 1 to 2.”
Dr. Sutton told GMA that McKenna “had no serious or unexpected side effects aside from requiring occasional blood transfusions.”
She added: “She’s a rock star.”
A close friend of the family created a GoFundMe page in February to “help to ease their worries as they will be taking time off for scans and blood work.”
In an update on Wednesday, organizers said “we can’t say ‘thank you’ enough to everyone for all of the love, support, and prayers that our sweet Kenni and family have received over the last four months.”
Looking back at their journey, Mike told GMA that “people are genuinely good and they want to help. [We want to] pay it forward to everyone who helped us.”
Added Meagan: “Trust your gut when it comes to your or your child’s health, and there’s the life aspect of, ‘enjoy every minute.’ “