All For the Love of Millie

On December 15th, my sister received a phone call and our whole world was flipped upside down. By December 20th, we would find out that my 14-year-old niece, Millie, has a very rare cancer called Chordoma. Not only is this a rare cancer in adults, but it is almost nonexistent in children. In addition, the location of her tumor, in her neck, is also very rare, as this type of cancer usually occurs in the tailbone.

To say this is scary does not even begin to describe what Millie and her village are feeling. She had to have over 30 hours of surgery during a period of two and half days to remove the 5cm tumor, her C2, C3, and C4 vertebrae, some nerves on the right side of her neck, an artery, and undergo complete reconstructive surgery to give her neck and head support.

She has a very long road of recovery ahead, and we are still working through what level of ability she will have with her neck once fully healed. This will be a lifelong battle for Millie and her family. She will need to have scans done every 6 months for the rest of her life because this cancer likes to reoccur. Also, as this cancer is so rare, there is not a lot of information out there about treatments, so there are many unknowns for the future.

In the immediate future, there is a possibility of her needing a wheelchair, a medical bed, a location to stay at with no stairs during recovery, and a wheelchair friendly vehicle. We are also very aware that the medical bills for her surgery, hospital stay, and upcoming rehab therapies will start coming in soon. The list goes on and on. We, her family, her village, are humbly asking for your help–help to ease some of the financial burden and allow her parents to solely focus on getting Millie through recovery and learning how to live with this for the rest of her life.

You have all been so amazing and supportive so far, and we cannot thank you all enough.