Maeve Rave

On top of all of the fear, heartache and physical pain that the Raves will be enduring, they will have many expenses including medical bills & traveling costs. Please help relieve some of their financial burden during this trying time. We appreciate any donation that you are able to give. Nichole & Matt are the best of parents, friends and family and we are so grateful for any love and support.

Latest update: We met with her solid tumor team, who had consulted with her orthopedic team and the MRI showed some unusual changes. Maeve’s leg has significantly taken a turn for the worse. The tumor has tripled in size in the last 3 months causing her bones to be completely shattered and displaced more than they already were. They are sending off all her images to the #1 specialist in the world for pseudoarthrosis to see if they think it’s related to that versus a now aggressive tumor. Regardless amputation is a must, it’s whether or not it is still end of July versus next week. We will not know anything until Monday at this time. So we need many, many prayers that it is related to the pseudoarthrosis versus a new aggressive tumor. If they believe it to be an aggressive tumor, then amputation and potentially chemo could be as early as this week, which we are definitely not ready for…

From Matt & Nichole Rave,

“July 20th, what started as a normal day with our brand new 8 day old baby girl quickly turned into the worst day of our lives. Maeve woke up that morning a little more congested than normal. We decided to bring her to the pediatrician office as it sounded like the congestion was in her chest at this point. While there, we had our pediatrician take a look at her hips and legs again. Since her c-section on the 12th, Maeve had trouble moving both her hips and lower legs. The doctors contributed it to her being breach for so long and said it would take time and she would eventually move them on her own. Well as the days progressed, she started slowly moving her right hip and leg but still hated when you touched her left.

Doctor order us to get an X-ray of her left leg. X-rays in Bloomington showed a large fracture of both her tibia and fibula and we were quickly transferred to the emergency department at Childrens Hospital of Illinois in Peoria.

After an extensive and exhaustive amount of testing, DCS involvement, and additional imaging the unimaginable happened. We were told this was a pathological fracture, meaning there was a mass between the bones causing them to break. We were quickly transferred to inpatient unit where we have been the last few days.

Yesterday, July 22 after more lab testing, bone scans and MRIs, we did not receive the news we were hoping for. The tumor in her leg is malignant and it is coming from another source other than that one spot. They said most likely spot would be on top of her kidneys also known as a neuroblastoma. We are currently waiting for more test results and ultrasounds to know where to go from here. We have an amazing team of doctors and nurses here at OSF that are doing everything they can.

This news is devastating to say the least. Matt and I are trying to keep our heads up the best we can but understandably terrified for our baby girl and the days/weeks/months ahead. We figured that starting this Caring Bridge page was the best and easiest way to update everyone as we have been avoiding our phones for the most part.

We cannot truly thank everyone enough for the constant love, support and prayers. We know God has this brave little girl in His hands and will protect her. We’ve hit a bump in our road but we are staying positive for brighter days ahead. Please continue to pray as hard as you can for Maeve and for our family during this unimaginable time. We love you all and promise to update as soon as we can.”