Please Support baby Molly and her family

Molly Mai was born on the 7th November 2021, becoming the third child of Corinne and Paul, and the baby sister of Kacey and Leah.

For the first few weeks of Molly Mai's life, everything was as you can expect with two excited big sisters and a new baby! However from around 3 weeks old, concerns grew for Molly Mai, after she had 3 vacant seizures. Corinne and Paul had raised this, alongside other concerns such as Molly Mai only looking one way, vomiting, enlarged head circumference and unsettledness, to multiple health professionals and was not met with the support that they had hoped for. They were eventually referred in January by a Health Visitor for an opthalmology appointment in mid February, which was such a long time away considering Corinne and Paul's concerns since November!

At the beginning of February 2022, Corinne visited A&E with Molly Mai due to a bulging fontanelle, which they were almost turned away for once more. However, at the 11th hour, paediatric doctors arranged for a CT scan which identified intercranial pressure and a large brain mass, and so they blue lighted Corinne and Molly Mai to Alder Hey Children's Hospital for her beautiful almost 3 month old daughter to have an MRI Scan. Molly Mai then underwent major surgery to have a resection and removal of the mass. During the surgery, further intra op MRI showed that some of the dubious tissue had remained, so the surgeon worked tirelessly to remove what they hoped to be the last parts of the tumour. This surgery took a whole day. She was then kept asleep under observation in the ICU.

The next CT scan showed that the hydrocephalus caused by the tumour had massively reduced, which was a relief for Corinne and Paul, but they were still told that this could return at any time. They were also told there will likely still be minute traces of the tumour, however it would be impossible to tell due to their very small size at this point, the type of cancer, and due to the multiple folds in the brain making the traces difficult to see.

Unfortunately Molly Mai's infection markers were rising, so antibiotics were started. She was also still having semi-regular seizures, attempted to be controlled by epilepsy medication, and it was made clear to Corinne and Paul that the surgery Molly Mai endured had saved her life, and without it the long term prognosis for Molly Mai would not have been positive.

A few days later, pathology confirmed Corinne and Paul's worst fears - the tumour removed from Molly Mai's brain was malignant Ependymoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Due to this, Molly Mai will endure a year long chemotherapy schedule, consisting of 4 courses and 7 cycles. While the chemotherapy gives Molly Mai the best chance for the future, the side effects can be gruelling, including ulcers, hair loss, stomach issues, future fertility issues and sight or hearing issues. In addition to this, Molly Mai will be part of a clinical trial with international involvement due to the rarity of her cancer.

Molly Mai will also need a feeding tube but will be able to be breastfed alongside this.

She will also need blood transfusions along the way (she has already had blood transfusions to replace to her entire blood volume during surgery).

Due to this family going to hell and back over the last 3 months, and what they are still yet to go through, we wanted to raise this appeal, to share Molly Mai's story and raise awareness for her cancer, but also to try and raise some funds to support the family during this difficult time, be it for bills, travel expenses, accommodation, specialist clothing and items for Molly Mai for when she returns home, or anything else the family may want or need at this difficult time.