When it comes to ovarian cancer, one would think it only applies to older women and not children. Sadly, this is not the case for McKenna Shea Xydias, who endured so much to beat the disease at just two years old.
Doctors diagnosed the little girl with a rare form of ovarian cancer in February. An ultrasound revealed a malignant tumor in her right ovary and one in her liver. According to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, this type of cancer is usually found around “the yolk sac of the embryo” and affects children before they reach one or two years old.
However, no one would think that the little girl from Georgia went through so much to beat the cancer. She had one ovary and a part of her small intestine removed before going through four rounds of chemotherapy.
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McKenna never allowed her predicament to affect her jolly and positive attitude. Despite the disease, she remained a “ball of energy” and the “extremely stubborn” little sister to her brothers. Mike Xydias, McKenna’s father, said that his daughter has a fighting spirit and “doesn’t let anything stop her.”
“Meagan and I both agree that Kenni is our hero with how she’s dealing with this,” Mike told Good Morning America (GMA).
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It was four months later that the family received the clear bill of health from Dr. Katie Sutton, a pediatric oncologist for the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. On June 12, they “sat and cried and held each other for a minute” after they learned that the girl’s scans showed no active cancer cells.
Aside from occasionally needing a blood transfusion, McKenna is not likely to experience sudden serious side effects. It was with the good news that McKenna was finally able to ring the bell to declare that she’s cancer-free.
“She’s a rock star,” Dr. Sutton told GMA.
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The family couldn’t be more thankful to God and for the love, support, and prayers that they received in the course of the treatment. The support doesn’t end there though as a close friend of the family has opened a GoFundMe page in February to help the parents with the expenses for scans and blood work.
Mike expressed his gratitude and expressed his belief that people are “genuinely good and they want to help.” He told GMA that the family wants to “pay it forward to everyone” who helped them.
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Meanwhile, Meagan urged parents to always trust their instincts when it comes to their children’s health. For McKenna, it started as a simple case of gas and fever that urged the parents to have an X-Ray, which showed what “looked like a big gas bubble” for her bowels. Meagan likewise reminded parents to always “enjoy every minute” with their family.