Hello, my name is Michael Murray in December 2018 my daughter McKenna was diagnosed with a Wilms Tumor, a childhood kidney cancer. Her tumor was on the top of her Kidney and grew up the Inferior Vena Cava(a major vein) into her heart. A blood clot attached to the tumor would float from her Right Atrium into her Right Ventricle on every pump of her heart. We left 2018 watching the ball drop in CHOP of Philly in the PICU starting our first dose of Chemo. What we didn't know would be a month long stay there. During our stay we had Chemo every week and multiple shots of blood thinner, unknown to us at the time, they were trying to shrink the blood clot out of her heart. Since the tumor did not shrink nor the blood clot reducing, the Doctors decided to move up surgery due to McKenna becoming Tachycardic and the fear that the clot may break or cause harm to her heart. She underwent a 5 hour(felt like days) surgery to remove the tumor, kidney and clots. One Thoracic surgeon performed open heart surgery to ensure he was able to remove the clot while the Nephrologist performed the nephrectomy and they both met in her IVC. Once surgery was completed we continued with Chemo every week consisting of 26 rounds, we also had 8 days of radiation while under anesthesia to her chest & abdomen.
Why am I shaving my head with St. Baldrick’s? If there wasn't funding for research this cancer that McKenna had would have either killed her or they wouldn't have concluded to radiate her Lungs while they did the Kidney area after surgery. Research found that the nodules on the Lungs disappeared during chemo but once completed returned. This meant that the children would have to come back for additional radiation, doing it once takes a toll on them but to have to do it another time puts more strain on the body and organs. Another reason I am doing this is during Chemo McKenna lost all her hair, and to make sure she didn't feel alone, I shaved mine. Then in 2019 a good friend of mine got me involved in this great organization, I shaved my head this time to raise money. Since then I have shaved my head every March, in 2020 I actually had McKenna shave my head live on Facebook due to the pandemic all was remote. I have let my hair grow since March of 2021 and will be using this as a chance to help another child going through a battle by donating my hair to Locks of Love.
Because your donation “on my head” will actually save lives. I know it did for McKenna.
Kids with cancer need our support now more than ever. St. Baldrick’s is the largest non-government funder of childhood cancer research grants, and the pandemic has slashed donations, slowing down the progress to find cures.
Cancer kills more of our kids than any other disease. Research can change that, and I don’t want to let these kids down. Can you help? Thank you so much!
