Marloe Rain

Marloe Rain was my youngest daughter, my third girl, and my little bestie. We called her Punky—short for Punkin because she was the sweetest, spunkiest little girl.

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At 11 months old, Marloe began showing symptoms that were repeatedly dismissed as viral illness or constipation. After nearly three months of knowing something was wrong, I pushed for scans. On November 27, 2023, she was diagnosed with a grapefruit-sized tumor on her left kidney that had already spread to her lungs.

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Surgery revealed just how aggressive it was. They removed her kidney, six inches of colon, 20+ cancerous lymph nodes, and cancerous fluid from a ruptured tumor. What we initially thought was Wilms tumor was ultimately diagnosed as Stage 4 Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor (MRT) with a germline mutation.

Marloe endured surgery, VDC and ICE chemotherapy, 11 rounds of abdominal radiation, severe infections, emergency hospital stays, and more than any child ever should. We even harvested her healthy cells in case a stem cell transplant became necessary.

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Despite everything, the cancer continued growing. A lung nodule grew from 6mm to 23mm during aggressive chemotherapy, with another new nodule appearing. Eventually, there were no treatments left that could give her more time without taking away the little quality of life she had left. We chose to bring her home and make memories instead.

 

Marloe passed away on July 7, 2024, at just 18 months old. She lived for 575 days and fought cancer for 223 of them.