Online auction to raise money for Newport Corner girl diagnosed with cancer

NEWPORT CORNER, NS — The community is rallying its support for a three-year-old Newport Corner girl diagnosed with a rare cancer and her family.

Kaelynn Munroe has been diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Her great-aunt, Wendy Goodine of Newport Corner, said Kaelynn went to the hospital on June 13 and received her test results on June 19.

Goodine said doctors discovered on June 14 that Kaelynn had a mass, which turned out to be a tumor about three inches in size. Goodine said Kaelynn is small, so the tumor is relatively large by comparison.

“It looked like she had a bump in her back, which looks, and feels like there’s a rib out of place,” Goodine said. “But when they went in to look, it wasn’t a rib.”

She said the news had a big impact on the family and was very upsetting emotionally. Goodine said her great-niece is “a little firecracker” and “the sweetest little thing”.

Goodine is a neighbor of Kaelynn and her parents, Will Munroe and Emily Largesse, and said Kaelynn often visits her. Goodine acknowledges that hospitalization hasn’t been easy for Kaelynn, especially in the beginning.

In a June 22 interview, Goodine said she had visited Kaelynn two nights earlier at IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax. Kaelynn acted more like a three-year-old, but she feels abandoned and wants to come home.

Goodine said Kaelynn spent the first five days in the hospital in bed as doctors had to put a drain through her lung. The tumor puts pressure on Kaelynn’s lung, causing it to fill with fluid.

“Now that she’s allowed out of bed, she wants to run around and play like a normal kid, but she’s hooked up to an IV and has a drain on her,” Goodine said.

She said that both of Kaelynn’s parents are off work because they are taking care of their daughter, and they will be for a while. An online fundraising auction is being held on Facebook in support of Kaelynn and her family. Goodine said the auction is “huge” and the response from backers has been “amazing”.

On the Kaelynn & Family (Online Auction) Facebook page supportAdministrator Maude Greer said Kaelynn would undergo many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, with many trips back and forth to the IWK.

“We would like to relieve some of the financial stress so that Will and Emily can focus all of their attention on nursing a happy, playful, three-year-old girl back to health,” says Greer.

Greer said she, Jessie Evans and Kristen Murphy would accept auction donations until June 27. The person who made the highest bid on a particular item on July 4th will be contacted. If the bid is not paid, the item will go to the next highest bidder.

Anyone wishing to make a cash donation is requested to send an e-transfer to [email protected].

For more information about donating or bidding on auction items, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/207189511813383/.