Malerie’s Hope: Helping Fight Childhood Cancer

By Tana Poncsak

Malerie Moulder was eight months old when her parents, Mike and Marla Moulder, were told she had a brain tumor. They were given the statistics, but Malerie’s mother, Marla, said at that point, they knew they had a God that is much bigger than statistics.

After many surgeries and grueling hours of intense therapies, including occupational, speech, and physical therapies, Malerie defied the odds. But the road to Malerie’s recovery wasn’t easy. “She was very, very sick for a long time,” Marla said, “and we decided that I can’t just wasn’t an option.”

The tumor was attached to Malerie’s brain stem, which according to WebMD, is the lower portion of the brain responsible for controlling a large number of the body’s automatic functions essential to life. Malerie’s treatment included a delicate surgery where surgeons removed about 80 percent of the tumor. Since then, Malerie has had regular MRIs, and Marla said that within a year post-surgery, there was no evidence of any remaining tumor. The good news – today Malerie is tumor free and thriving.

While the surgery was a success, Malerie experienced many complications, including total paralysis on the left side of her entire body, vocal cord paralysis causing the need for Malerie to be tube fed for two years following the surgery, and the development of hydrocephalus that caused fluid and pressure on the brain, which meant the need for more surgeries to place a shunt to relieve the fluid and pressure.

Marla estimates that between shunt revisions and other surgeries, Malerie had an estimated 35 to 38 surgeries in the first thirteen years of her young life. Her last shunt revision was in January 2011.

As one might imagine, finding the proper support early on was important. The Moulders had the support and help from family and close friends, especially Malerie’s grandparents. But they also found support in several organizations as well.

“One of the biggest things for us was getting involved in organizations early on,” Marla said, adding that it’s critical to get plugged into organizations for help. She pointed out that such groups as FOCUS and CURE Childhood Cancer, along with those that provide respite care, are vital to families in similar situations

Even now Malerie is still prone to neurological apnea, so she requires oxygen, a pulse oximeter, and constant monitoring while she sleeps. That means she’s never been to a sleepover outside of family and a very few select family friends in her life. She can’t drive a car and relies on her parents, her brother, Michael, and friends for rides. And as a result of all that Malerie has endured, she will always have global developmental delays and disabilities.

But Malerie continues to amaze her family and others with the same determination and tenacity she demonstrated as an infant to beat the odds to become the young woman she is today.

“She beat the statistics,” Marla said. “She has gone on to defy the odds and has done many things that the professionals in her life said she would never do.”

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