Those who have the privilege of knowing sweet Lena June Pardee and her parents, Maggie and Jace, know that their family’s journey has not been an easy one. Following several years of infertility, Maggie and Jace learned they were pregnant with their rainbow baby in the summer of 2023. Maggie’s pregnancy was complicated, with the loss of a twin, consistent concerns from her care team, and scary news at seemingly every ultrasound. Maternal-fetal medicine specialists were on speed dial. Maggie developed preeclampsia and, on December 30, 2023, she had an emergency C-section. At just 29 weeks old, Lena was born into this world. All 1 lb 12 oz of her were transferred to the NICU at Cleveland Clinic immediately after birth.
Miraculously, all of the concerns seen on earlier ultrasounds were no longer present when Lena presented to the NICU. Things were looking very promising, until she suffered a freak cardiac arrest related to a complication of her central line. Lena’s heart stopped. She received infant CPR for several minutes before Maggie and her sister were brought back into the room. Instead of having to do the unimaginable: saying goodbye to her newborn baby girl, Maggie’s presence seemed to have given Lena the strength she needed to pull through. After 18 minutes of CPR, Lena’s heart started up again. A true miracle. Lena is a tiny, mighty little micropreemie warrior that stole the hearts of everyone who cared for her in the NICU. Lena spent 89 days growing and beating all of the odds there before finally getting to go home with mama and dad in March 2024.
As a result of her cardiac arrest, Lena suffered damage to some areas of her brain. This has resulted in developmental delays to things like her physical mobility, communication, and ability to eat food by mouth. Lena depends on a G-tube to get her nutrition, and she works so hard on a variety of therapies every week to help develop the skills that many of us take for granted.
Despite her fragile entrance to the world, Lena has proven time and time again that she is capable of what doctors originally thought was impossible. She reminds us every day that she belongs here. She has the most joyful, tender soul and the brightest eyes and smile you have ever seen. Maggie and Jace never anticipated the enormously difficult task of being medical parents, but they have fallen into their role with such strength and grace, all because their little girl demonstrates those things to them daily.
I am sharing this today because Lena’s story started a new, immensely terrifying chapter this week. On September 3, she was admitted to Cleveland Clinic due to some concerns with feeds that Maggie noticed over the last several weeks. After some quick testing and scans, doctors confirmed that Lena has several large masses on her liver. This is known as hepatoblastoma, and a small amount has spread to her lungs. Lena has cancer. She will start chemotherapy to shrink the tumors and likely undergo surgery to remove them. If surgery is not possible given the extent of her tumor burden, she will require a liver transplant. Transplant comes with its own set of challenges, including lifelong anti rejection medications and extremely close monitoring. Lena’s and her sweet little body will be fighting hard through all that is to come over the next several months.
We are not quite sure how to process this ongoing nightmare, but one thing is for sure. The Pardee family has a long, painful road ahead of them. We are calling upon their village to come together to financially support them as best we can through the unimaginable. Jace is such a hardworking provider for their family, and even worked through Lena’s NICU stay to keep their family afloat. The last thing they should be worried about at this point is trying to make ends meet miles apart from each other. We need to make sure Jace can be unburdened by work and can remain by his baby and wife’s side. Any contribution helps keep their family together, as well as cover any of the unforeseen costs that may arise.
Please help us hold the Pardee family close and turn Lena’s story into one of triumph, love, and community.
update from Maggie 12/27:
