Charlie has been diagnosed with a Germ Cell tumor in her abdomen as well as in her lungs. After discovering a bump on her buttock.

Latest update -October 28th, 2023

by Noelle Steeke

Mom and Dad brought Charlie down to the cities last week to start her next phase of treatment. On Wednesday, October 18th, Charlie was admitted to M Health Fairview Masonic Children?s Hospital. The next day she started an aggressive round of chemo which she did for 3 days. All things considered, she did well with it, but she did have a bad rash, lots of nausea, and a fever, too. They think the rash was a symptom of the chemo and the morphine possibly intensified it and played a role in the horrible itching she had. The rash hung around for a few days, at one point it mysteriously cleared up for an hour, and then reappeared. It?s mostly gone now, but a few spots still pop up here and there. They gave her some antibiotics which is standard protocol for any fever in this process, and her fever subsided after a few fluctuations. The nausea has stuck around but seems to be getting better, with the worst of it coming on during the morning hours.

On Monday, Charlie completed her first bone marrow transplant where they put back some of the stem cells they removed from her in June. The doctors and nurses made an event of it, with a whole crew coming in to cheer her on with presents and a sign for her. The transplant went well, and only lasted 6 minutes. Charlie did not have any reactions to the transplant which was great. The days after were hard, with the effects. of chemo really weighing on her. Between the side effects of chemo and the pain meds to help with them, Charlie didn?t have energy to do much more than sleep. She hasn?t had much of an appetite, so she?s been receiving her nutrition through a TPN, or total parenteral nutrition, which is where all of her nutrition is coming in through her central IV. They?ve increased her pain meds several times in attempts to make her as comfortable as they can. This poor girl is going through a rough fight right now, we?re hoping the effects will temper soon so we can see Charlie moving around and playing a bit. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Charlie and Mom will be staying at the Masonic Children?s Hospital for a few months, with hopes of having an opportunity to break out for a few days here and there, depending how Charlie handles all of this. As of now, with Charlie?s health allowing, the plan is to let Charlie recover from her last round of chemo, and in three weeks, start the process over again. She?ll do a total of 3 rounds of chemo and bone marrow (stem cell) transplants, in 28-day sprints, with 3 days of chemo, a day of rest, and then a bone marrow transplant to help her fight the chemo. One down, two to go.

If you?re interested in sending words of encouragement or gifts to Charlie, you can find the address below. Please note there are a few restrictions: no latex (balloons), no live plants, and nothing with down filling (e.g. blankets, pillows). The care team will wipe down everything before it gets to Charlie, so keep this in mind with your gift wrap/packaging since it will be opened before Charlie sees it. Sending a gift bag with your package might be easiest if you want to have something wrapped.

Address:

M Health Fairview Children?s Masonic

Unit 4 ? Peds BMT ? Charlie Schaper ? Rm C4124

2450 Riverside Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55454