DELPHOS— Young children are typically characterized by various things: optimism and big smiles among them. Though these things characterize McKenna Siefker, so does her resilience from a tumor the size of a softball.

“The tumor was so big that you couldn’t see her left lung in the CT scan. Her heart was moved to the right side and it was causing breathing problems,” said her mother, Jennifer Townsend.

The 5-year-old has Pleuropulmonary Blastoma (PPB), a rare childhood cancer of the chest and lungs. It is believed to originate in the lung tissue itself or in the tissue which covers the lungs and the inside of the chest cavity. It occurs in three forms, which Townsend explains.

“Type I is a cyst, Type II is a cyst and a tumor and Type III is all tumor. McKenna has Type II. It’s very rare; I’ve heard less than 200 and I’ve heard less than 100 kids in the world have ever been documented to have it,” she said.

Symptoms began manifesting themselves last summer when Siefker experienced difficulty breathing.

“It all started in the beginning of June. She had shortness of breath and had pain in her shoulder and back. It came on gradually, so I took her to the doctor and he didn’t see anything wrong, so I brought her home and she was fine. In the beginning of July the symptoms returned. She didn’t want to do anything but lay around. On the Fourth of July, she didn’t want to ride any rides or eat anything, so we took her to the Ambulatory Care Center and they did an X-ray because her heart rate and blood pressure were high. They thought she had fluid in her lungs because the X-ray showed one lung white and the other gray.

“So, they rushed her to St. Rita’s to have the fluid drained but when we got there, they did more testing and found it was solid and not liquid,” Townsend said.

“They wanted to Life-flight her to Columbus but the weather was bad, so they took her by ambulance. I rode in the front with an EMT and her mother rode in the back with an EMT,” said Bill Townsend, the only father Siefker has ever known.

Columbus Children’s Hospital conducted a CT scan and discovered a mass the size of a softball but not as round. The tumor is positioned in the lower portion of Siefker’s left lung. It did not cause her chest to protrude because it shifted other organs in order to make room for itself. Siefker also has two cysts in the upper portion of the same lung.

“The doctors were in awe that something this big could be inside her and yet she was still breathing,” her mother said.

Columbus doctors did a lot of testing before they were able to offer a diagnosis.

“It took forever to diagnose this. They had to do a lot of tests without sedation. They did two biopsies over two to three weeks and had other oncologists look at tumor samples and give their opinion because they didn’t want to misdiagnose it, her mother continued

“She was in the Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit for about three weeks. While she was there, they put her on oxygen and IV fluids because she wasn’t eating very well,” she said.

Siefker was later moved to the Hematology Unit and was there until late August.

“She started chemo before they knew what kind of cancer it was because they couldn’t let it go any longer. Then, when they knew it was PPB, they could specialize the chemo. Since then, we’ve been going down to Columbus every week. She receives five types of chemotherapy, some more harsh than others,” she said.

The visits last between one and three days and a nurse comes to their home every week, as well.

Townsend administers daily injections which cost $1,000 each and the child is also on four additional medications which she takes at home.

“It’s amazing how expensive the treatments are,” Bill Townsend said.

Siefker has tubes in her left arm to assist nurses in drawing blood to test her blood count. They will be removed after Siefker’s last round of chemotherapy sometime in April or May.

“The doctors are extremely surprised. The tumor is down to two centimeters by three centimeters in size. That was a few weeks ago, so it may be even smaller now.

“They’re taking out her left lung Friday in Columbus, so she’ll be back in the PICU again. She should be home for the benefit,” Townsend said.

The benefit will take place from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Delphos Eagles Lodge. A Swiss steak lunch will be served and various bands will perform. There will also be a clown, a magician, a 50/50 raffle and more to raise funds for medical expenses.

Through it all, Siefker has dealt well with her ordeal.

“She handles everything great. She doesn’t get sick or tired from the chemo and she has only thrown up maybe five times. Though, she has lost her hair and it affects her blood count, so she may need a transfusion,” Townsend said.