PAXTON — In the three months since Katie Renfroe had a 1-pound mass removed from her left cheek, she has taken her first steps with assistance and regained that weight in other parts of her tiny frame.
The 5-year-old Paxton girl and her family leave for South Florida on Sunday, where the second of as many as seven surgeries will be performed. This time, doctors will remove excess tissue from her right cheek.
“I know her doctors care the world about her and she’s in the greatest hands she could be,” said her mom Angie, who still admits to being nervous.
“To be honest, we all worry,” Angie said. “But I know it’s in God’s hands. We put it there.”
Katie was diagnosed with meglencephaly before she was born. Angie and her husband Danial opted to carry through with the pregnancy despite her grim prognosis.
The rare disorder caused portions of Katie’s head and face to be abnormally large, and she had part of her brain removed as an infant to control seizures.
Now Katie is at the center of her large family, which includes seven brothers and sisters, some younger and some older.
Her older siblings tote her around, tease her and tickle her. Her younger siblings play with her and share toys.
Until her first surgery in December, Katie had not tried to walk. The weight of her head with its enlarged features was so heavy that she got tired from simply holding it up.
The entire family will drive to South Florida in their ancient minivan. The surgery is scheduled for Tuesday.
After an article appeared in the Northwest Florida Daily News in December, people from around the world donated to a fund supporting Katie and her family.
“Without the help I have received, I don’t know where we’d be,” Angie said. “We do appreciate everything they’ve done.”
But there’s still one thing the family needs right now, Angie said.
“Prayer. That’s the main thing, prayer. There’s no relaxing, not yet.”
HOW TO HELP
Donations can be made at any Regions Bank to the account for Danial Renfroe. Please put Katie Renfroe on memo line.
Daily News Staff Writer Wendy Victora can be reached at 850-315-4478 or wvictora@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @WendyVnwfdn.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Katie Renfroe scheduled for second surgery this weekend