Two-year-old’s belly pain becomes germ cell cancer

toddler’s abdominal – A Utah toddler was sent home after a throat test showed strep, but new scans days later found a burst abdominal mass. Surgeons removed it, and by June 2 her family received a diagnosis of a rare germ cell tumor, a cancer that doctors say carries a generally go

On May 25, Marissa Wheeler watched her two-year-old daughter change within hours—turning unusually tired, refusing food and drink, and then clutching her stomach in pain as a fever set in.

For days afterward, the family’s lives narrowed to hospital rooms. Adalae was admitted on May 28, and she has remained there since, according to Wheeler, speaking from her daughter’s bedside.

“Everything has been a blur. I can’t believe this is real life,” Wheeler said.

The trouble began nine days before that hospital admission. Adalae suddenly became lethargic and stopped eating or drinking, prompting Wheeler, 31, to take her to a local emergency room in Utah.

At the first hospital, Adalae tested positive for a bacterial throat and tonsil infection called streptococcus. She was sent home with antibiotics.

Wheeler immediately sensed something did not fit.

“She tested positive for streptococcus, but when we were going over bumps in the car, she was saying ‘ow’ and holding her stomach, and I thought strep doesn’t cause that,” she recalled.

Over the next 48 hours, the toddler barely woke. She refused to eat or drink and grew increasingly weak.

“She was so sick,” Wheeler said. “She couldn’t walk anymore and was so dehydrated, her heart rate was 170 beats per minute while she was sleeping.”

Trusting her instincts, Wheeler took Adalae to a different hospital.

Doctors ordered an ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) scan. Wheeler said Adalae did not react the way she typically would.

“She didn’t even cry during the scans,” Wheeler said. “She just lay there—usually she is a wild two-year-old who would fight any test or poke.”

Wheeler suspected appendicitis. Instead, the scans revealed a large mass filling Adalae’s abdomen.

“It was shocking, as a tumor wasn’t even on my radar,” she said.

Adalae was then rushed three hours away to a children’s hospital. There, an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed internal bleeding, with Wheeler describing the mass as having burst.

She underwent emergency surgery on May 29.

“Everything happened so fast,” Wheeler said. “I couldn’t believe they were taking my perfect baby to cut her open. It was terrifying, but I knew it needed to be removed.”

Surgeons removed the mass, which originated from Adalae’s right ovary; the ovary was also removed.

After days of waiting, the family received the diagnosis on June 2: a germ cell tumor, a rare cancer that affects about 3 percent of children, according to research.

Germ cell tumors are growths made from immature cells that would normally develop into eggs in females or sperm in males, according to Boston Children’s Hospital. About 90 percent begin in the reproductive organs—the testes or ovaries—and are classified as gonadal germ cell tumors.

When they appear in other areas of the body, including the abdomen, chest, neck, head, or brain, they are called extragonadal germ cell tumors.

Common symptoms can include a visible lump, bowel or bladder changes, shortness of breath, and elevated tumor-marker proteins in the blood. Boston Children’s Hospital notes that survival rates vary by tumor type and stage, but overall most children now have a survival rate close to 90 percent.

“We are incredibly grateful that it is a cancer with a very good prognosis and an effective treatment plan,” Wheeler told Newsweek, adding that the diagnosis was not the news the family had been hoping for.

Looking back. Wheeler said she believes she can now see early warning signs—ones she did not recognize at the time. “Toddlers always have cute round bellies, so I assumed that was the case,” she said. “But now that I know about the mass, I can see it. Adalae didn’t show any symptoms until the tumor burst.”.

She wants other parents to take their instincts seriously, especially when something feels wrong.

“Knowing what I know now, I would have insisted on further testing at the first hospital,” she said. “I want other parents to know they are not alone.”

In the midst of fear and uncertainty, Wheeler said Adalae is slowly recovering from surgery and that pieces of her daughter’s personality are returning.

“We are trying to find little bits of joy in this,” she said. “The nurses are amazing, the community has been incredible—we feel uplifted by all of that. The diagnosis has shaken our whole world upside down.”

For now, the family is focused on what comes next, with Wheeler returning to one point she said has helped steady them: “We are incredibly grateful that it is a cancer with a very good prognosis and an effective treatment plan.”

Utah toddler tummy ache streptococcus CT scan ultrasound MRI abdominal mass emergency surgery May 29 germ cell tumor right ovary removed rare cancer prognosis