What a fascinating tale!

Nothing can compare to the pure joy of receiving a newborn into your family and world. Every parent will concur that meeting the child you’ve been waiting to meet for nine long months is the most exciting thing there is.

Sloan’s parents, Joe and Jennifer McGillis, were ecstatic when she was born in 2015. They didn’t anticipate their daughter to have a sizable tumor on her face, though, as there were no anomalies shown on the ultrasound during the pregnancy.

Over the course of the first several years of Sloan’s life, thirteen surgeries were necessary to entirely remove the tumor, which had taken a significant section of her face. Sloan now resembles a completely typical young child. This is her amazing tale.

When baby Sloan was born on February 25, 2015, her parents detected a bulge on her face. On day three, it was discovered that the protrusion was a tumor, and she was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

When asked how she first saw Sloan with the tumor, Jennifer said, “They handed her to me.” “At that point, I went into shock.”

Joe continued, “I experienced a minute or so of fright horror.

The best part was that Dr. Hardy, the medical professional in charge of Sloan’s care, offered the family some hope and never left their side.

When Sloan was just a newborn, he entered her hospital room, looked at her, and told her that she would be alright because she had a hemangioma. Your daughter will be OK. And I believe I was able to breathe again for the first time in 48 hours, Jennifer posted on Facebook.

It was discovered that the growth was a hemangioma, a form of tumor made of rapidly proliferating blood vessel wall cells that appears as red or purple lumps on the skin.

These tumors can be surgically removed without risk because they are not cancerous, but just like with any surgery, there is a chance that there will be after effects.

Jennifer told the Billings Gazette, “It was hard as a rock when she was born.” It felt under your skin “like having a grapefruit.”

Sloan’s face had a growth that covered a significant portion of it and kept her from closing her mouth completely. Jennifer said, “She just doesn’t seem to know it’s there, she’s grown up with it. Nothing has been done to handle it as a visibility.

Her parents were even more concerned when the doctors advised them to wait and see whether the tumor reduced on its own over time because they were aware of how vicious people could be. They were worried about how the comments might make their daughter feel about herself.

Joe said, “The world is terrible sometimes.

Jennifer said, “Sometimes grownups are worse about it than other kids. Many parents of kids with hemangiomas are charged with abusing them.

Sloan had her initial procedure in January 2016. Dr. Milton Waner of the Vascular Birthmark Institute of New York was the surgeon who carried out the operation.

Mom shared a heartfelt message on social media the day before little Sloan had surgery.

“They had a plan, but we knew we couldn’t expect the tumor to be completely gone, and you can never mentally prepare yourself to see your baby cut all over their face with hundreds of sutures and tubes coming out of them,” the mother said. My gut tightens up just remembering the first time I held her in the operation room with the mask covering her face and saw her eyes roll back in her head, Jennifer wrote.

I hoped that wasn’t the last time I held her at that precise moment, as I imagine the majority of parents would feel a wave of anxiety wash over them. Surgery in and of itself can be frightening, but having to decide whether to have it performed on your child is heartbreaking. Were we acting ethically? Did it become too much for her frail body? Will she be unable to communicate because the agony is too great?

Fortunately, medical professionals were able to remove 90% of the tumor.

Sloan was set to have more surgery despite the previous procedure’s success, but the family lacked the funds for it because the hospital, Lenox Hill, in New York, wouldn’t accept Sloan’s Montana Medicaid insurance.

However, it has been said that it takes a village to raise a kid; in the case of this family, it required a few kindhearted individuals to assist their daughter in receiving the life she deserved. A Missoula bank established a medical fund in Sloan’s honor, and an online fundraising campaign raised more than $30,000. All of Sloan’s procedures and hospital stays in New York were covered by funds raised through the Hannah Storm Foundation. The family was able to raise $100,000 in total.

“Everything we were worried about just fell away,” Jennifer said to Missoulian. “We didn’t have to worry about how we were going to pay for all of this.”

They aren’t giving to us; they are giving to her, and for a while, that was difficult for us to comprehend, said Joe. Sloan has changed us; she has strengthened us and improved us as humans.

The Sloan’s Story Facebook Page includes information about Sloan’s life story.

She now looks just like a regular little child, and no one would ever believe that she was born with a massive tumor on her face.

“A port wine birthmark stain was present on my face at birth. Even today, without makeup, [it] still resembles a black eye, Storm, now 8 years old, told Inside Edition.

The family expresses gratitude to everyone who helped Sloan get better as well as to everyone who has helped them over the years. However, Dr. Hardy deserves special recognition because he was essential to Sloan’s transition to a new life.

“As a mother, it’s challenging for me to express the gratitude I have for him. Jeniffer McGillis wrote about Dr. Hardy: “He will never completely know what he has done for Sloan, myself, and my family. “I want to thank you for helping my daughter in ways that her parents and I could not. I sincerely appreciate you coming to see me once a month; I know I looked forward to it more than Sloan did.

We are overjoyed with how well everything worked out for Sloan and her family.