Marnie Dunnill was born on the 6th of December 2006 at 34 weeks. Only minutes after her birth she underwent a five hour surgery to remove a very large (1kg) SCT. The biopsies showed her Sacrococcygeal Teratoma to be benign and there is very little chance of what is known as a "recurrence", as Marnie's coccyx was removed during the operation in order to avoid the tumour regrowing.
Marnie amazed the hospital staff by her immense fighting spirit and only six days later, little Marnie was off pain killers, her drip feeds were removed and her very proud and very relieved Mum,
Karen, was able to breastfeed her for the very first time.
Marnie recovered so quickly from her operation that she was able to go home, only three weeks after her birth, with her big sister, Libby, and her Mum and Dad, Paul, on the 30th December, just in time to celebrate the most wonderful of New Years.
The surgeons who helped Marnie perform her miracle created her a beautiful star-shaped scar and Marnie's magic created this poem:
Marnie’s First Christmas
It was the sixth of December,
If I remember,
That little Marnie was born.
Karen had to have stitches,
So now it itches,
Where her tummy was shorn!
Now Marnie, that blighter,
She’s a real little fighter
And despite the lump on her bum,
Decided to pose
For several photos,
So they could be shown to her Mum.
This large teratoma(This is no misnomer)
Took five hours to be taken away
And our little fighter,
Now one kilo lighter,
In Intensive Care had to stay.
Her Mum and Dad
Are both very glad
That Marnie’s recovering quick
Cos it hadn’t been fun
With the bun in her tum
Seeing as the baby was sick.
She’s now six days old
Outside its quite cold,
And Christmas is not very far,
Our Angels have seen
This “Nativity Scene”
And have marked her birth with a star.
