Michaela Nagel
10 years old
Lewistown, PA


Michaela was born with a tracheoesophageal fistula, where her esophagus connects into her trachea.  The condition, affecting her windpipe and foodpipe, required surgery.  The diagnosis was neurofibromatosis with optic glioma. 

Essentially, a number of benign tumors were growing throughout Michaela’s brain, which would cause her some processing difficulties, and on some nerve endings, which could cause her discomfort or pain.  But the second part, the optic glioma, was a cancerous growth that was rapidly expanding. 

The treatment included months of chemotherapy – and its side effects.  The family had been living in the Pittsburgh area when Michaela’s chemotherapy started, but decided to move closer to family in Mifflin County – and her doctors coordinated with specialists at Geisinger’s Janet Weis Children’s Hospital to take over her care. 

And the hits continued to come a little more than a year ago, as an MRI revealed another growing tumor in the basal ganglia, a section deep within the brain.  A second round of chemotherapy – once every 28 days for an entire year – was needed to combat that cancer.  But throughout it all, Michaela has never lost her sense of humor or her flair for entertaining.  This summer, she will once again attend Camp Dost, a specialized summer camp coordinated by the Ronald McDonald House of Danville and partially funded by Children’s Miracle Network at Geisinger. 

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