McKinli Bauer
McKinli Bauer was born on November 5, 2019 to her mom and dad in Louisiana. She was a bundle of energy from the start and as soon as she was able, began to dance and do gymnastics. McKinli loves animals and spending time playing with her cat and her dog. Being around her friends and family is her favorite way to spend time and she absolutely loves to swim. She has always been known as a helper, doing for others as much as she can and in school she loved helping her classmates and teachers.
When McKinli is not hanging out at the park or the pool, she loves to play with her cousins and her parents. She loves to eat Rice-a-Roni, McDonald’s, and Rice Krispies cereal. Some of her other favorite pastimes include watching her iPad, coloring, drawing and creating art and talking. McKinli always has plenty to say!
Diagnosis
McKinli's mom, Braedon started noticing things were just not quite right with her little girl in the middle of May, 2025. McKinli's symptoms started with nausea and vomiting. Her family brought her to a local emergency room where she was diagnosed with a severe urinary tract infection and told to follow up with her primary care physician. She finished the full dose of antibiotics that she was prescribed, but never seemed to get better. Her parents took her to a different emergency room and they did a CT scan of her abdomen, drew bloodwork and gave her IV fluids. She was then diagnosed with severe constipation and told to follow up again with her primary care physician. On June 4th, her mom noticed that the left side of her face started drooping and she was feeling weird so they brought her to another emergency room in Lake Charles. They said she was neurologically fine. Braedon's mom gut told her they needed to do more and that things were not fine, so they decided to take McKinli several hours away to Texas Children's Health in Houston. There, after several weeks of symptoms, unanswered questions and worry, she was diagnosed with DIPG. Her family was absolutely devastated. Neither of her parents had heard of DIPG before their daughter’s diagnosis. They are extremely thankful for the support of their extended family, including McKinli's grandparents that have been by their side while they traveled first to Houston and then St. Jude's for treatment in search of the best plan for McKinli. Her family shares her story today because they believe no parent deserves for their baby to be going through the nightmare of DIPG and through their own rocky road to diagnosis want to make other parents aware of what to to look for in case they are ever faced with a similar situation.
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McKinli is a BIG personality in a tiny body and is facing her disease with strength and courage way beyond her years and the Archer Foundation is proud to support her family as they turn over every stone in search of many more good days for their little girl. ​​​
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