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Fishers daddy-daughter duo battling life-changing diseases together

Olivia McKenna, 10, has mid-aortic syndrome and a connective tissue disorder, while her dad, Michael, has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

FISHERS, Ind. — While most 10-year-old girls spend their mornings worrying about what to wear, Olivia McKenna spends part of hers taking multiple blood pressure medications.

"I don't like it," Olivia said.

Olivia was first diagnosed with a rare condition called mid-aortic syndrome when she was 8 years old.

It's a condition her family says narrows the aorta artery, restricting blood to her kidneys.

"My friends like to play running games, and I get like really tired, so sometimes I have to sit down and get headaches from it," Olivia said.

This year, Olivia was diagnosed with another health issue — a connective tissue disorder.

"They went in and did genetic testing, trying to figure out what was going on and if there was any sort of underlying disease that caused this — the Ehlers-Danlos," said Olivia's mom, Tabatha McKenna.

Olivia's only hope in living a happier and healthier life lies nearly 1,000 miles away in Boston, Massachusetts.

"We'll just uproot our life for a month, two months to be there," Tabatha said. "As far as surgery, I mean, $50,000? I don't know. That's what was kind of being estimated when this was all coming to light."

But Olivia wasn't the only one in her family to get a diagnosis this year.

Her dad, Michael, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which spread to his liver.

"I want to be here for all the important things, but in the grand scheme of things, I won't," Michael said as tears filled his eyes.

While the big decision Tuesday night was what's for dinner, one thing is already for sure: Michael will see his daughter get this surgery.

"I told them that that's going to have to be part of my care, that is her care," Michael said. "We'll either have to pause my care just to get her care taken care of and then resume mine, but yeah, that's my plan."

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