miracle?

[beej]

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2025/03/30/michigan-girl-tumors-vanish-after-family-visits-blessed-solanus-caseys-tomb-sainthood/82657052007/

One more official miracle recognized by the Vatican is needed to propel Casey to sainthood — and it could be the story of how a pair of tumors vanished from Mary Bartold's abdomen without medical intervention after the 16-year-old girl's parents made a pilgrimage last year to Casey's tomb. Her mother started a novena, a nine-day period of prayer to ask for Casey's intercession on Mary's behalf.
Susan Bartold, 55, and her husband, Rick Bartold, 60, stand behind their daughter, Mary Bartold, 16, in the backyard of their home in DeWitt, Michigan. Tumors were discovered in May 2024 on each of Mary's ovaries, and she was scheduled for surgery. But Mary's parents made a pilgrimmage to the Solanus Casey Center and started a novena to pray for the Capuchin priest to intercede in healing Mary. Soon after, they discovered the girl's tumors had disappeared. The Bartold family has submitted a report about Mary's healing to the Catholic Church for consideration as a miracle.

When repeated imaging tests in late July showed Mary's ovarian tumors had disappeared before she could undergo surgery, "all I could say was, 'Praise God,' " said her mother, Susan Bartold, 55. "This is his doing."

Severe abdominal pain struck in late April 2024, while Mary was in school.

"I was toppled over," she said. "I couldn't move at all ... because it hurt so bad."

Her mother remembers the tearful call that came from Mary at school that day and wondered what could be causing her symptoms.

"I asked the basic mom questions ... thinking that it was just kind of some stomach bug or that she was starting her period or something like that," said Susan Bartold, 55, of DeWitt, a small community north of Lansing.

But when Mary's pain continued, "I knew something was wrong," she said.
More: Father Solanus Casey declared 'Blessed Solanus' at Detroit beatification

In early May, Mary underwent a CT scan and an ultrasound, which revealed a 7.3 cm mass on her left ovary and a 1.5 cm mass on her right ovary.

"At that time, they thought they were cysts," Susan Bartold said. "There was an urgency to all of this, suddenly, because they were afraid of ovarian torsion."

Ovarian torsion occurs when the tissue supporting the ovary twists inside the body, cutting off blood supply. It's considered a life-threatening emergency and sometimes can include the twisting of the fallopian tube as well.

"For her, all of this made her think, 'I'm not going to be able to have children,' " Susan Bartold said. "She's reading into all of these conversations and realizing that there's a good possibility that she might lose one or both of her ovaries. And all she could say to us was, 'I want to be a mom.' And even though we understand that there are other ways to be a beautiful mother, for a 16-year-old ... it was really, really hard."

They made an appointment for Mary at the University of Michigan Health and worked with Catholic physicians to ensure "we understood what was happening and that we were making moral decisions that weren't led by secular belief," Susan Bartold said.

The physicians scheduled Mary for surgery and determined that the masses on her ovaries were not cysts, but actually were tumors called teratomas, which typically are benign.

The first available surgery date was Aug. 2.

As the date of Mary's surgery approached, her doctors asked her to get additional imaging tests to reevaluate the tumors.

Susan Bartold remembers driving Mary to Ann Arbor for an MRI in the predawn hours of July 30, which happened to be Casey's feast day.

"Mary was sleeping in the back seat, and it's 4:30 in the morning," Susan Bartold said. "It's pouring rain. It's pitch black. There's no moon, and not a star in the sky, and there's all this construction around. I just remember saying out loud, 'Solanus, this is your feast day. I am doing this for you. I know you have big news.' "

That night, she said, results from Mary's MRI appeared in her electronic patient portal and gave the family pause. It appeared as if Mary's tumors had vanished.

"I read them, and I told Rick, 'This sounds like there isn't anything there. But I don't know. ... We'll wait for the doctor to call us.' "

The next day, the phone rang just before noon.

Mary's doctor "was ecstatic," Susan Bartold said. "She was just like, 'There's nothing there. It's all gone. ... I'm sorry it took me so long to call, but I talked to the radiologist ... and then I talked to another radiologist. I really wanted to make sure that I was telling you the correct news. We are good to cancel the surgery.' "