Parents of a 10-month-old baby girl are reaching out for help through the Internet, as doctors struggle to determine what is causing this otherwise normal baby girl to literally shrink before their eyes.

Ten-month-old Maggie Agnew of Salt Lake City was born nearly full-term and with no obvious health issues, but now she suffers from a host of dire physical problems -- including unexplained weight and muscle-mass loss -- and her baffled doctors are recommending that the baby be treated at Children's Hospital Boston.

Family and friends are rallying around Maggie's parents, Michelle and Sean Agnew, doing whatever they can to help them manage Maggie's health care. On May 15 and 16, Michelle and Sean's neighbors are hosting a garage sale, bake sale and boutique sale to help the couple pay for Maggie's medical treatment. The normally private pair says they "were never really close" to their neighbors, but were forced to open up to them when they didn't have a family member available to help out.

"Now the entire neighborhood is getting involved and everybody is so great to us," says Michelle Agnew, 28. "We are really lucky to live in a great neighborhood like this. Anyone can donate to America First Credit Union. Or on my blog I have a PayPal account."

Agnew started the blog as a way to update her sister, now living in New York City, on Maggie's development, as well as the rest of the family's news. However, this mom of three said she never expected that she would still be documenting her baby's health problems at The Agnew Family Blog. On May 10, Agnew posted an update on Maggie's status:

"So I know some of you are waiting to hear more about Maggie's heart. The night after that heart rate problem happened we had a nurse and she said that Maggie was getting really mad and she started to turn blue around her mouth. The nurse put the monitor on her and her heart rate was in the 40's."



Michelle also started a blog at CaresPages, an online community dedicated to supporting families during their struggle with illness, and her brother-in-law started a page for Maggie on Facebook. But for the Agnews, spreading the word about Maggie online has been less about generating funds and more about searching for someone who might be able to help their little girl. We are trying to get the word out there," Michelle says. "We would love to find a doctor that might know what she has."

Michelle Agnew recalls Maggie's birth as totally normal, but says that her daughter did begin to exhibit health problems before she and her husband, Sean, left the hospital. "I noticed right away that she had really noisy breathing. She couldn't really breastfeed well because she was having a hard time breathing," Agnew remembers. "Everyone kept saying that she just hasn't learned how to eat and breathe at the same time."

Agnew's experience and instincts, however, told her something was amiss: "Having two other kids, I knew something was wrong. I just kept telling everybody that would listen. Finally one nurse that was discharging us listened, and she hooked Maggie up to a monitor and tried to feed her. Her oxygen dropped immediately and she turned blue. From there they sent her to the NICU."

Ten months later, Maggie weighs less than many 4-week-olds and and is fed through a tube. Her airway is very small, as if she were premature. She has tubes in her ears, reflux, a tracheotomy and heart problems, and she sleeps on a ventilator. Maggie's brain also sits right on her spinal cord, impairing the flow of spinal fluid, and she was born with three holes in her heart, two of which have now closed on their own. Doctors at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake suspect there is a single health problem causing all these symptoms -- but, says Sean Agnew, they are stumped as to what that problem might be, and there has been no definitive diagnosis.

For that reason, the couple is being encouraged to transfer Maggie to Children's Hospital Boston, and have been in touch with physicians there in regard to Maggie's mystery ailment.

Despite Maggie's myriad health problems, Michelle says the baby is "doing great mentally." On Mother's Day, Michelle told ParentDish that she has all the normal hopes and dreams for her daughter, despite the child's current struggles.

"My hopes for Maggie are that she will grow up to live longer than me," says Michelle. "I will give her any and every opportunity to do whatever it is that she wants to do. I will support her any way I can just like my other kids. The main things I want for her is just to be healthy and happy."

Those wishing to help Maggie Agnew can visit The Agnew Family Blog. An account has also been set up in Maggie's name at the America First Credit Union in Salt Lake City.