Meet Jacey, a Very Brave Little Girl

Our group, World of Charity Stitching, recently donated a quilt to a little girl named Jacey who has Leukemia.

One of our members, Steff W. from Canada wrote, "I saw my friend Jordi to give her the quilt, and she was just so thrilled with it, everyone did such a wonderful job with it. Jacey was in the hospital this week for lumbar punctures, 2 different chemo drugs and a flu shot, and took it like a trooper. They are 6 months into their cancer journey now, and so far so good.  Thanks again so much for your thoughtful gift, I know it is very much appreciated!   It is very apt, as Jacey now qualifies for a wish from the 'Make a wish' foundation, and wants to go to Disneyland once she is able to travel out of country again!"

 

Jacey’s mom, Jordi, wrote the following about Jacey’s journey:

“Jacey is our energetic, extroverted, spirited 3 year old. Affectionately known as our Jacey Badger she was also extremely healthy. Following her third birthday in March we noticed that she was napping in the afternoons, and seemed to spend a lot of time on the couch. We passed it off as her being tired from starting preschool.  At the beginning of April, though, she also seemed extremely pale and even more lethargic than before. We went to her paediatrician, who sent her for blood work. The results came back with a red blood cell count of 60 - normal is 120. We were sent to the local children hospital's ER. Do not pass GO; do not collect $200. At about 11:00 pm, our paediatrician showed up,  3 machines had missed it, but the pathologist manually checking her blood caught them. Cancerous cells in Jacey's blood. Up until that point, I had never believed that time stops. It does, though, when you hear those words. It's straight out of a movie, complete with blood rushing in your eyes and thoughts of, "This is a dream." Within 48 hours, we had a diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Jacey had a central line and was hooked up to her first dose of chemo.

"This is where the blessings started. Jacey was diagnosed with the most common - and most treatable - form of childhood cancer. ALL has a 96% remission rate, and Jacey is considered a low-risk case. We live in a city with a  major children's hospital. We have my mother living minutes away from us, and she took our 5 year old daughter, Cami, in to live with her.  You don't realize how inspiring children are until you see them in situations like this. Jacey continues to be a bright, energetic imp. 6 months after diagnosis, she has had 10 lumbar punctures and approximately 30 doses of chemo. She is fast becoming a legend amongst the recovery room nurses for her love of red popsicles, her renditions of Elton John's Crocodile Rock (Elton is her favourite singer) and her immediate demands to go to go to the playroom.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the beautiful gift of the Disney quilt. The amount of support that our family have received awes and humbles me. I came across this quote on the 6 month date of Jacey's diagnosis, and I hold it close to me now: 'We are so often caught up in the destination that we forget to appreciate the journey, especially the goodness of the people we meet on the way. Appreciation is a wonderful feeling, don't overlook it.'  

Thank you, Jacey and the rest of the Strem family."  

Leukemia is a type of cancer that starts in the bone marrow (soft, inner part of the bones) It moves quickly into the blood and can then spread to other parts of the body such as the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, and central nervous system. Both children and adults can get leukemia.

Leukemia can often develop quickly. When this happens it is called "acute", and if not treated, could be fatal in as little as a few months. "Lymphocytic" is a term that means that the cancer starts from white blood cells called lymphocytes. Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer that starts from these white blood cells in the bone marrow. ALL is sometimes called acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

There are many different types of Leukemia and the treatment given and the outlook for the person with leukemia vary greatly according to the exact type of leukemia.