Kids and Families

Bravery is contagious. Seeing a sick toddler reassure her worried mom with a gentle pat on the shoulder does wonders for adjusting your perspective on the world.

It’s amazing how so often kids face illness and injury with far better attitudes than grownups. They inspire their families and all who witnesses their courage. With 75,000 children relying on care from our hospital every year, the courage quotient is high in our community.

Natalie

Natalie’s teacher noticed that she had been losing her balance at school. She was vomiting on and off but nothing was consistent so the family thought maybe she had some sort of flu. Natalie’s parents took their daughter to their local hospital and she was given a CT Scan. The scan revealed that something wasn’t right. The family’s doctor said, with tears in his eyes, to get to the Alberta Children's Hospital immediately.

That afternoon Natalie was admitted to the Oncology ward and surgery to remove a tumour in her cerebellum was scheduled for that Monday. The family was thrown into the world of cancer and life would never be the same.

That Monday Natalie had surgery. It lasted 7 hours and doctors were able to remove 98 percent of the tumour. She had a second surgery on July 2 to remove the remaining 2 percent. Natalie then started radiation treatment on her spine and the back of her head. She had 32 sessions of radiation without sedation!

The family believes that they were chosen to go through this cancer journey and that they couldn’t be in any better hands. They feel this has bonded them as a family—they’ve found a new normal and will be cancer survivors.  Today the family is doing wonderfully.

Alexa

Like most moms, Lucinda was excited to be having her second baby and busy planning for the new addition but nothing could have prepared her for finding out that there was a serious problem with her baby’s heart. The baby had Critical Aortic Stenosis meaning that the aorta in her left ventrical did not work properly. It meant that her tiny baby would have to undergo several open heart surgeries.

At one month old, baby Alexa had her first open heart surgery.

Three months later, Alexa had her second open heart surgery. The repair to Alexa’s heart takes 3 open heart surgeries to fully complete. The next and final surgery will take place when she is around 2 to 3 years old.

Alexa is doing wonderfully today. She is a determined, happy little girl.

Jaymee

Six-year-old Jaymee had been complaining of a sore tummy but her parents didn’t think too much of it until they noticed that she had blood in her urine. After multiple trips to urgent care, and suspecting it was a kidney infection the family were told that they would be booked in for an ultrasound the following week. However, within a couple of days Jaymee’s condition worsened and the family bundled up their little girl and took her to the Alberta Children's Hospital.   

Sometime after midnight the ER doctor came back with devastating news. Jaymee was diagnosed with a rare form of Cancer. She had a WILMS tumour on her kidney and would require surgery and treatment.

Two weeks later Jaymee had surgery to remove the tumour and the week following that, she started chemotherapy and radiation.  After 11 rounds of radiation and countless other treatments and procedures, Jaymee’s parents received the best gift when they were able to take their little girl home for Christmas. Today, the family is doing great!

Listen to stories from our families at the 2010 Caring for Kids Radiothon

Read more stories as told by parents & loved ones