2010 McDonald's dream team
Lauren MacLeod, 13, Brandon Oliveira, 13, and Molly Robillard, 7, are excited to be members of the McDonald's 2010 Dream Team. It is with great honor that they represent all the children and youth who rely on CHEO each year. Each of these young patients has their own unique story (as shared by their parents below) to tell about their cancer journey and how CHEO has helped them. Their experiences will inspire you. On May 2nd please join them as participants and support our local children's hospital.
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LAUREN MACLEOD, AGE 13
Lauren was an active 11-year-old, so when she started complaining about aches and pains in her back and legs, her parents Cam and Carol assumed that it was “normal” – she was a competitive soccer player so getting the odd bump or bruise was expected. They even purchased a new mattress and pillow to see if it would help the back pain, to no avail, so they made an appointment with her family doctor. Given her parents felt Lauren was also looking pale, they requested a blood test.
The results from the blood work came back the next night. The doctor was very concerned about a low white blood cell count and sent the family to see a hematologist at CHEO in an effort to get to the bottom of the problem.
During the next six weeks of following her blood results carefully, Lauren continued to feel unwell – the pains continued, she was constantly fatigued and suffered terrible headaches. Due to her low immunity, she was admitted to 4 North, on one occasion with a fever. Finally, on September 13, 2007, the doctors decided to do a bone marrow aspirate to rule out cancer and see what the marrow might tell them. After the procedure, the family was getting ready to go home when they were asked to stay to review the results.
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When they walked into the room, they immediately knew that the news was not good – there were three doctors, three nurses and a social worker present. Dr. Halton had the difficult task of telling the family that Lauren’s bone marrow aspirate confirmed that she did indeed have cancer – Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and would have to start chemotherapy immediately. They were told that ALL is the most common form of the disease and one with very positive outcomes. While this was good news, it did not completely lighten the blow of the news that their daughter had cancer. They later learned that her bone marrow contained 97% cancer cells! They also found out that Lauren’s back pain was being caused by several broken vertebrae as a result of the leukemia, which depletes bone density…not even the best mattress can fix that!
Lauren was admitted and the next few days were a whirlwind of activity – tests and scans, learning about chemotherapy protocol, getting their home life in order, and, perhaps the worst part for a parent: telling friends and family including Lauren’s older brother and sister, Ryan and Lindsey.
The uplifting part of their journey is how people came together to support them – gifts of prepared meals from friends and neighbors, offers to assist with things at home, gifts for Lauren. Cam and Carol felt that CHEO played a central role in getting them through the initial phase and were willing to answer every single question. “One of the things that came to the fore was that when you are involved with CHEO, you become a part of something that is so much bigger than just a hospital,” say Cam and Carol. “CHEO is the hub of a community of care – we were introduced to and benefitted from so many organizations and services.”
On January 3, 2010, 844 days after her diagnosis, Lauren took her last pill, signaling the end of her treatment. She is now 13, has a full head of wavy hair and is reinstalling herself in life. She has endured this challenge with an incredible amount of courage and resolve to beat cancer. She is doing her best to give back to CHEO for all the support she has received, so she is a member of the CHEO Youth Forum and has given her time to the Foundation through participation in events, such as the CN Cycle and the CHEO Telethon. The whole family will continue to visit CHEO until Lauren is 18 and they vow to continue to support their hospital.
BRANDON OLIVEIRA, AGE 13
We often hear the word miracle at CHEO. Brandon Oliveira is one such miracle. He can’t remember what happened but his parents, Lori and Paulo will never forget it.
Born on July 29, 1996 Brandon was the picture of health but within a few weeks he started spitting up after his feedings. Given this is a common occurrence no alarm bells initially went off. His condition did not improve so suspecting acid reflux Brandon’s paediatrician sent him to CHEO for a stomach ultrasound.
That’s when life changed for the entire family. That Friday afternoon Lori and Paulo learned their six month old little boy had neuroblastoma – cancer.
Monday morning began with a barrage of tests to find where exactly the cancer was in his little body. He had a tumour beside his kidney, in the lower part of his spine, and it had twisted around two out of three of the nerves running into his lower leg. The surgery he would undergo was miraculous but came with the warning that their son may never walk again. First Dr. Soucy removed the tumour from Brandon’s abdomen, then Dr. Ventureyra took over. He removed Brandon’s bottom two vertebrae so he could reach and remove the tumour in his back, then had to remove two of the nerves in Brandon’s left leg because the cancer had wrapped its way around the nerves.
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Seeing their son after an eight hour surgery attached to monitors and with multiple tubes was a shock. But to everyone’s surprise and delight, Brandon was standing in his crib the very next day! This was so encouraging for the whole family however the next few months would prove to be very difficult. The chemotherapy treatments made Brandon very sick so he was admitted to CHEO from February to July with very few trips home. During this time he also underwent a stomach surgery called a fundoplication. During fundoplication surgery, the upper curve of the stomach is wrapped around the esophagus and sewn into place so that the lower portion of the esophagus passes through a small tunnel of stomach muscle. This surgery strengthens the valve between the esophagus and stomach which stops acid from backing up into the esophagus as easily, allowing the esophagus to heal. While this surgery was a success, Brandon’s health continued to decline.
His condition gradually worsened to a point he was unable to breathe unassisted. Before long Lori and Paulo heard the devastating news that their little boy was unlikely to recover. This did not stop the CHEO team from doing all they could do. They consulted with a physician in Toronto and soon Lori, Paulo and a CHEO nurse all accompanied Brandon by air ambulance when he was transferred to Toronto. After more testing and a lung biopsy Brandon was given a diagnosis – a rare form of pneumonia. So rare in fact it hadn’t been seen at that institution in 22 years. Brandon was immediately given medication which rapidly improved his condition. Three days after his first birthday Brandon was sent home – a day his parents will never forget.
“As parents we were faced with our worst fear, the possibility of losing our little boy,” says Lori. “We call him our miracle. The doctors and nurses at CHEO are amazing and we can’t say thank you enough for saving our son.”
To his parents delight, Brandon is now your typical teenager. He loves to play hockey, lacrosse and loves motocross. He’s looking forward to being a part of the CN Cycle event and giving back to a hospital that has given him the chance to do all the things he enjoys.
MOLLY ROBILLARD, AGE 7
Molly is bright eyed, beautiful, happy and loves to color. Even though she’s been through almost one year of cancer treatments at CHEO her shining personality remains intact. This is a testament to a loving family, and caring CHEO staff.
Before March break last year Molly was bathing after a hockey game when her mother Wendy noticed a golf ball sized lump on Molly’s shoulder. “I was so alarmed,” recalls Wendy. “I took her straight to CHEO.”
The next 21 days would be a rollercoaster of emotions because Molly’s diagnosis was not immediate. Her blood work did not indicate cancer but ultrasounds, scans, and an MRI showed lumps in Molly’s abdomen, shoulder and back of her skull. A biopsy of the lump on her shoulder helped doctors to make a diagnosis – anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The news was shocking and would mean one year of chemotherapy treatments for Molly.
The emotions of Molly’s parents Wendy and Barrie went from devastation to elation as they watched the chemotherapy “shrinking the cancer away.” In just six weeks her cancer was 75 per cent gone! Molly’s doctor showed them the list of all the locations of cancer in Molly’s body, and began to cross out the list. A hopeful sign indeed but it did not mean Molly would be free of the side effects of treatments. She suffered from mouth sores and regular fevers and was admitted from April to July of 2009 and was often in isolation. Doctors decided treatments of IVIG – immunity globulins would help to boost her base line immunity, and it worked. Molly hasn’t been admitted for a fever since.
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When asked who their favourite people are at CHEO, the list is long…Mollypenny the clown is Molly’s first response, but the list includes a host of doctors, nurses, Marilyn the interlink nurse, Reg the teacher, child life specialists, volunteers…and on it goes. At Christmas Molly wanted to bring a gift to her special CHEO friends. The list came to 20 and as a token of thanks Molly and her parents delivered hot chocolate to their second family.
“We have always felt we have good luck. We travelled a lot, had healthy kids,” says Barrie and Wendy. “This was our first bout of bad luck and it was the worst bad luck you could ever imagine. We feel fortunate to have CHEO right here in our community. Molly’s cancer is the type that has a good success rate and we have complete faith in the team at CHEO.”
The community support has been enormous. Friends and neighbours make meals for them every Tuesday when Barrie and Wendy take Molly to CHEO for her weekly appointment. Last year Molly’s school entered Team Molly in the CN Cycle event. Even though Molly was too sick to attend she was there in spirit. Team Molly raised $3,088.21.
As of July 2009 an MRI showed Molly’s cancer is gone. The family celebrated but will continue their CHEO journey until Molly’s last chemo treatment on March 29th, 2010. Another day to celebrate indeed!
