Meet Andie
Meet Andie
Her story, from diagnosis to ringing the bell!
Letter from A Dream Kid:
Months before I got diagnosed I would feel sleepy and I wouldn't have much energy by the end of the day. I would come home from school at 4 and sleep until 7 or sometimes 8. I don't remember that much of when I got diagnosed. All I remember is that my sister and my dad were having fun and cracking jokes in the office waiting for the diagnosis while my mom was sitting and observing, already having an idea about what my future would look like. I can't even remember if I cried or anything, but I got poutine at the end of the day.
During chemotherapy I didn’t have much energy and it was getting harder to walk up the stairs alone. On days when I felt stronger and had more energy, I would make an effort to go to school and see all my friends and my home room teacher who helped me emotionally throughout my treatment.
One of the days I felt good was my birthday and my class wanted to do something for me. When I walked into class I saw that my desk was covered in sticky notes with inside jokes or things that I’ve said in class or with my friends and I think that was the sweetest present that I’ve ever gotten. They also got me fluffy socks and played Mario Kart WII. I’m so good at that game so I beat everyone who dared to challenge me! I watched my supportive classmates play ‘Just Dance’ for the rest of the day. It was the most fun I've ever had for my birthday and I'm so thankful to have an amazing teacher who allowed something like that to happen.
“One of the biggest goals for me personally at the start of treatment was to go to Montreal with my classmates. I did not want to miss that opportunity. It helped me get through some of the worst days of my life.”
Due to chemotherapy, I had to miss out on quite a few things. Before I was diagnosed I tried out for a volleyball team in Selkirk. I was so happy to hear that I made the team, my first club volleyball team. I only went to one practice which was a week after my surgery, I didn’t do anything big, I just tossed the ball to my teammates and caught the ball. I later found out that my team used purple laces and purple hair ties to show their support for me, and I was able to go to one of their games.
Not only did I miss out on sports and school, I was missing out on being with my friends who mean so much to me. I couldn't go to my friend’s house that often because I would be insecure about having no hair, my appearance, and lack of energy.
A few days after I got diagnosed I went to get surgery to get a portacath and they did something to get bone marrow from my back. When I got out of surgery the first thing I said was “where are my socks?” and “the doctor stole my socks” apparently it made some people laugh. I had no sense of time so I don’t know what time it was when I got out of surgery or back home. The part where the nurses had to flush out the port with saline was so gross, they said that I could eat something to get rid of the taste but it only made it worse because now I can’t look at fruit gummies without thinking about the saline taste.
When I got home the pain wasn’t the worst because I could still walk around by myself without having posture like ‘)’ and holding my arm. The next morning was torture, I remember I couldn’t move at all due to the pain.
I was so happy to finish my treatments and be cancer free after four months. 84 days!! It seemed to last forever! After my last treatment it was finally time to ring the bell! A whole bunch of people came to support me and my family. My mom's good friends Cindy and Dale and my teacher, Miss Lisa Walker. That only made me more intimidated and scared to ring the bell, I did the tiniest ding and ran to go stand behind my sister. The one thing I regret is not ringing that bell loud enough!
In May of 2019 I was able to go to a concert in Winnipeg and I met my favourite band, Twenty One Pilots!! That was all because of my favourite Canadian women's Volleyball Player, Meghan Cyr. She is friends with a radio host named Karly Troschuk. Karly was able to get us in to meet them. My sister and I were a good 3-4 inches taller than them. That concert was my celebration for finishing chemotherapy, so I screamed and sang to every single song they played.
The next morning I was on my way to Montreal with my classmates. We took so many pictures, I didn’t have a lot of my hair back so I was still insecure about that but the churches that we visited allowed me to keep my hat on which was nice. One of the biggest goals for me personally at the start of treatment was to go to Montreal with my classmates. I did not want to miss that opportunity. It helped me get through some of the worst days of my life.
COVID-19 changed my dream from wanting to go to Disney World to build lightsabers and droids with my family, to wanting an above-ground pool. I chose to dream for a pool because before I got cancer I was a competitive swimmer and I had to stop due to chemo and being scared. I was scared to get back into the pool with no hair.
You can help make Andie’s dream come true!
With everything she’s been through, Andie deserves her dream. She was hoping to visit Disney World, but the coronavirus made travel impossible. So she had to change her dream, and she chose an above-ground swimming pool for her backyard.
We’re all dealing with uncertainty because of the coronavirus. But we can’t let COVID-19 and the challenges that have come with it steal the dreams from Dream Kids.
Your gift will allow Dreams to continue, closer to home. Please consider a gift today, for a kid like Andie.