Ronald Mcdonald House Southwestern Ontario
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We are so thankful for the donations made to our House! Currently, we are greatest need of: Food •Microwavable KD Cups •Chocolate Chips •Fruit Cups •Salad Dressing •Condiments Kitchen •Cupcake Liners •S.O.S Cleaning Pads •Blue Recycling Bags •Garbage Bags House and Families •Plastic Clothes Hangers •Windex •Batteries (AA and AAA and 9V especially) Insider Our Babies •Diapers •Diaper Cream Ronald McDonald House Southwestern Ontario ® •Teething Rings See a full list at rmhswo.ca! Spring 2014 Issue Pg.1 Wish List & House Warmers Pg.2 Family Story Pg.3 Stop to Remember Pg.4/5 Upcoming Events Pg.6 Special Moments Pg.7 Getting Involved Pg.8 RMH Family Room A Little Warmth Can Go a Long Way! A monthly HouseWarmer donation For families who need to return monthly, or even weekly, to London for medical can give sick kids and their families… care, our House truly becomes a second home. When you become Peace of mind that they have a safe a , by making a monthly donation, your support is there to welcome HouseWarmer place to stay our families every month and helps to build a foundation of ongoing and reliable funding for the House. Warmth through a homemade dinner after returning from a long day at the hospital As a HouseWarmer your monthly donation can be big or small. No matter the size, your scheduled gift acts as a security blanket, ensuring Ronald McDonald House Comfort through relationships built with Southwestern Ontario has the funding every month to keep families together other families in similar situations when they need each other most. Connection to back home with free long Help kids like Reed stay close to mom and dad distance calling and Wi-Fi access The Pepe Family flies into London from Thunder Bay on a monthly basis to receive care for Reed’s To become a , visit us online or Townes–Brocks syndrome. For families like the Pepes, HouseWarmer select the monthly giving option on the our “home away from home” helps lift financial and emotional burdens while keeping them close to enclosed donation slip. their sick child. Questions? Contact us: Stay Connected Tel: (519) 685-3232 | Fax: (519) 685-0703 rmhswo.ca Ronald McDonald House Southwestern Ontario [email protected] | www.rmhswo.ca 741 Base Line Road East, London, Ontario N6C 2R6 https://www.facebook.com/rmhswo 1 Family Story A Mother’s Persistence and Her Daughter’s Strength Every mother wants to hear her baby is healthy, but what happens when mom feels like something is wrong? This is what happened to Kim Vander Schelde after she gave birth to her second little girl Olivia. Doctors said she was healthy, but Kim was convinced something wasn't right… Sent home from the hospital after having Olivia on November 8th, 2004, Kim and her husband Sam couldn't help but be alarmed with Olivia’s constant vomiting and crying. After making several trips to a local Emergency Room, Olivia completely stopped eating and was admitted into a London Hospital where she stayed for 6 weeks before being released with a feeding tube. However, the vomiting and painful cries continued after the family returned home and led Kim to think there may be a neurological complication. Her gut instinct was that doctors needed to take an “inside look”, but with Olivia being so young health professionals were hesitant to run an MRI. For the time being, Kim just had to wait and hope Olivia’s feeding tube would start helping. At 16 months Olivia was back in the hospital to have her feeding tube removed, but by this time other mobility issues had begun to arise. Olivia’s arm was limp and she would rarely attempt to move it. She would start to walk but then lose the ability and would have to drag her limp leg behind her. These increasing symptoms and Kim’s persistence led doctors to give Olivia a CT Scan. Kim explains “I would burp Olivia and rub her back and I swore to myself her spine was crooked. I knew something was wrong and I was beginning to think I was crazy because no one seemed to know what.” Once the scan results came in, the Vander Schelde’s were informed that their daughter had a mass in her brain which was later diagnosed as a Holland (right) visiting Olivia at brain tumor in her spinal cord. the hospital Doctors operated a week later. They were able to remove 90% of the tumor in a 14 hour surgery, but Olivia needed to stay at the hospital and recover for the next 7 weeks. Kim explains she didn't know about Ronald McDonald House Southwestern Ontario until the nurses suggested it. “I would just sleep on the little chair in the hospital room,” says Kim, “I never wanted to leave my baby. It got to the point that nurses would tell my husband I needed rest or I was going to get sick.” Once Kim came to the House, it made it possible for dad to stay home and care for older sister Holland while Kim stayed close to Olivia in a welcoming, secure environment steps from the hospital. When the family needed to travel back and forth to Toronto for her weekly chemo treatments and were without their “home away from home” they had to spend over $40,000 on hotels, transportation, hospital parking, food and the other expenses of having a seriously ill child. Sam and Kim ended up selling their house, hosting fundraisers and turning to their community for help. Kim expresses that they couldn't have done it without support, “Our community was amazing. Ballymote Auto and Shut the Front Door Improv helped us get a van large enough for Olivia’s wheelchair, and one day when checking the mailbox I found an envelope with $800 and a note saying ‘I hope this helps’.” These acts of kindness are what kept the family strong. Today, Olivia is 9 and her initial tumor is gone. There is still a small mass in the Thalamus of her brain but it hasn't caused any medical issues. Other complications from undergoing chemo at a young age have been manageable so far. Sam has recently been able to start working again, and Kim feels like she will be returning shortly as well, but Olivia still needs help from her family when coping with her condition. Her biggest struggle is neurological pain, often in her toes, but having older sister Holland and younger brother Sammy around helps to keep her busy and take her mind off of the pain. Now living in St. Marys, the family continues to come and stay at our House when Olivia has her appointments, and the kids love being able to use the play rooms and watch a family movie in the theatre room. When they are all able to come and stay at the House they will “cheer” with their juice cans to Ronald McDonald House for keeping them together. Sammy (left), Olivia (middle), and Holland (right) eating dinner at RMH You can follow Olivia’s story at oliviasdream.com 2 Stop to Remember... Keeping A Memory Alive Paul and Mellissa Walker were happy to be expecting their third child, but knew there would be difficulties ahead. While pregnant, Mellissa underwent a Fetal Echocardiogram which revealed her baby had a Critical Aortic Valve Stenosis, a narrowing of the heart’s aortic valve. In order to take immediate action, doctors did a Balloon Dilation on the baby while Mellissa was 34 weeks pregnant— at the time he was only the 11th baby to ever have undergone this medical procedure. Heart Plaque ” In Memory of Emmet Walker” Emmett, January 2013 Just two weeks later, Emmett Walker was born at 37 weeks and 6lbs15oz in Toronto, but was immediately flown to Children’s Hospital in London, ON. Living just outside of Dealtown, ON, the Walkers knew the upcoming months would be difficult but their community was rallying support and Ronald McDonald House Southwestern Ontario was keeping them close to Emmett. Over the next year Emmett would brave a number of medical procedures, including two open heart surgeries by 8 weeks old, in addition to fighting the “everyday” viruses that took a toll on his immune system. The Walker family was there every step of the way with Emmett, until he passed First Walker family photo away on July 23rd, 2013 at 17 months old. Mellissa, Paul and Emmett’s two brothers Riley and Ethan, know Emmett put up a strong fight and thank RMH for giving them more time to spend with him. Today Emmett Walker has a heart-shaped plaque on our Major Donor Wall as family and friends have raised over $6,500 for our House in his memory. They continue to keep Emmett’s memory alive by making donations to the House, participating in the Run for the House fundraiser (raising over $1,000 in pledges last year) and sharing Emmett’s story with others going through similar struggles. Finding strength through their loss, the Walker Family has helped Mellissa (middle) at RMH so many other families just like them and continue to prove some memories will never Run for the House fade. Hannah's Mail Every year Ronald McDonald House Southwestern Ontario takes the time to remember those children who touched our House and hearts, fought bravely, but unfortunately lost their battles. On a very special day in May, the RMH families whose children have passed away are invited to come back to the “House that Love Built” to share and talk with other families and participate in a special service that gives tribute to each child’s memory.