Cancer survivor, age 8, inspires donors at West Winds
By Gary S. Hatrick
The West Winds Assisted Living Facility took crafty steps to assist in the fight against cancer Monday when the residents presented $365 to Kylie’z Crusaderz, a Zephyrhills Relay for Life Team built around 8-year-old bone cancer survivor Kylie Pederson.
The residents earned the money from a craft fair they held recently and chose to donate the money to the American Cancer Society through Kylie’s team.
West Winds invited Kylie’s family and members of Kylie’z Crusaderz as guests of honor to a special lunch to present the funds. Also in attendance were three of the ALF residents who are also cancer survivors, Alice Angelo, Edith Biggs and Pat O’Keefe.
Kylie and her parents, James and Katherine, moved to Zephyrhills less than a year ago from California where they had participated in their first Relay for Life. Kylie’s dad had come to take a job at Zeagle Systems. In fact the “Zs” in Kylie’z Crusaderz is an homage to Zeagle Systems, the main supporter of the team. It was a new start for a family whose lives had been drastically changed forever.
Kylie’s story is a story of hope triumphing over fear. The story still brings tears from the uncertainty and the threatening despair of just about three years ago.
Kylie was 6 when she was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer that usually attacks the young between the ages of 10-20. A tumor attaches to a bone; Kylie’s had attached to her ribs.
“It was scary,” Katherine said through tears as James took over. “It was scary, it was devastating, it was shocking, you just didn’t know. You know you hear one thing and that’s cancer and automatically go to the worst place where you don’t think they re going to be around anymore.”
Being 6, Kylie was not aware of the seriousness of her condition.
“She handled it really good,” Katherine recalled. “She didn’t have the same perception of what cancer was as we did, so she just knew that she had to take medicine but she didn’t really understand what could happen.”
Kylie was immediately started her on a chemotherapy regimen one week on and one week off, and after two months, the doctors were able to do surgery to remove the tumor. She started chemotherapy about two weeks after surgery, and it continued for the nine months after that.”
All total, Kylie spent about five months in the hospital. She lost all her hair, but she took it in stride, her parents said. She is still checked every three months to keep an eye out for a reoccurrence.
Kylie is now 20 months cancer-free and to see her, talk to her and watch her play, one would never suspect she has ever had a care in the world. She is an honorary co-chair for the 2011 Zephyrhills Relay for Life.
James and Katherine offer this bit of wisdom to parents whose children are diagnosed with cancer: “Stay strong and support each other.”
“A lot of parents start attacking each other,” James said. “The best thing to do is stay strong with each other. We never tried to show any negativity around Kylie; we always stayed positive. Any scary thoughts we had, we’d wait and share them together rather than in front of her.”
Kylie’z Crusaders will be at the Zephyrhills Relay April 1-2 in Bulldog Stadium at Zephyrhills High. To donate money to the cause, you can go to relayforlife.org. At the top right enter 33542 in the box that says “Find Local Events.” Click on the Zephyrhills search result and once there click on “Donate” and then “Donate to Team” and the “Search for a Team.” Select the “search for a team” option and fill in the box with “Kylie’z Crusaderz” (don’t forget the Zs) and you can take it from there.
Kylie’s parents aren’t the only ones with a message. Kylie’s message to kids like her who find themselves threatened by cancer is a simple one, but one that resonates loudly from one so young who has endured so much: “Keep fighting.”
