Olivia Sandblast's battle with cancer

Sunday March 26, 2023 is a day that has forever changed our family. Brian took Olivia to Urgent Care to get her checked out after numerous days of vomiting and anxiety. They ran some tests (chest x-ray and EKG were a couple) and sent them on their way after getting her started her on some anxiety meds. Thankfully that Urgent Care doctor was persistent in having a Cardiologist review the chest x-ray, as they saw what to be an enlarged heart. They called that night and said get her to Doernbechers now.

Doernbechers those first few days were a blur and the most scary. She has fluid around her heart, was having issues breathing, and an unknown mass on her heart. They put drains in her left and right side to get the fluid off and started her on some steroids, as well as a CPAP and oxygen with potential of having to taking the next steps to help her breath. But Olivia being the fighter she is got her use of oxygen to drop and was pumping out that fluid. All blood and fluid tests had come back inconclusive, so it depended on a biopsy to get the answers we needed. Finally by Thursday April 2, they were able to perform the biopsy. Because they were concerned with sedating her, they used a local and lorazepam to keep her awake as they got the margins they needed.

Friday March 31, we got the diagnosis of B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Our spunky and bright 12-year old Olivia has cancer.

Now that we finally had an answer of what was causing all this, we needed a game plan of what treatment looked like. She will have to go through 5-days of chemo every 22-days for 6 months. She started her round that Friday night after finding out the diagnosis. And she was a champ. The next few days she rested and let her body take in the chemo to help start her healing journey. She was released from Doernbechers on Friday April 7 to go home and wait for her next treatment.

The first few days at home were rough. She had gotten a virus the last couple days at the hospital, which made the nausea and fatigue even more intense. But she continued to try and eat (and she kept saying she wanted eat good for her food - she was concerned about getting nutritional items in her stomach). Come that following Friday (April 14th) she was feeling good, she wanted to go to school. She made it almost the whole day at school!! Like we said, she's a fighter and the strongest 12-year old!!

Where are we at now? Figuring out our family plan of caring for the other 4 kids, getting Olivia to and from the multiple appointments, the next round of treatments, and beginning of medical bills.

Which has led us to GoFundMe. Emily and Brian still have to work to provide for the family, but if we can help alleviate some of the financial burden it would mean less worry on money and more focus on Olivia and the kids.