Sky's The Limit Gift Drive (for cancer patients)

As cancer survivors, we feel the need to give to those whose shoes we have been in. We want to give to others as our way of giving back to those who gave to us. We have created this page to raise funds so that we may donate Christmas gifts (games, crafts, clothing, and books) that we would have enjoyed amidst our hospital stays.

Please help bring some holiday joy this season, because those of us who are lucky enough to be cancer free, are here to remind you that cancer is NOT free. Many experience financial strain from medical-related bills, as well as the holiday season being a more difficult time for patients. Let’s ring in the holiday spirit by helping bring a smile to the face of those fighting cancer.

Skylar’s Story:

My name is Skylar Allen, and I am a twenty-one-year-old student at the University of Arkansas. I have started this gift drive with the goal of donating gifts to Children's Medical Center Dallas for Christmas.

In 2018, I was diagnosed and treated for stage four Difussed large B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. I was diagnosed seven months after my first lump and was in excruciating pain from the cancer attacking my bones. I started treatment right away, and my slogan quickly became Sky’s The Limit, which has stuck ever since. One of the most enjoyable moments during my five months of treatment was picking a prize from the prize closet after getting my port accessed.

A port is a device implanted under your skin usually on the upper right side of your chest that is used to draw blood and give chemotherapy treatment. The port connects a catheter to a large vein above the heart. It is used like a regular pick line, but instead of drawing blood or giving chemo through your arm or hand, a port is necessary for better use due to the veins of the heart being much stronger.

From my own personal experience, I want to donate toys during the Holiday season to the port/ prize closet and give back to what gave me joy during the hardest time of my life. As well as this, I would hope to donate to the child life center or wherever gifts are needed. Please help me make this dream a reality and give back to those who helped me during my journey.

For more information on Skylar’s story, click here: https://skylarallen12.wixsite.com/mysite/sky-s-the-limit

Sophia’s story:

My name is Sophia Grace Broadwater and I had just finished my first year of college when I was diagnosed with Peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Sky and I have partnered together in starting this gift drive with the hope to give back to the centers where we received treatment.

I was only 1 month into being 19 when I had found the first tumor. After that, it took multiple weeks to receive a diagnosis. Due to the fact that I was 19 at the time of diagnosis I was treated as an adult. For my treatment sake, this was the best-case scenario, being as I was able to receive treatment through a rare cancer specialist. Although, my hope for this gift drive is to be able to give back to not only the children but also to bring hope and joy to those teens and young adults fighting.

My best chance at a cure was to receive chemotherapy followed by an inpatient bone marrow transplant. I was lucky enough to have finished chemotherapy in December and push off admission for the transplant until January. Unfortunately, this is not the case for some. My hospital stay was nearly a month and I can remember feeling so isolated and alone. These patients are only allowed one visitor and it is the same person throughout the entirety of your stay. For some, their families cannot afford to take off work for that long…therefore, they stay alone and unaccompanied.

Sky’s the Limit Gift Drive will be donating Christmas gifts to cancer patients who are being treated at Children's Medical Center Dallas and Medical City Dallas.