This was an AWESOME practice. One of our honored teammates was here. Alyson celebrated her 11th birthday on Friday. Our practice was dedicated to her. She was there with her family and a friend. The two girls were wrapped in blankets' sleepy heads who stayed up too late at the sleepover. She looks like a typical 4th grader. But her life has not been typical.
Some excerpts from her story: Alyson was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) at just 8 months old. Her parents were told that alyson had a 25% chance of survival and would likely experience kidney failure. After 6 weeks of inpatient chemotherapy, her leukemia was brought into remission. But chemotherapy was not enough to "cure" her. Alyson's best possible chance for a "cure" was a bone marrow transplant. No one in her family matched. Six months later a match was found through the National Bone Marrow Registry and Alyson received her bone marrow transplant on October 25, 2000, being just 14 months old. She spent the next 6 years under the care of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance fighting GvHD (graft versus host disease) taking all kinds of immune suppressants.
These written words don't communicate the feeling you get when you hear a Mom tell the story. This little lady and her family have been through a LOT together; because of that they share a very special bond. Words don't begin to describe that either. The best I can do is a bond of love so thick you could reach out and touch it. I wish you could have been there to see her; to meet them all; to see Dad put his arm around his little girl when Mom gets to a tough part in their story. Even now, it makes me teary-eyed.
Now I'm sure they aren't perfect but they do seem to understand how important they are to each other. And THAT is an important lesson to learn.
On a lighter note, Goofy's little addition is a sympathy belly in honor of the little addition Coach Jason & Anna are expecting.
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