Jo’s Radiothon Story

Nadene has ever had a peculiar spot successful her bosom for the Alberta Children’s Hospital. As a student, she volunteered astatine the aged infirmary connected Richmond Road, and has been a longtime donor, earlier she adjacent began moving for Ovintiv, 1 of our generous Radiothon sponsors. She ne'er expected the infirmary would go specified a immense portion of their family’s life.

It was summertime of 2017 erstwhile her girl Jo, past 12, started feeling unwell. She had attended a weeklong overnight campy astatine the Royal Tyrell Museum and was exhausted erstwhile she was picked up. Her parents thought it was a motion of a amusive trip. The adjacent time the household went connected abrogation and her fatigue continued, on with a tummy pains and yellowing, airy skin. Various doctors they visited tested for mono, West Nile Virus, Celiac, Lyme disease, and 1 adjacent suspected she was pre-diabetic. Thankfully an urgent attraction doc conducted a implicit humor number and recovered she had precise debased counts. From that clinic, she was transported via ambulance to the Alberta Children’s Hospital. There, much tests confirmed their worst fear: acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Rather than starting Grade 8 with her friends, Jo started chemo — 2 ½ years of treatment. She returned to the infirmary up to 4 times a week for her chemo appointments. What helped get her done those agelong days successful the session were her amusive nurses she grew fond of and grew friendships with, who would gag astir with her, and adjacent person syringe h2o fights! That picking a artifact from the treasure thorax and visits from Child Life specialists made her days a small brighter. What besides made her travel overmuch easier for the full household was Hospital astatine Home, a programme made imaginable by generous donors, that allowed her to person immoderate of her treatments from the comfortableness of her surviving country astatine home. It was a crippled changer for the household who didn’t person to marque the agelong thrust to the infirmary up to 4 times a week and fto Jo bask the comforts of location similar watching movies from her couch.

Thankfully, Jo finished her attraction successful December 2019. While she lives with immoderate broadside effects of her treatment, including anxiousness she has present learned to header with, she is doing good and present a diligent of the Long-term Survivor’s Clinic astatine the hospital.

To Nadene, Jo and their family, the Alberta Children’s Hospital is simply a harmless haven, afloat of caring, compassionate and skilled specialists who instrumentality attraction of not conscionable the diligent but the full family. They are truthful grateful for their squad who cared for Jo and proceed to attraction for her into adulthood, and the donors who enactment this infirmary and programs similar Hospital astatine Home.