Annalynn was interviewed recently by Jesse Fruhwirth of the Standard Examiner. Below is the article and the web address if you want to see for yourself:
http://www.standard.net/live/news/120973
Good cause to play for Friday, December 14, 2007
By Jesse Fruhwirth
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
Cops square off against firefighters in charity event
SYRACUSE -- Second-grader Annalynn Olson -- young, brave and precocious -- makes jokes about her leukemia.
Because her immune system is weak, she never joined her classmates in returning to class this fall. When asked if she misses school, though, Annalynn laughs loudly, hides her face and says "not really."
Leukemia is not a genetic disorder, so fighting the disease is new to the extended Olson clan.
"It's the first time it happened," Annalynn said, smiling and hugging her mom's arm, "and it had to happen to me."
Hoping to keep that smile on Annalynn's face this holiday season, Syracuse police and fire departments are donating the proceeds of tonight's fourth annual "Guns-N-Hoses" basketball game to her family.
It's been a cancer whirlwind for Nikki Olson, Annalynn's mother, since her 7-year-old was diagnosed with leukemia on Aug. 2. She wields medical acronyms like a registered nurse and seems completely undaunted by the three-ring binders filled with medical information that her husband, Nick, has dubbed "Cancer Bible one" and "Cancer Bible two."
"Sometimes I wish I could skip this knowledge in life ... (but) the more I know, the more I can be at ease with it," Nikki Olson said. "It's amazing how much you remember when you have to."
She said Annalynn has learned a lot, too.
"It's amazing how an illness like this makes kids into little adults," she said. "When she first got diagnosed, some kids came over. It was interesting to hear her explain the illness in kid logic."
Annalynn's prognosis is good. Her leukemia requires months of lumbar punctures and chemotherapy -- the "really big and ugly pills," as Annalynn calls them.
She won't need bone marrow transplants, and children more often survive this type of leukemia than other varieties. Annalynn's acute lymphoblastic leukemia has a 90 percent cure rate among children, Nikki Olson said.
"She has the good kind to have," she said. "(But) when you're talking about kids, 10 percent is still high to be dying from leukemia."
Annalynn is often nauseated and sometimes can barely get out of bed because of the chemotherapy and other medications. Other days, she's energetic and able to study with her tutors or watch a live Webcam video stream of what would have been her second-grade classroom.
Fighting cancer has become a family effort, and even the neighbor kids help out. Green, yellow and red signs on the front door alert the four daughters' friends whether today is a good day to visit, or if Annalynn's immune system is so weak that no one should come over.
By February, Annalynn may reach long-term maintenance, which means she could go back to school and many other aspects of her life could go back to normal. She said the thing she wants to do most when she's better is go ice fishing.
If her first chemo treatment is any indication -- her cancer went into remission -- she will be doing very well by then.
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Friday, December 14, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Remember to Come!!!!
Hi Family and Friends!!!!
Please join the Olson Family along with all of their family for the Syracuse City Event:
Please join the Olson Family along with all of their family for the Syracuse City Event:
Guns & Hoses
Friday December 14
7pm at
Syracuse Jr. High
1450 S 2000 W.Syracuse, UT 84075
The Firemen and the Policemen are going to have a basketball game. The charitable proceeds will to go Annalynn to help pay for her hospital bills and her care to keep her well!
If you need more information call someone in the family!
We love and appreciate all of your support!
Happy Holidays!
Monday, December 10, 2007
From the Beginning
On August 2, after she was diagnosed, Annalynn received a Platelets transfusion and had a severe reaction. She had to be given a double dose of medicine to bring the reaction down. However, her physical appearance still had signs of an allergic reaction. Now the doctors pre-medicate her before her platelet transfusions to ensure that she won't have any more severe reactions.
8/3
12:45pm Annalynn went into surgery for Central Line inserted into her chest which is attached to the large vessel that leads directly to her heart. This way, whenever the doctors need blood they can just take it from this central line, instead of poking her with needles. Annalynn liked this idea, however, preparation for surgery was a long road. Nick, Nikki and Aunt Raquel were at the hospital with her before surgery. Annalynn was very scared. The 3 of us tried to talk about other things to get her mind off the formidable surgery ahead. It was very difficult to let the doctors take her. We knew she would be in good hands, but this was all so fast and so very alarming that we had not had a chance to wrap our heads around it. Yet, there it was. After surgery Grammie Beck was there to help keep Annalynn's mind off of what was going on. For the adults that were waiting at the hospital while she was in surgery, and for those who weren't there in person, this was very scary and difficult.
During the surgery a bone marrow test was taken and found that there was no cancer in her spinal fluid or in her brain, which was very good news because Annalynn will not need a bone marrow transplant. The doctors did discover that 96.6% of her bone marrow is/was cancer cells. One week later, when they tested her bone marrow again her percentage dropped to 1.6% of her bone marrow was/is cancer cells. So basically, Annalynn went into remission after her first round of Chemo. Remission is when you are under 5% for cancer cells in the body.
8/3
12:45pm Annalynn went into surgery for Central Line inserted into her chest which is attached to the large vessel that leads directly to her heart. This way, whenever the doctors need blood they can just take it from this central line, instead of poking her with needles. Annalynn liked this idea, however, preparation for surgery was a long road. Nick, Nikki and Aunt Raquel were at the hospital with her before surgery. Annalynn was very scared. The 3 of us tried to talk about other things to get her mind off the formidable surgery ahead. It was very difficult to let the doctors take her. We knew she would be in good hands, but this was all so fast and so very alarming that we had not had a chance to wrap our heads around it. Yet, there it was. After surgery Grammie Beck was there to help keep Annalynn's mind off of what was going on. For the adults that were waiting at the hospital while she was in surgery, and for those who weren't there in person, this was very scary and difficult.
During the surgery a bone marrow test was taken and found that there was no cancer in her spinal fluid or in her brain, which was very good news because Annalynn will not need a bone marrow transplant. The doctors did discover that 96.6% of her bone marrow is/was cancer cells. One week later, when they tested her bone marrow again her percentage dropped to 1.6% of her bone marrow was/is cancer cells. So basically, Annalynn went into remission after her first round of Chemo. Remission is when you are under 5% for cancer cells in the body.
Please Join Us!
Hi Family and Friends!!!!
Please join the Olson Family along with all of their family for the Syracuse City Event:
Guns & Hoses
Friday December 14
7pm at
Syracuse Jr. High
1450 S 2000 W.Syracuse, UT 84075
The Firemen and the Policemen are going to have a basketball game. The charitable proceeds will to go Annalynn to help pay for her hospital bills and her care to keep her well!
If you need more information call someone in the family!
We love and appreciate all of your support!
Happy Holidays!
Monday, November 5, 2007
A.L.L.
On August 2, 2007 Annalynn was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Her type of leukemia is described below:
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a fast-growing cancer of the white blood cells. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that the body uses to fight infections. In ALL, the bone marrow makes lots of unformed cells called blasts that normally would develop into lymphocytes. However, the blasts are abnormal. They do not develop and cannot fight infections. The number of abnormal cells (or leukemia cells) grows quickly. They crowd out the normal red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets the body needs. http://www.marrow.org/PATIENT/Undrstnd_Disease_Treat/Lrn_about_Disease/ALL/index.html
Treatment options for acute lymphoblastic leukemiaALL can get worse quickly, so doctors usually begin treatment right away. To plan the treatment, doctors look at a patient's risk factors (also called prognostic factors). Risk factors are patient and disease traits that clinical research studies have linked to better or poorer outcomes from treatment. Examples of risk factors are a patient's age and the type of ALL he or she has. For more details, see Risk Factors for Planning ALL Treatment.For a patient with ALL, the treatment plan may include:
Chemotherapy — drugs that destroy cancer cells or stop them from growing (discussed further below). Some form of chemotherapy will be part of the treatment plan for all patients with ALL.
Radiation therapy — most patients do not receive radiation therapy. However, children who have signs of disease in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) or have a high risk of the disease spreading to this area may receive radiation therapy to the brain.
Bone marrow or cord blood transplant (also called a BMT) — a transplant (discussed further below) offers some patients the best chance for a long-term remission of their disease. Because transplants can have serious risks, this treatment is used for patients who are less likely to reach a long-term remission with chemotherapy alone.
More information to follow.
We love you and thank you for support!
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a fast-growing cancer of the white blood cells. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that the body uses to fight infections. In ALL, the bone marrow makes lots of unformed cells called blasts that normally would develop into lymphocytes. However, the blasts are abnormal. They do not develop and cannot fight infections. The number of abnormal cells (or leukemia cells) grows quickly. They crowd out the normal red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets the body needs. http://www.marrow.org/PATIENT/Undrstnd_Disease_Treat/Lrn_about_Disease/ALL/index.html
Treatment options for acute lymphoblastic leukemiaALL can get worse quickly, so doctors usually begin treatment right away. To plan the treatment, doctors look at a patient's risk factors (also called prognostic factors). Risk factors are patient and disease traits that clinical research studies have linked to better or poorer outcomes from treatment. Examples of risk factors are a patient's age and the type of ALL he or she has. For more details, see Risk Factors for Planning ALL Treatment.For a patient with ALL, the treatment plan may include:
Chemotherapy — drugs that destroy cancer cells or stop them from growing (discussed further below). Some form of chemotherapy will be part of the treatment plan for all patients with ALL.
Radiation therapy — most patients do not receive radiation therapy. However, children who have signs of disease in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) or have a high risk of the disease spreading to this area may receive radiation therapy to the brain.
Bone marrow or cord blood transplant (also called a BMT) — a transplant (discussed further below) offers some patients the best chance for a long-term remission of their disease. Because transplants can have serious risks, this treatment is used for patients who are less likely to reach a long-term remission with chemotherapy alone.
More information to follow.
We love you and thank you for support!
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