Chemo Care Kit

At the beginning of December, it was discovered that Aaron's 3 year old goddaughter, Jaycie, had a malignant tumor on her kidney called a Wilms tumor.  They had to completely remove her right kidney.  Here she is in the hospital, before the surgery:

The surgery was successful and she was diagnosed as Stage I, which is fantastic because it means the cancer hasn't spread.  Now she is undergoing 20 rounds of chemotherapy.  In the midst of all this crazy, her mother, Shelby, gave birth to a baby boy, Ben.  Jaycie's father, Pedro, is Aaron's best friend and is currently serving in the military and recently returned home from Afghanistan.  This family has gone through so much and live far from their families and friends (they live on a military base in Twenty-Nine Palms).  Aaron ordered all of us special T-shirts in solidarity:

Appropriate, huh?  Oh well, F*CK CANCER!  Since then, Jaycie has lost her hair:

She smiles in every picture though, kids are amazing, aren't they?

So, I decided to make what's called a Chemo Care Kit for Jaycie and her family, just to show our support.  Where else would I go, but the land of all that is pure and holy:

I feel like I hear harps every time I pull into a parking space at Target.  I just feel like the world is at my fingertips and anything I want can be mine!  However:

have you ever seen these?  WTF?  Totally useless.  I mean, you can't sit on them, you can't park carts in them, you can't decorate them, they're like giant paperweights and everyone knows paperweights are totally stupid in the first place because who's office is windy??  I don't need to hold my papers down with a giant, heavy rock because where are they gonna go???  Okay, rant over!  Back to my chemo kit.  I shopped forever and got tons of stuff, "My name is Sharmeela and I am an addict." 

 Here it all is, in a big mush.  Let's break it down.

In case you ever have to make a Chemo Care Kit for a child, here's the list I followed:

Basically, it separates needs into 3 sections: items that can help with side effects, comfort items and activity items.  

Here are my side effect items:

I got gum, Ring Pops, straws (sorry, Ash!  We usually don't use straws because they aren't biodegradable, but for this we will make an exception), Honest antibacterial wipes, Honest face and body lotion, Lemonheads, mints, Kleenex, hand sanitizer and Burt's Bees Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm.  

Here are my comfort items:

I got giraffe pjs, a cozy sweater, Frozen socks, 2 hats and 2 headbands.  Not pictured:  a pink teddy bear.

Here are my activity items:

I got playing cards, stickers, activity books, crayons and a cute Hello Kitty tote to carry all her essentials.  

I also got baby Ben a onesie:

Now onto the box:

I decided to decorate it because look how blah it is.  I used: colorful Post-Its (I had no colored paper), scissors and a glue stick (I didn't use the other stuff).  

First, I did her name (A study was done (in my head) proving people automatically like things more when their name is on them):

Then I added the hearts:

Then I did the other side:

Then I packed my box:

I randomly wrapped stuff in tissue, following no particular color scheme (NOT recommended!!  But I used what I had).

Here it is all packed up, with a card on top:

And we're done!

I even did little hearts on top with the addresses on them (but I'm not stupid enough to take a picture of that).  

So, again if you need to make a Chemo Care Kit, it really doesn't call for expensive items (I definitely went a little overboard), and it can be way smaller (I have a shopping problem).  Please make one for someone who is going through a tough time.  It will brighten their day and let them know people do care.  NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE.  

If you would like to make a donation to Jaycie's family, a friend of their family made them a page on GoFundMe to help with expenses.  Here's the link:

Helping The Escalantes

I'll keep you updated with Jaycie's progress.  Send her good vibes and wishes!