I wish to have a playroom makeover!
Elise
3
leukemia
Elise's Playroom Makeover
Little Elise is a the sweetest, most loving child. She tells her family she loves them every single day and comforts them with a little pat on the back as they hold her. She loves to snuggle up to them when she sleeps, providing them with the consolation they need as they witness their little girl navigate the cards she’s been dealt.
After a series of having constant fevers, being rushed to an urgent care, and getting tested for COVID-19, two-year-old Elise felt even more lethargic and appeared very pale. Her family was prompted to take her to the pediatrician the next morning where doctors performed some blood tests to send to the lab for immediate results.
“Two hours later, we received the scariest call of our lives,” Elise’s mother Randi said. “We rushed her to the emergency room … They re-ran tests and confirmed her diagnosis.” It was leukemia.
Elise and her family spent two weeks in the hospital getting her initial treatment started. Even after returning home, though, they were back a week later to remedy Elise’s body from the many side effects it was facing from the treatment. This resulted in several month-long stays in the hospital and traveling back and forth to the clinic for treatment anywhere from every other week to three times a week otherwise. The medical team experimented in all different ways, looking for the best way to get her to take the daily chemotherapy medications, but it put a strain on her little body through all the punctures and changes it had to undergo.
“Through it all she has been so wonderful. I cannot tell you how strong she is … she always bounces right back.”
Randi
“She has been through more in her three short years than I have been through in my whole life,” Randi said. “Through it all she has been so wonderful. I cannot tell you how strong she is … she always bounces right back.”
On her special wish day, Elise squeezed her eyes tightly in anticipation as she was guided through her front door. She eagerly awaited the signal to open her eyes, and when she finally did, she was met with rays of sunlight illuminating her new playroom. Elise was quick to be overwhelmed with joy at the sight of her new space. Decorated with pink and blue accents, the room was a space catered to both play and rest: There was a cozy window seat, a table for arts and crafts, and a cushioned swing for her to sit back and relax.
Elise’s wish to have a playroom makeover allows her to have a space where she can embrace her childhood and escape from all the fear she’s experienced on her medical journey. Not only does it provide her with the hope she needs to continue being strong, but it brings back a sense of normalcy that had been stripped from her family as well. Although the reveal was everything she had wished for, Elise was even more grateful to share her special day with her sister, who stood alongside her throughout the whole reveal to celebrate in her joy. It was truly a day she’ll hold close to her heart forever!
