"I wish to go to the beach!"
Hadley
5
Leukemia
Wish Kid, Hadley
Hadley loves swimming in a pool or jumping in the waves at the beach.” The five-year-old recently spent a week at the beach with her family, a trip made possible by Make-A-Wish® Mississippi. For over forty years, Make-A-Wish has been granting wishes to children diagnosed with critical illnesses, as a wish come true can be a crucial turning point in their lives. A wish can be the spark that helps these children believe that anything is possible and gives them the strength to fight harder against their illnesses.
Lauren learned about the Make-A-Wish organization in 2018 while Hadley was a patient at Blair Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson. The youngster was battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a type of cancer which affects the production and function of blood cells. It causes swollen lymph nodes, recurrent nosebleeds, tiredness, frequent infections, weight loss, bleeding, and bone pain. In Hadley’s case, she simply didn’t feel good. “She was attending First Baptist daycare and her teachers kept telling us she was sick,” recalls Lauren “I took her to the doctor, and they didn’t find anything wrong. That went on for a month. One day her teacher told me that all Hadley wanted to do was to lay on her lap.” The couple took their young daughter to the doctor once again, and that time the doctor ordered blood work.
“They saw that her platelets weren’t what they were supposed to be, so they sent us to the Cancer Center at Blair Batson.” Lauren and her husband, Colby, had to wait until the next day to learn that Hadley had leukemia. “It was a terrifying time for us,” says Lauren. “We spent the next two weeks at the hospital.”
When a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, it’s not unusual for other children in the family to feel confused. The Blacks have one other daughter, Madison, who is now 13 years old. “That was such a difficult time for Madison,” says Lauren. “She was still young, and she didn’t fully understand all that was going on. We had to be at the hospital with Hadley, so Madison was staying with other people. All our attention had to be on Hadley because she was so sick. That made it hard for Madison.”
While at Blair Batson, Lauren says that Hadley’s social worker told them about Make-A-Wish and signed them up for a wish. “We were planning on going to Disney World, but Covid put a stop to that,” she says. “We chose the beach as an alternative, but that worked out great anyway, because Hadley doesn’t really like to be around crowds.” After spending so much time at home with her family and not being exposed to anyone outside of the medical field, Hadley has developed anxiety about being around a lot of strangers. “She typically has a very outgoing and playful personality at home,” says Lauren. “But she is very shy and quiet around others.”
Lauren recalls a send-off party thrown by the sponsor of their trip, Winning Smiles. “They planned a fun party a week or so before we left for the beach,” Lauren says. “They went all out, with a cookie cake and beach toys and towels for us to take on our trip. It was so cute, but Hadley wouldn’t have it. She stayed in the car and cried the whole time! I hope they know how much we appreciated all they did for us.”
The trip to the beach was just what the family needed after dealing with the constraints of Covid as well as a child battling cancer. “We love the Seaside/Destin area, so that’s where we went,” says Lauren. “We had such a great time. Hadley loved every minute of it – she wanted to stay in the water all day! We also went to LuLu’s restaurant, which she loves. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip for our family.”
Lauren says she is happy to report that Hadley “rang the bell” last July and she is currently in remission. If all goes well, Hadley will start kindergarten this fall at Rouse Elementary in Brandon. Madison has made the cheerleading squad at her middle school. “We are grateful to Make-A-Wish for a nice getaway before the school year begins,” Lauren says. “Things are starting to feel normal for our family again.” Part of the family includes Ariel, an English bulldog named after the character in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. “Hadley named her,” laughs Lauren.