On Father's Day 2020 I thought I slept funny and somehow made a bump grow on my neck.  My parents then noticed that one of my tonsils was BIG.  The next day I went to the doctor and they did a CT scan.  They asked me if I swallowed a golf ball because that was how big my tonsil was.  They then suggested my mom and I go to Blank Children's Hospital.  That week my tonsils were removed and it was determined that I had Burkitt's lymphoma.  

I got to spend the 4th of July with my family at home, but then checked into the hospital to start my first round of chemo, which took four days.  That was a long time to be sitting in a hospital room.  The doctors told me exercise helps with chemo, and said I could walk laps around the hallway of the children's oncology floor.  Then they had a stationary bike brought to my room.  I liked walking laps, because I got to exercise, but I also got out of my hospital room!

There are a lot of great people at Blank's.  The nurses and doctors are AWESOME.  One thing I wasn't expecting to encounter while in the hospital are a group of people that are in Child Life.  Child Life people have all sorts of jobs, like checking in on kids and their feelings, providing activities for kids (like Legos, games, crafts), and helping describe what the doctors and nurses are doing. They find ways that kids, like me, can understand what is happening in our body.  

Since I like walking laps at the hospital (one day I did 30!) my aunt suggested that I ask for donations for each lap and then have the donations go to a charity.  I really like this idea.  So, I'm asking people to donate either for each lap that I do or for just a one time donation. The money will all go to help the Child Life people, at Blank Children's Hospital, help kids make their visit, or stay, at the hospital a little less scary and a lot less boring.

If you want to donate for each lap, I will be posting updates on this page about the number of laps I do each time I'm in the hospital.

To learn more about Child Life, please see their video 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhfk9EJaLNM&feature=emb_logo

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.