9-Year-Old Katelyn Sassin - Kicking Cancer to the Curb

I was recently contacted by a woman named Marie Sassin, who is the mother of a very strong young lady named Katelyn. Katelyn is 9-years-old and is currently battling Leukemia. Marie asked me if I could donate any Hugs Heal merchandise to Katelyn's American Cancer Society Relay For Life Team, and I offered to design some Hugs Heal pins for her team and send them to her. I wish I could afford to do more, and I'm hoping that you, my readers, will be able to.

This is what Marie Sassin has to say about her daughter.

"Katelyn Sassin is a caring, sweet loving little girl, she is the best big sister to her little brother and little sister and a good friend and companion to her older sister. Almost a year ago Katelyn was experiencing some pain in her ankles, her daddy and I thought it was from running in gym class. Then the pain starting coming more frequently and with much more severity, moving from her ankles to her knees and elbows. Sometimes our Katie-bug would cry so much and be in so much pain she could not sleep. I would have to help her get dressed and help her to the bathroom. We have been from one doctor to the next (and many ER visits) with no answers. They would tell us it was pulled muscles, or tendons and even once we heard she was making a big deal out of nothing and it was all in her head.

A new pediatrician came along; a caring one who took time to listen and care, took the time to get to the bottom of things. Some blood tests had shown she was anemic, she was hardly eating anything by then and only weighed 60 pounds. Her new pediatrician as well as her daddy and I thought she had some sort or rheumatic disease.

We were then referred to Children's Hospital of Birmingham two hours away. Before you can see a Rheumatic Doctor they like for you to have a bone marrow test because some of the medicines for rheumatic diseases can alter marrow, and if you did have cancer it would not show on a biopsy, so it was by chance that day, September 11th 2008 they ordered a bone marrow aspiration done.

We were told Katelyn has biphenotypic leukemia, which means she has both AML and ALL cell markers, but since the ALL presented the most they will treat her as ALL.

In October Katelyn moved from standard risk cancer patient to standard high risk which means her chemotherapy is more intense and will last longer. She is very very sick and throws up on a daily basis, the medicines have given her ulcers in her mouth and she is very tired.


Over the past five months Katelyn has received nine spinal taps, five bone marrow biopsies, three blood transfusions, a platelet transfusion, one surgery, she has been hospitalized for two weeks with an infection and stopped eating, and she had to be fed through a TPN line. She can not go to school because she may catch an infection so she is homebound taught, but all in all she is a fighter, she will not complain and has kept a sense of humor.

We have good news from her last biopsy that she has remission marrow, the hard chemotherapy will last six more months and then she moves into the final phase which will last one and a half years to make sure the cancer does not come back."

Katelyn Sassin is clearly a brave little warrior, and I really wish I could meet her in person. I'll be keeping her in my thoughts while she and her family are going through all of these difficulties, and when she has beaten this sickness, I know they'll all be stronger for it.

Team Katelyn will be participating in the May 15-16 2009 Relay For Life at the North Alabama State Fairgrounds. Don't forget to visit Katelyn's American Society Relay For Life Team Page and help her team reach their goal by making a donation.

Hug it Out!

Erica and Cody, age 3
Thanks to Debbie for sharing this adorable photo at the Hugs Heal Online Community!

Dear Mr. President - An Open Letter to President-Elect Obama

Pepsi has opened a website where anyone can contribute their support, ideas, or opinions into a completely open video letter to the United States President-To-Be, Barack Obama. Make a video and submit it to RefreshEverything.com share your feelings with Mr. Obama and the rest of the world - YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

The Eldorado Elf Gives to LA's Homeless

After my brother was watching the news yesterday, he told me about the man they'd mentioned, called "Cadillac Santa" who had been giving cash to the homeless in Los Angeles, CA. When I researched him on the net I found that after the Cadillac Santa had passed away in 1992, his tradition of handing out money to the homeless was and still is being carried on by a man known as the Eldorado Elf.

Read more here.

Don't forget to give to other people all throughout the year, not just during the holidays! Kindness never goes out of style.

Think With Your Head, Act With Your Heart

For this year's Christmas season my mother took on a family who has been hit hard by recent financial difficulty and can't afford Christmas gifts. Or so they say.

This is a family of six; a mother, father, two daughters and two sons. My mom is such an incredibly kind-hearted person, that when she heard of their difficulties she felt the need to help, regardless of her own problems. They say that they have gone to numerous organizations and have not had any luck, because the resources of each organization have been used up.

When she first told me of the family, I wanted to become involved too. I immediately started mapping out various plans of action in mind, thinking of ways I could help. I decided to sleep on it, but unfortunately what I woke up the next morning with were doubts instead of ideas.

What if this is a scam? What if these people don't even really have children? They'd sent photos, but how could we know that the photos belonged to them? Even if they were their photos, did that prove that these people weren't going to try to take advantage of us?

My mom and I talked it over and she decided to move forward, with some caution. She was still convinced that this was not a scam; that the situation is exactly what it looks like on the surface: a family in need of a little kindness. The plan was still to collect gifts for the children and bring them to the family's home, in person.

Long story short, my uncle brought up even more worries that, even though neither my mother or I wanted to think about, were important to take into consideration. After much more discussion, she decided to ship the gifts instead of bringing them in person. We both wish that we could meet the family, but feel that this is best this way.

While I'd like to believe the best in everyone, the fact is that safety and kindness have to exist together. We have to think with out heads and act with our hearts.