Jessica Anne-Marie Deschambault was born in Quebec Canada, on May 9th, 1997
Jessica likes Blues Clues, Watching Disney movies, Caillou, and Winnie the Pooh, she also likes playing with Barbies, coloring and doing puzzles. She dislikes getting finger picks and having blood tests.
Jessica has a unique zest for life, she looks at the glass as half full and not half empty. Despite all that she has been through and all she continues to go through Jessica is a very kind, caring, loving and compassionate young lady with a love for all. If someone gets hurt, she wants to make it all better for them, when we are at the clinic and a young child is crying, she goes up to them and gives them a hug and tries to calm them down. She is a sweetheart.
When It All Started
Jessica had been sick Since Dec. 10th, 1997, we went through the great 97-98 Ice Storm with her being sick and not knowing what was happening to her, On Jan 17th, 1998 the Ice Storm was declared over and we were able to move back into our homes, we learned on Jan, 18th that she had Cancer.
Jessica was just hours from death before she was properly diagnosed. Our world had been shattered in a matter of minutes, since Jessica is the youngest of 5, we had to make arrangements for our other children to be cared for. Jessica's siblings were scared that she was going to die, and when I had to stay with Jessica, I had to put the other children in a temp. foster home.
I was terrified, I wanted answers that no one could give me and I was alone. I was running from Jessica to my other kids, not wanting anyone to feel I loved them less. It was difficult to watch my child go through so much and fight so hard to live.
On Jan. 18th, 1998, Jessica was admitted to the Montreal Children's Hospital in critical condition. She only weighed about 10 pounds, she was severely dehydrated, and very near death. Her official diagnosis was Neuroblastoma Stage IV N-Myc Amplified and was given 30% chance of survival. Jessica went through 8 months of intense chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, and 10 weeks of Radiation and managed to amaze and shock everyone including the doctors. She was declared in Remission in Sept. 98.
In May 2001 Jessica was dx with Acute Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura after a routine blood test and check-up. She was placed on a steroid treatment.
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Jessica is doing extremely well in her new school. Has learned close to 500 new words, can spell them, knows what they mean, and can put them in sentences by herself. She just got her new digital hearing aids, and wow, they really make a difference in her hearing and pronunciation. She is also doing very well with speech therapy.
Jessica is getting ready for her trip to Ottawa with her Girl Guide Unit in a few weeks, its going to be hard for me to let her go, but she needs to be able to detach from me and she will have so much fun. I have trouble letting her go anywhere with out me, and she hates being away from me for any amount of time, so hopefully this will be a pleasant trip for her and she will learn that I will be right here when she gets back.
At Jessica's last check up I learned that the dr's are watching her for Leukemia :( They said something about a lack of blood cells, and used some big word that has to do with the presence of Luekemia cells . I didnt ask alot of questions as I am scared to find out :( I already know that it is
a possibility that she can get this, because I was told it might be a side effect, and it is always in the back of my mind, as I was told she may lose her hearing, and that has happened. I am trying to positive, but I feel like this disease is just a time bomb waiting to attack, to explode. All I can keep saying is "How will I handle Cancer again"? I am a mess right now I guess, I just can't imagine going through all that again, and worse than that, I can't imagine my life without her if she can't fight it this time :(
Thats all for now, my mind is so foggy and I havent been getting much sleep since the death of Aunt Bernadette, if I think of anything else I will add to this update.
I hate to ask for donations, but I this is the only way to get the money I need to bring her self esteem back up and to bring my little girl back to herself.
