Friday, February 11, 2011

Supergirl continues to amaze!

Caitlyn Bell (aka: Supergirl) continues to re-write the definition of the word "awesome". I recently visited her and her parents at Ronald McDonald House in Seattle. At that time she had about a week left of daily radiation treatments that she was receiving as a follow up to the major surgery that she had last November. During that epic 10 hour surgery the doctors went in to remove two known cancerous tumors from her abdomen. They instead found and removed 17. Her recovery from that surgery was superhuman (hence her new nickname).

Caitlyn at Ronald McDonald House
Caitlyn with her mom Misti

Caity with a random troubadour
When Caity was just 2 days away from finishing her last radiation treatment, after which she would be able to go home, she developed some complications and wound up spending 3 or 4 more days in the hospital at Seattle Children's. This has been the pattern for her for years, making a few steps forward then having to take a few steps back. Still, she keeps marching on and is making progress. It was during this latest set-back that she decided to fight cancer in another way-- by raising money to help fund cancer research. Instead of looking inward to her own fight, which would be totally understandable, she is looking outward to see how she can help others.

Her plan? She's going to shave her head on March 10th for St. Baldricks fund raising drive! This is a 14 year old girl. Hair is about the #1 accessory for most 14 year old girls and Caity is willing to get rid of it all as long as it can make a difference in the fight against cancer. Her goal was $1,000 and she's just a little short of that at the moment. I'm hoping she can reach her goal and then surpass it.

To find out more about this incredible young lady, please check out this link and perhaps you'll be inspired to sponsor her.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/423780

2 comments:

  1. Go for it, Caity! You are a SUPERgirl!

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  2. Thank You so much Moose! Every time you right about my girl it seems so surreal like I am reading about someone else's child. I forget sometimes how incredible this journey has been. I guess we try to live one day at a time and t recap everything just sounds so overwhelming at times. Caitlyn has been through so much since being diagnosed at 7 years old. She is so strong and awesome!
    We are so luck to have you as such an amazing friend and we appreciate everything you do for our family! YOu are truly a hero in our eyes!

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