"Hoping for a chance to exhale...." | Saturday, October 29, 2011

Jacalyn AND her parents are such warriors... she's again battling a recurrent kidney cancer, called Wilm's Tumor and as I write this, is again in the hospital, requiring a blood transfusion. Diagnosed a couple years ago, after Mom thought the Doctor was just going to tell them she had a urinary tract infection, they found a large tumor on her left kidney. 9 months of treatment, chemo and radiation, the tumor was gone....but a short lived victory. Another tumor formed in another 9 months, this time trying to dig deeper into this tiny child's body by attaching itself to her aorta and spleen.
They fight as a family... two smaller siblings giving of their time and attention, so that Jacalyn can spend weeks at a time in the hospital for another round of chemo and radiation. Parents doing 'tag-team' duty at the hospital, so she's never alone.
Jacalyn rarely exhibits fear and always has a giant smile on her face, despite only being able to attend school about a week and a half a month, missing her friends and all the 'girly girl' activities with them...and despite having her "Make-A-Wish" trip cancelled due to this new cancer recurrence. "We'll get to go again", she says with a smile and a side-ways glance at Mom.
Mom says, "She gives me strength... she goes through everything with a smile. We're just waiting for this to be over, hoping for a chance to exhale."

"In Heaven, I am going to have a giant house, painted hot pink. I am going to have wings and fly around, and grant all the wishes I want. I am going to get there when I am the oldest person in the world.... I am going to be 118 years old." - Jacalyn

Labels: cancer, childhood cancer, Kourageous Kids, Terri Shaver, The Oldham Project

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Part of our lives.... | Saturday, October 8, 2011

Meet Eli. A victim of a rare form of cancer, lymphoma to be exact, called Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia. Only about 1500 people each year are diagnosed with this rare killer, Eli being diagnosed in 2001. But, it hasn't stopped Eli and his 'newlywed' wife from enjoying the time they have.... finding each other, later in life, they've only been married about 8 years, and still act like newlyweds!
Moving to Michigan from Texas, in 1967, Eli has worked with his hands all his life, and they show the signs of hard, physical work all of his life. Both Eli and Linda say that this cancer "has become part of our lives, and we just deal with it."
As someone who has worked hard his entire life, he's working just as hard to battle cancer and enjoy what life he may have left.

Labels: cancer, Terri Shaver, The Oldham Project

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And it just keeps getting better! | Tuesday, October 4, 2011

With the recent CNN.com article featuring The Oldham Project and our mission, things have literally exploded around the Oldham offices! Emails from all over the world, offering congratulations and the nicest words of encouragment. Offers of help from other photographers and requests for photography from the US, to London to Swaziland and Argentina. We couldn't be happier with the response, BUT, our staff, our finances and our abilities haven't changed, despite all this publicity and need. We can use all the help we can get from the community and the world.
Our biggest need is a full time studio space. As a very small non-profit, with a very limited budget, we have had to move three times in the past two years. This is not only stressful, but disruptive to our mission and continuity of care to our clients, but hard on our equipment. We would love to have a lead on a location (800-1200 sq. ft), wide open space, that is handicap accessible, has a bathroom and plenty of electricity, and affordable.
Which brings us to our second biggest need...financial support. We operate totally on the generous donations of individuals and the community. We've just received a couple of grants towards our Kourageous Kids program, but our Be Bold, Feel Beautiful program is sorely lacking in funding. We are able to offer each child a goodie bag full of toys, games, t-shirt, etc. and would love to offer our women participants something similar. A nice bag with some lovely smelling things, maybe nailpolish, perfume, etc. Just lovely things to make them feel special.
If you, or someone you know might be able to help us locate a new studio space, we'd love to talk with them. Our 'dream' is to build "The Oldham House", with two fully functional studio setups, one for children and the other for adults. Our partners at Douglas J Spa have offered to set us up with a salon on-site, so that our women can have their makeup done prior to their sessions, and finally a comfortable room for some on-site counselling and resourses, to keep our clients plugged into the resources available in the area for whatever their need might be.
Can you help us find or build The Oldham House?

Labels: Be Bold Feel Beautiful, Kourageous Kids, Terri Shaver, The Oldham Project

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Oldham makes the CNN news! | Sunday, October 2, 2011

It's been a whirlwind 24 hours for The Oldham Project! We've received national attention from CNN.com and have been inundated with email, offering help, money and requesting our services in cities all over the United States. I'm humbled and overwhelmed. I don't have words, but thanks to our Board of Directors, who give of their time and talents, for nothing in return. I couldn't do what I do behind the camera, without their help on all the other issues and duties involved in running an organization like this.
I'm so thankful to: John Madden (Chairman of the Board), Alan Hooper (Vice-Chair), Rebecca Eldridge (Secretary), Heather Chunko (Treasurer) as well as our other members, Rochelle Rizzi, Jessica Cosens, Janet Martinich, Anne Subrizi, Amy Kraus, Mary Roszel, Eric Sturdy, Traci Reihl and Betsy Svanda.
If we aren't friends on Facebook, please friend us HERE
The link to the CNN article is located HERE. Please take a moment and read more. We have many needs, most of which include financial support for our programming and a permanent studio location. If you are willing to donate any amount, 100% goes back to support this organization. AND if you or you know of someone who might be able to help us secure a more permanent studio location, we'd love to talk more!
Thank you again to our dedicated Board and for the support from our community here in Lansing, MI!

Labels: Be Bold Feel Beautiful, Kourageous Kids, Terri Shaver, The Oldham Project

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