Update on Olivia

As most of you know, I donate a percentage of the profits from Bad Cat Jewelry to Specially for Children in Austin, Texas. I am happy to say that $160 is in the mail and will be going towards purchasing art supplies for these kiddos who are going through treatment for cancer.

Anyhow, the catalyst for opening my store in 2007 was the news that our friends' daughter, Olivia, had been diagnosed with medullablastoma and required emergency surgery, chemo, and the subsequent transfusions, therapies, radiation, etc. Its been a long hard road for them, but there is some really great news.

Last week, we got a surprise visit from Olivia's mum (she's a Brit, so she's a mum), and it was so cool just to sit and chat with an old friend. In addition, I got the scoop on Olivia and how well she has progressed since her initial diagnosis. The short story: she's doing well. She recently had an MRI which indicated that there appears to be no recurrence of the tumor. Awesome news. In addition, her blood tests indicate that there is no hint of leukemia. I didn't know that leukemia could be a side effect of chemo...so again, more great news. Olivia is progressing well in her therapies, has learned to ride a bike, and is slowly but surely catching up. Her mum said that Olivia came home upset the other day because she knew that she was behind. Although it is upsetting for Olivia and consequently her parents, the bright side that Nycki found was that Olivia was aware of this and "knew". To me as a former Speech-Language Pathologist, I thought that was a great sign as well. I think that in time Olivia's brain is going to rewire and find new connections and routes and that she will eventually be right on target. So that is the update on this plucky, courageous little girl. Many thanks to all of my customers who purchased from Bad Cat Jewelry...you are helping too.