Katie in the News!

3-year-old's leukemia battle inspires team
By Jennifer Lord Paluzzi
GraftonTimes.com

October 14, 2009 - Kaitlyn Randell has bright red cheeks, a shock of dirty blond hair and the perpetual smile of a toddler without a care. She also has leukemia.

It's a word her parents, Amy and Mike Randell, still say with a bit of wonder for the strangeness that has been a part of their lives for the past year. Kaitlyn's second family is now her cancer team at UMass Medical Center in Worcester; she refers to her oncologist as "my boyfriend." Her leukemia is now in remission but, for the Randell family and her battered immune system, that still means every sniffle has the potential for something more, every day still brings another round of medications.

"What amazes us -- when we visit the hospital, when we see some of these kids and families, we realize we're the lucky ones," Mike said.

The family's journey began last year with a mother's simple affectionate stroke in Target. Amy casually went to put Kaitlyn's red curls behind her ear when she felt it: a definite bump.

"Me, being the neurotic that I am, thought 'brain tumor,'" Amy said with a laugh. The doctors' office, however, diagnosed it as a swollen lymph node, suggesting off-handedly that it might be mono and that the parents should continue to keep an eye on it.

Mike, however, had a different theory: he asked if it might be possible that she had leukemia. The doctors, at the time, did not think his concern was warranted.

A few weeks later, on Aug. 27, 2008, Kaitlyn's lymph nodes were swollen to the size of golf balls and the blood work results were alarming. She was admitted to UMass on Aug. 29, 2008 for a bone marrow biopsy.

"Our minds were reeling," Amy said. "We had no idea. The second the crew walked in, we knew it was bad news."

Added Mike, "Her oncologist looked us straight in the eye and said 'do you understand why we're here? We suspect leukemia. We have to determine what abnormalities she has in her blood.'"

That was when the family added the acronym ALL to their lexicon. It stands for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the most common cancer in children aged 1-7 years old. According to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, most children diagnosed with ALL will become 5-year survivors of the disease -- the marking point at which doctors say a patient is "cured."

"That day, they told us there's an 80 percent cure rate," Amy said. "We hung on to that."

And Kaitlyn's prognosis to date seems to place her firmly in that category. She has been in remission since 15 days after starting therapy.

Remission, however, does not mean perfect health. The chemotherapy robbed Kaitlyn of her red curls and the family of their normal routine. Kaitlyn was in the hospital for weeks at a time; her small chest now bears a port for intravenous medications. Amy, staying at the hospital with her, worried about the effect it would have on the family income -- if she could not work, how could she bring in money?

That was the point when the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society stepped in. Amy was able to apply for funds to help the family get through those first difficult months -- enough for her to stay by her daughter's bedside and help her get well.

The family has emerged from the battle determined to help other parents who are experiencing the same struggle. They plan to walk in Oct. 25's "Light the Night" event at Worcester's Assumption College with the goal of paying the favor forward.

"My personal goal for the walk is to at least give back to them what they gave to us," Amy said. "I think we're going to give them four times that."

The couple also have extensive praise for the staff at UMass. While friends and family urged them to take Kaitlyn into Boston for treatment, they realized the only difference between the treatment Kaitlyn would receive in Worcester and the care she would have in Boston would be the distance -- UMass uses the Dana Farber Cancer Center's protocols in treating ALL.

The hospital wasn't just convenient -- the cancer center has a child-life group that goes from room to room to entertain children and relieve parents. The pediatric floor has a playroom filled with toys that are regularly sanitized, And Kaitlyn quickly became a favorite with the staff, whose familiar faces went a long way toward reassuring the family that they were in good hands.
Kaitlyn began the maintenance phase of her treatment in May. She still needs daily medications, including chemotherapy drugs, but the hardest part of her treatment, her family hopes, is behind her.

In the months since, her bald scalp has sprouted straight blond hair. It's different from what grew there before but then, the family's lives are different as well.

"It's hair and she's healthy," Amy said. "I'll take it."

To donate to Kaitlyn Randell's "Leukemia Warriors" team for the Light the Night event, visit her family's pledge page.

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Child inspires others to 'Light the Night'
By Kate Daly Contributing Writer
Community Advocate

October 16, 2009 - Region - Just over a year ago, Kaitlyn Randell of Grafton was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. On Sunday Oct. 25, friends and family will take part in a “Light the Night Walk” to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

“When she was diagnosed a year ago, they kept telling us her type of leukemia had an 80 percent cure rate,” said her mother, Amy Randell. “The latest I’ve heard is 90 percent. In a year, we’ve jumped 10 percent and that’s fabulous.”

Amy attributed that remarkable progress for a disease that a decade ago was nearly always fatal to the work of the LLS, which has raised $600 million for research since 1954. The LLS funds research for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and also works to improve the lives of patients and their families.

Kaitlyn is now in the maintenance phase of her treatment, which will continue for another year, Amy said. Her hair, once red and full of curls, is now thick, blonde and straight. But that change is a tiny one.

“Think about it: she was diagnosed at 2-1/2. She doesn’t know enough about the world to know this isn’t normal,” Amy said. “She touched my collar bone today and said, ‘Mommy, I can feel your port.’ What do I say to her? ‘Mommy doesn’t have a port’? She doesn’t know anything else.”

In her short life, Kaitlyn has had two operations to put in a port to deliver her chemotherapy, and many lumbar punctures and bone marrow biopsies, Amy said. In addition to cancer drugs, she is on antibiotics to fight off infections that her immune system, weakened by chemo, cannot. Prior to her treatments, she has to take steroids.

“This child, 2-1/2 to 3-1/2, has gone through more in a year than most people go through in a lifetime,” Amy said.

And yet, Kaitlyn is a social, active, happy child, her mother said.

“She’s a fighter and she is doing well,” she added.

The care she has received at UMass Medical Center has helped.

“She calls her doc her boyfriend. Her main nurse is her best friend,” Amy said. “I can’t ask for more than that.”

Kaitlyn is also resilient, Amy said. Once, in the hospital for a week for particularly toxic levels of chemotherapy, Kaitlyn made that clear.

“She was hooked up to five [intravenous tubes], dancing to the Wiggles,” Amy said. “[Before that] I thought, as any mother does, I thought she was amazing. After this, she totally blows me away.”

Amy tests software on a contract basis, and her husband, Mike, is an industrial engineer. When the diagnosis first came, they were worried about their income dropping because Amy wouldn’t be able to work. That’s where LSS came in, with a donation to help them during the two weeks Kaitlyn was first hospitalized.

Friends and family have helped as well. Kaitlyn’s grandfather, Dennis Cummins of Shrewsbury, and his band performed as a fund-raiser. The family also ran a lemonade stand during the Spirit of Shrewsbury to raise funds. Amy wanted to give back the money the LSS had given the family. They have so far quadrupled that amount, and they are still going strong.

Kaitlyn and her team, Leukemia’s Warriors, will take part in the Worcester Light the Night Walk at Assumption College. Check-in for the three-mile walk begins at 5 p.m., with opening ceremonies at 6. The walk begins at 6:30 p.m.

To learn more about the walk and upcoming fund-raisers or to join the team, visit the team page at pages.lightthenight.org/ma/Worcestr09/LeukemiaWarriors.

If you cannot commit to the walk, but would like to donate, visit Kaitlyn's personal page at pages.lightthenight.org/ma/Worcestr09/AmyRandell0618.