Good morning! My name is Ashley McGarvey, and I live in Jericho. I wanted to reach out to everyone today in regards to an upcoming fundraiser that I will be hosting at my home this Saturday, May 6th from 2:30-5:00. I am a LuLaRoe consultant, and I will be hosting this to benefit Camp Ta-Kum-Ta. My son Gavin, is a pediatric cancer survivor, and is now a camper at Camp Ta-Kum-Ta. Here is our story, and why this fundraiser means to much to us...
On a Friday afternoon, back in September 2010, my life changed forever- and I knew from that day on, I would never be the same person....
The room was an unfamiliar one, surrounded by unfamiliar faces. Except for my perfect, innocent little 2 year old, Gavin. He was in the corner playing with toys that were not his own, in a toy room that we had never been in before. The hospital was never really a scary place to me until this day. This was the day I heard the words..."Gavin has cancer". On this day life changed in a matter of seconds. I remember literally standing up, and walking out without saying a word. I just went into the hall, and walked up and down it several times. Each time passing by Gavin happily playing. To this day I can still remember the smells, the sounds, what I was wearing, what Gavin was wearing, and most of all- what it felt like to be told your child had cancer. I was petrified, confused, mad, sad, and couldn't help but wonder why and how. I felt this need to be super strong, not for myself, but for Gavin. We were going to fight this together!
That day Gavin had more needle sticks than I can recount, scans, x-rays, exams, ultrasounds....that day our family had a new "goal". It was for Gavin to live! As a parent we should never have to think about the death of our child- will they see their next birthday, will I ever see him ride a bike, drive a car, play sports, graduate high school, get married.
Gavin was diagnosed with kidney cancer. It was stage 1, and had not spread. We caught it pretty early they said. Thank god for "mother's instinct"!
3 days later Gavin underwent an extensive surgery. They were able to remove the entire, grapefruit sized tumor from Gavin's abdomen. They also placed a port for his chemotherapy. Walking into the PICU (pediatric intensive care) after his surgery will forever be burned into my mind. That was the worst thing I have ever seen. My baby, only 2 years old, laying on this stretcher, literally covered with tubes. He had IV's in both of his hands and feet. He had tubes in his nose and throat. He had so many bruises from missed IV pokes, and incisions everywhere. He stayed like this for a short time, until he began to hallucinate on the pain medication he was given. The doctors said they had never seen anything like it. Poor Gavin!
We stayed for what seemed like an eternity in the hospital until Gavin was well enough to go home. He begged and cried almost every day to leave- pointing at the door, and day after day I had to tell him- today is not the day buddy, but we will go home soon. Heartbreaking!
About a week after arriving home, Gavin started his weekly chemotherapy treatments. He had them every Tuesday for about a year. He lost all of his hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows. His beautiful peachy pale skin was a little gray now. For the first time Gavin looked like he had cancer. We were stuck in the house for days, and sometimes weeks. He was neutropenic a lot, meaning he had literally no immune system. The slightest virus could kill him.
Gavin was a trooper!! He was so strong and so brave, I truly looked up to him- and still do. After every port access, and chemo infusion he would always clap his little hands, and say "bravo Gavin, bravo". It was the sweetest things ever! I wanted so badly to take his place, and to make it all stop. But, unfortunately that wasn't possible.
Gavin is now 8 years old, and remains cancer free! He has a few "battle scars", but other than that you would never know what he has been through. We still go for his regular check ups and scans, to make sure this never comes back! The anxiety and memories all come back on these days, but I am forever grateful that those days are behind us. Gavin can now be a "normal" kid!
There are so many families going through this right now! And unfortunately, many more that will be told their little ones have cancer. My heart goes out to all of them! There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about our days in the "cancer world", and when the 4th floor of UVM Medical felt more like home than home did. I am so thankful for today, and for tomorrow!
Camp Ta-Kum-Ta is an amazing camp for children with cancer, or who have had cancer. This is a place for the children to be away from it all, and to just be a kid again, and it is all at no cost to the families! Gavin is so lucky to be a camper there!
The boutique will be full for this event, and I really hope that you will stop by to support such an amazing cause!
💕 Ashley
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