4-Year-Old Battles Wilm’s Tumor with Help from Her Friends

Amy’s curly blond hair shines despite the rainy weather. Her curls bounce as she runs and plays. And though her curls may be gone in a few short weeks, the smile on her face is likely to persist.

Amy Jongsma, 4, and her family moved from Evergreen Park to Crown Point, Ind., on June 8, shortly after her graduation from preschool at the Evergreen Park Community Center. That day, she was having stomach pain, so her father Randy took her to the hospital.

Doctors originally suspected appendicitis but quickly realized one of her kidneys had capsulated. When they removed the kidney at Comer Children’s Hospital two days later, they found a tumor the size of an adult fist, Randy says. And that’s when it all began.

Amy was diagnosed with Wilm’s Tumor. She’s gone through radiation and is now five weeks into her 28-week chemotherapy treatment. Despite everything she’s gone through, Randy says Amy has been a trooper.

“About two hours after surgery, she was lying in recovery in the ICU and I had said something to the nurse about my 22-year-old son who’s going to come by and visit, since it was like 9:30 at night,” Randy recalls. “She said, ‘That’s fine, no big deal.’ Amy opened her eyes, laying in bed and she said, ‘Well, Michael’s not 22, he’s 21.’ So she’s sharp.”

Within two days after surgery, Amy was up and walking around, and within three days, she was playing in the children’s ward and climbing stairs on her own. Randy says she’s like a lot of other kids who have childhood cancer: they bounce back quickly.

Randy says that Amy was thrilled to hear that her friends were making a lemonade stand for her this summer. Brigid Jacobsen, who came up with the idea, and her daughter Janie, 5, along with several other families, have been working together to help the Jongsmas out.

The families involved have currently raised $1752. Brigid and Carrie Cato, a fellow lemonade stand mom, have several more stands planned this summer. They will release more details when the time comes closer.

At their lemonade stand on a rainy July 3, before Amy came to visit, Janie eagerly asked her mom, “Are we going to give her the money today?” “Not yet, Janie,” Brigid replies.

“She’s just a little ray of sunshine,” Brigid said of Amy during her first week of chemotherapy. “She’s totally positive. You would never know that she’s sick. She’s had a major surgery, she’s had radiation treatments and, to see her, you would not even know that she’s sick at all.”

Randy says all the prayers, gifts and cards their family has received, as well as things like the lemonade stand, have really helped their family through this time.

“It really lights you up in the sense of you know who your friends really are,” he says.

When Amy arrives at the lemonade stand, she’s very much like a ray of sunshine on this rainy day. She hides behind the clouds at first, but once she’s in her element, she lights up the room.

“Show them your scar,” Janie says, and with a smile as brilliant as the sun, Amy shows off her battle scar. Though her fight isn’t over, Amy’s got a bright path ahead of her.

So although Amy may be losing her curly blond hair, her brothers, mother and father are all shaving their heads together. A family united not only by bald heads, but by hope as well. 

Those who wish to support the Jongsmas can also donate funds via Paypal to waverunnin1@yahoo.com.