How our story began!

SickKids

As most of you know, Sick Kids Hospital is near and dear to our hearts. Like many of you, we experienced a life changing event nearly 26 years ago. Since that time we have met many family and friends that share a similar journey. Every year we participate in fundraising to help continue the quality of care and life saving research that happens at Sick Kids. Because of this; we feel that it is important to share our story.

What seems like an eternity ago, we received a call from Belleville General Hospital. The doctor asked me to sit down, and he began talking. He asked me to repeat what he was saying so family in the room could help me comprehend what I needed to do.  I remember this moment like a photograph in my head.  I repeated what the doctor was saying: “your daughter has a tumour in her cheek, it is very large. Someone needs to come to the hospital to get the x-rays and then you need to pack your family up, SickKids Hospital is waiting for you.” I was in shock and the Doctor was right, I was a mess. It was by far the longest drive of our lives from Belleville to SickKids Hospital in Toronto.

We spent the first  week at the hospital running test after test. The tumour was the size of a grapefruit in our two year old's face. It was behind her mandible and had woven itself around her carotid artery and her airways, slowly choking her. The biopsy determined it was not cancerous but it was too big to be removed from the inside of her mouth.  Amber was about to face a partial mandibulectomy the following Monday.

 It was a grueling 10 hour long surgery!  The longest 10 hours of our lives.  Dr. Papsin intricately snaked an incision from the centre of Ambers bottom lip, around her chin and then back around and down her neck. He removed her tumour eaten mandible to expose the beast that had made her so ill. The tumour came out in tiny pieces which made the surgery very difficult and they had to burn the tumour around her artery so as not to cause brain damage and then; put her back together again which included a steel plate and screws in her chin, and uncountable amount of stitches.

When we finally got to see her, she was scared and crying. How do you explain to a two year old what they are going through?  As life would have it, she managed to figure out how to talk with the tracheotomy within a couple days! These were some of the hardest days Joe and I would ever face.  We faced them together at 26 & 27 years old, and although this could have broken us, we persevered and believe this experience has made us who we are today!!  Watching your children go through anything like this breaks your heart! Dr. Papsin said something to us that day when he came to give us a progress report. “For you, this is the worst day of your lives. For me, it is Monday...I do this everyday and Amber is in very good hands.” That has stuck with us over the years and we have even used that story to ease others during their time of need. We spent a month at Sick Kids recovering from that surgery and another 16 years being repeat guests to ensure that little bit around her artery didn’t grow back!

Today our beautiful 2 year old girl is a happy 28 year old newlywed!! Amber has had a rough go with her health and has struggled with this all her life. We know this has been very hard for her and sometimes she is still angry about what life has dealt her. Our daughter Amber is tough as they come!  To this day she shows us that nothing will stop her! She has a voice and she uses it! She has this one life and she is going to live it!

It has been my yearly goal to be a SickKids advocate. To give back to the hospital that saved my baby’s life. So each year I have tackled a fundraising event and am very proud to say that collectively we have raised over $100,000 over the last several years. Again this year, we will be bringing 18 of our volleyball friends to play in a beach tournament at Ashbridge’s Bay on July 11, in support of SickKids hospital. We are truly honoured to have some of the most beautiful, generous and kind humans in our lives who consistently offer us their support with our fundraising efforts. You know who you are and we love you all. ❤️

 Please consider a donation to SickKids in honour of my oldest daughter Amber Kitchen. Together we will make a difference! 🏐 🏝️ 🏆