Holidays bring fear, hope to Allen mom

This holiday season has been full of unexpected changes for Allen resident Sara Walls.

On Nov. 22, her 3-year-old daughter, Rowan, was diagnosed with leukemia after almost a year of unexplained, recurring viral infections. Earlier this month, her mother, Myrtle Davies, died in Florida after a long battle with cancer.

For almost a month, the 33-year-old single mother has spent her days and nights in hospitals or at home, giving her daughter 24/7 care and treatment while doing what little work she has time for from home.

On Monday, she received an altogether different surprise.

A caravan of 22 teachers and employees from Timberbend Academy, Rowan’s day care, marched three blocks from their headquarters on Allen Heights Drive to Sara’s home, bearing gifts, ringing bells and singing “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”

The group lined up outside the door and took turns presenting Sara, Rowan and her 10-year-old son, Carson, with gifts, gift cards and cash donations from teachers and parents.

“Thank you so very much,” Sara said. Minutes later, tears appeared on her face.

Rowan suffers from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the white blood cells the body uses to fight infections. It is the most common form of leukemia in children and can lead to frequent infections and fevers. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 85 percent of children with ALL live five years or more after diagnosis.

Symptoms of the disease, including unexplained bruises, weakness and recurring fevers, had appeared in Rowan sporadically over the eight months prior to diagnosis but went unrecognized as leukemia by doctors. During this time, the condition of Sara’s mother, who had cancer in her spine, ribs and brain, began to worsen, and Sara left for Florida in early November to say her goodbyes and place her into hospice care.

A week after her return, Sara received a call from Timberbend that said Rowan had a fever and was not engaging in play with other students — a stark contrast to her normal, talkative self.

“She was just lying around watching the other kids play, and that’s not like her,” said Wanda Lawrence, director of Timberbend Academy.

A doctor’s appointment that day directed Sara and Rowan to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen for a full blood panel and chest X-ray. A phone call from the hospital that evening said the tests revealed anemia and a low blood count, and that Rowan would need to be admitted to Children’s Medical Center at Legacy in Plano for further testing.

Rowan was admitted that night with a 103.8-degree fever. After further blood testing and hours of waiting, Sara said, a doctor approached her with a group of colleagues in tow and asked her to sit down.

“This lady comes around and puts her arms on my shoulder, and the doctor just looks up at me and says, ‘It’s leukemia. She has cancer,’” Sara said.

Through the next morning and afternoon, Rowan received a bone marrow test, a spinal tap, chemotherapy, blood and platelet transfusions and surgery to install a medical device known as a port, which allows blood to be drawn without repeated needle pricks.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” Sara said. “It felt like it was a really bad dream. I couldn’t get my brain to form the sentences or ask the questions. I was just in sheer panic.”

Things haven’t slowed down since Rowan’s diagnosis, Sara said. In the past four weeks, Rowan has undergone two week-long hospital stays, three additional blood transfusions, two additional blood platelet transfusions and three additional spinal taps to make sure her leukemia does not spread to her spinal fluid and brain. She is in her fourth week of chemotherapy and has been taking steroids, two antibiotics and Zantac – her prescriptions have already rung up to almost $300,000 since her diagnosis.

Through Rowan’s treatments, rides to school for Carson and her mother’s death, bills have continued to pile up, Sara said. While her employer, a medical equipment company in Dallas, has allowed her to work from home, she isn’t able to get the hours she needs and, as the sole provider for the family, has seen a drop-off in income.

“I go through days where I’m so physically tired, that I’m like, ‘Please, God. Please, just give me the strength to get up,’” she said. “But then, I’ve got these two babies. We’ve got no one to depend on. They didn’t ask to be brought into this world. I’ve got to hold it together for them.”

Much to Sara’s surprise, help has appeared – parents of Timberbend Academy students have made donations of cash and gift cards, and a friend from work came from the other side of Fort Worth to clean her house, Sara said, bringing her husband along to mow the lawn.

“How do you tell somebody ‘thank you’? How do you [thank] somebody who doesn’t have all the money in the world, yet they’re giving you money to help pay for your basic necessities when they’re not doing too much better than you are?” she said.

Even with the help she has received, Sara said she does not know how she will carry on financially or plan for the remaining two-and-a-half years of Rowan’s treatment course.

“It’s been trying,” she said. “It’s been a little nerve-wracking, but I live moment to moment. What else can I do?”

Yesterday, Rowan was again admitted to the hospital due to fever and a low blood count. Neverthless, Sara’s voice still brightened when she was asked about Monday night’s surprise holiday house call.

“That was just the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me and my kids,” she said.

Donations can be mailed to Timberbend Academy, P.O. Box 527, Allen, TX 75013. For information or to donate online, visit www.prayforrowan.com.

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