Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Writer
Dexter, Missouri – You were introduced to little Drew Albritton in a previous ShowMe Times article called, “Voice of Praise Evening of Music for Drew" and what a wonderful event this turned out to be.
Drew is a three year old little boy who has to undergo his next procedure, a stem cell transplant. Hopefully this will be the next step towards being cancer-free. His parent, Elizabeth and Mike, are so very grateful to the Dexter community for all that they have done, for each and every prayer, for all the love and support that has been sent their way. They cannot express their gratitude enough.
This Saturday, March 2nd, there will be a Used Book Sale and Bake Sale at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church fellowship hall from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
If you would like to contribute, Amy Moon is the “Gal in Charge” and she is asking for any used books, magazines, DVDs, and CDs to be donated by Friday afternoon and you can bring them to the Corner Cottage in Dexter.
The items will be sold extremely reasonable and there will also be a yummy bake sale.
As a specialty item, they have a whole truckload of brand new Williams-Sonoma cookbooks called “Holiday Favorites” for just $5 each. These normally retail for $24.95 and everyone could use another good cookbook. What a great idea for a stocking stuffer for Christmas this year.
There will be a limited number of Drew bracelets available for sale as well.
Three great door prizes will be offered and there will also be a quilt raffle. What a great way to raise some money for a wonderful little boy.
Elizabeth Carroll Albritton, originally from Dexter (Class of ’97) and her husband, Mike, also have a new baby girl that's about three months old. Mike is gonna have his hands full with her while mom is with Drew in isolation.
Drew was unfortunately diagnosed with ganglioneuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer in children. He has already undergone several rounds of chemotherapy, and he had a surgery in which the doctors were able to move about 90% of the tumor that is attached to his spine. This latest treatment, a stem cell transplant, will help Drew to re-grow bone marrow. Drew and his mother, Elizabeth will be in isolation for about a month following the procedure.
This is an awful lot for such a little boy to have to endure at such a young age. Please stop by and find a bargain book and a yummy treat and offer your kindness to a family that surely could use the support and your prayers.
A mother can never imagine having to go through something like this with her child, but with support, prayers, friends and family, a mother's spirit can be uplifted.
Here is an excerpt from Elizabeth's Albritton's Facebook page from today as so many folks want to know how little Drew is doing. Elizabeth writes, "I've gotten so many text messages about Drew today, I thought I'd just update on Facebook. I can't get back to each and every person, there have been so many, but I know you are thinking about Drew."
"We admitted to the bone marrow transplant unit this afternoon. We spent a long period of time sanitizing everything we brought. Food and my clothes must be kept outside his room. His clothes and toys can be in his room with rules. His clothes had to be packed in ziploc bags by outfit after they were washed in hot water and dried for a long period of time."
"I cannot use his bathroom at all so I have to go down the hall. A lot of people have sent well wishes for a surgery. It's actually not that kind of transplant. He will get two high dose chemo drugs over the next 5 days that will be so potent it will kill all of his bone marrow in an attempt to kill any rogue cancer cells. In order to restart its functioning, he needs a "transplant" of his own stem cells. His stem cells were harvested back in September and have been frozen ever since"
"On Tuesday, after all of his chemo is done, they will thaw his stem cells and push them through his central line. It's just a small syringe of what looks like blood. It will take just a second to push it through his line and it is done. After that, it's just a matter of waiting for his counts to recover and the cells to en-graft and start working again. It could take a few days or several and during that time he has absolutely no immune system, that is the dangerous part."
"That is why he is in isolation and can't leave his room. His biggest enemy is his own body as he has nothing to keep his natural bacteria at bay. He will take a lot of antibiotics and other things to try to prevent an infection as the slightest thing could become life-threatening."
"That's the short explanation of his transplant! Keep him in your thoughts and prayers as it will be very difficult for him over the next couple of weeks as the chemo makes him feel bad. He is doing well now, watching movies and relaxing! Thanks for all the well-wishes!"
Our thoughts and prayers to the Albritton family. We wish Drew a safe and quick recovery. Everyone will be praying for your family!
