Bolivar girl with leukemia receives special gift
Lucie Dillon, who has leukemia, is thrilled with the play set she received from the Roc Solid Foundation. More than 20 volunteers assembled the set the day before she came home for a week’s reprieve from treatment.
There is a brand-new play set in a yard outside Bolivar that is so much more than a play set. It is a symbol of the hopes, faith and dreams of a 7-year-old girl with leukemia, Lucie Dillon, and her family.
On Sunday, June 25, a multitude of volunteers came together at the Dillon home to assemble a play set the family received from the Roc Solid Foundation, a national organization that provides play sets free to families fighting pediatric cancer.
The signs
Maria Dillon, Lucie’s mother, said Lucie became sick right around Christmas last year. “We didn’t really know what was wrong. She was running a low-grade fever off and on but acting OK and still playing outside. But by mid-January, she wasn’t eating much and she was really tired.”
After taking her daughter in for some blood tests, Maria Dillon said she looked at the results and then consulted Google. “I knew it was going to be leukemia because it was the only result that explained everything she was experiencing,” she said.
After a flurry of tests, the diagnosis came. It was leukemia. Specifically, it was acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Fortunately for Lucie Dillon, the diagnosis came early in the onset of the disease, and treatment at Akron Children’s Hospital started immediately.
“She is in remission now, but leukemia likes to adapt,” she said.
To avoid relapsing, Lucie Dillon will undergo an arduous treatment protocol. By the time this article is published, she will be on day 157 of treatment at Akron Children’s Hospital. She will have 755 more to go.
“Our first month in the hospital, Lucie was just beside herself,” Maria Dillon said. “But now she loves riding in the elevators, and they have a Princess Room she loves staying in with castles and fairy tale murals painted on the walls.”
Making lemonade out of lemons
On the same day as the build, Silas Dillon was determined to help out with a fundraising roadside lemonade stand. The 9-year-old also created a virtual lemonade stand online where people could make donations.
From 6 gallons of lemonade and out of the cyberspace, he made around $3,000.
“When I first heard about (the leukemia), I thought it would last maybe a few weeks,” he said. “But then I learned it was going to be two years, and I was like, ‘Oh this is bad. It will be a lot of pain for her.’”
Giving back
Maria Dillon said when she learned they were going to receive one of three play sets being donated to Akron Children’s Hospital patients, she and her husband Doug decided they were going to donate the cost of their play set right back to the Roc Solid Foundation.
“The fact is we can buy our own play set,” she said. “We don’t want any other kids to miss out because we took one of the sets available.”
After tallying up the lemonade money, the family was actually able to donate enough money to provide two play sets to ACH families.
Maria Dillon said it still seems surreal that her daughter is one of the children like those you see in television commercials for places like St. Jude’s. She is keeping a daily log of her daughter’s journey on Facebook, where she said in a recent post, “Cancer isn’t judgmental. It doesn’t play favorites. It doesn’t care if you have lots of money or not a dime to your name. It just doesn’t care.”
Not only does cancer not discriminate, but also it affects the entire family. For Lucie Dillon, that family includes her mom, her dad, Silas and Joey, and brothers Gavin, 15, and Toby, who turned 5 on July 3. Extended family and friends also ride the emotional roller coaster that accompanies cancer in a child.
Still, family and friends remain positive. “Every time I turn around, someone is helping,” Maria Dillon said. “Holy Trinity is or our parish, and they gave us about $1,200. Gavin attends Tuscarawas Central Catholic High School, so they held a fundraiser. People I’m friends with on Facebook that our kids played ball once together or whatever have helped. Doug’s boss set up a GoFundMe account. Lucy’s school in Mineral City did a Light Up for Lucie event, and it was organized by someone I hadn’t even met who just said, ‘Hey, I’m doing this.’”
Maria Dillon said it has been a separate journey just learning to accept help. In addition to the organizations already mentioned, the family wants to express their gratitude to Immaculate Conception School, Tusky Valley Schools, CrossFit, Chris T’s Dance Emporium, Ferris Chevrolet and others who have shared their money, their prayers, their hope and their love.
Coming home
Lucie Dillon was able to enjoy a week at home, starting the day after the play set went up.
Maria Dillon said on Facebook, “This girl is just so happy about having this play set. She is less pleased with Canada’s fires that are preventing her from being outside and enjoying it much.”
Now Lucie Dillon is back in the Princess Room at Akron Children’s Hospital, hopefully for her last extended stay.
How to help
The Dillon family would like those wishing to help to donate to the Roc Solid Foundation at www.rocsolidfoundation.org to keep those play sets coming for children fighting cancer. E-cards also can be sent to Lucie Dillon at www.akronchildrens.org.