When Will Page was three years old he was diagnosed with leukemia.
He received chemo every single day for three and a half years.
“As you can imagine, for someone who was really too young to understand what was happening there was a great a deal of fear and stress from constant port access and blood draws via needles,” said Will’s Mother, Angela Page.
After Will got his treatment he was able to pick from the hospitals Treasure Chest. The chest had toys inside for the children for showing bravery during their treatment.
“Having that little treat at the end gave us something positive to focus on,” Angela said. “When you are in the thick of it, you grasp on to any bit of joy you can, even if it only redirects your attention momentarily while allowing you to breathe.”
Angela said that as she watched her son pick toys out of the Treasure Chest she realized those little toys would bring no comfort to teenagers who were going through the same thing Will was.
Angela decided to do something to bring some comfort to those teenagers. She decided to create chemo bags for kids 13 years old and older.
“I felt they were sometimes overlooked and I wanted to change that,” she said.
Angela is an Independent Director with Thirty-One Gifts so she had access to tote bags. She then decided to ask the community to sponsor a portion of the bag. She then covers the balance of the items for the bag, the contents, the tax and the shipping.
“It serves as a way for the community to give back and bless some deserving children/teenagers at the same time,” she said. “We are fortunate to live in such a giving community.”
She has been doing the project since 2015.
The bags feature items that help teens pass the time while they are getting chemo treatments.
Generally, each bag gets blankets, socks, hand sanitizer, snacks, a puzzle book, pens, nail polish and playing cards. Half the bags are designed with boys in mind and the other half with girls in mind. The contents also vary slightly by age group.
The bags, of which Angela hopes to donate 150, are donated to the oncology clinic at St. Louis Children’s’ Hospital because that is where Will was treated and continues to be treated.
Angela said she has nothing but wonderful things to say about the hospital and their support of her project.
Angela always asks that her bags be given to patients in the day clinic because she has found that patients who have to stay in the hospital are more prepared with items from home.
“But for outpatient chemo, what a nice surprise to be handed a tote that you can use for all of your return visits to the clinic,” she said.
The reaction to the project has inspired the Pages to keep the project going. Angela said she often has tears streaming down her face as the sponsorships come in. She said a lot of people donate because they followed Will’s journey on Caring Bridge and are happy to see him living a happy and healthy life, others donate because they know someone who has battled cancer.
“I think people feel empathy and can’t imagine their own child going through something they can’t even understand,” she said. “When your three-year-old asks the question ‘Am I ever going to sleep in my own bed again,’ you feel your heart hit the floor with a thunderous velocity.”
Angela said she always gives people the option to sponsor a tote in honor of someone, whether that be someone who’s currently battling cancer, a cancer survivor or even a loved one that has passed on. She has had people donate in honor of grandparents, siblings and even Will. Others have donated in honor of their own healthy children to recognize the blessing of health. Each tote has a card bearing the donor’s name and if it is in honor of anyone.
Angela said Will has started to realize the impact that this project has on the kids who receive the bags.
“We try to implore the idea that this has such a ripple effect that expands beyond the patients,” she said.
Angela said the bags are a relief for the parents of the teens who are battling for their life and they make the jobs of nurses slightly easier since they put the children at ease. She said they also effect the volunteers who help fill the bags. She said she hopes this sense of volunteerism rubs off on her son.
“It really is a chain of love and I have no doubt Will is going to grow up with a giving heart,” she said. “I hope he carries on with my mantra of PIFGIB. Pay it Forward/Give it Back.”
Will has been in remission for nine and a half years, however with leukemia, even though you go into remission, patients have a three and a half year treatment plan. If patients stop the treatment early it can cause a relapse. The Pages go to the Late Effects clinic and Will has blood work done annually. Sometimes there are delayed effects of long-term chemo and all of the spinal taps. This year Will will also have an EKG to check for heart damage. An EKG is required every five years.
Angela said it seems like yesterday that Will was diagnosed on other times it feels like another lifetime.
In reality, it has been 10 years.
She said she recently saw a picture of a pediatric hospital gown with the same ocean animal print Will had and she immediately felt that punch in the gut as my eyes welled up with tears.
“The waters may appear calm but it’s always just below the surface,” she said. “He was originally misdiagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma in his leg, which has a less favorable outcome.”
Now, her vibrant child is a beast on the soccer field and whenever the coach calls for him to take a kick because of a strong leg, Angela said she “sweeps.”
“That’s a phrase I coined during the darker days,” she said. “It’s a cross between a smile and a weep. You know that feeling when you start to cry but then a smile breaks through right in the middle of it? That’s a sweep. Like a rainbow breaking through the rain. Will is a considerate, funny and strong-willed 13 year old. We are so proud of him.”
The cost to sponsor a tote is $20. Those wanting to sponsor a tote can email angelastotes@gmail.com or call 217-493-8688.
Donations can also be sent via PayPal to angelastotes@gmail.com or by mailing a check payable to Angela Page to 1715 Magnolia Dr., Saint Joseph, IL 61873. Include information if you would like the tote in honor of someone.
Deadline is December 30th.
