A LITE-FM Christmas Wish for Lindsay and Lilah

LITE-FM's Christmas Wish is back, thanks to our friends at Pioneer Federal Credit Union. Our 16th wish was one that we couldn't wait to see come true!

When Angie sent us the story about Lindsay's family, I e-mailed Jeff Connell immediately and said "this is a family we need to help!" Lindsay and her husband, Cody, have had a 2018 that's been full of amazing high-highs like finding out they'll be welcoming their fourth child.  In fact, Baby Bryson will arrive this Thursday and be with his brothers and sister for the holidays.

Unfortunately, 2018's been full of some low-lows too.  In July, the couple found out that their little girl, Lilah, was suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Lindsay was 17 weeks pregnant when they got the diagnosis, so throughout her whole pregnancy they've been in and out of hospitals while Lilah goes through chemo treatment.  The survival rate for kids with ALL is high and Lilah's responding well to the treatments.  Unfortunately, some of the medications used in the chemo treatment may leave her with permanent tremors or brain damage.

Her big brothers, Cody and Beck, have been troopers through the last few months, making huge sacrifices for the well being of their little sister. Because of the chemo, Lilah can't be around anyone who is sick or has been sick recently.  Being exposed to those germs could be life threatening to her, so when the boys are sick, they're quarantined to their bedrooms.  Angie tells us that they're feeling a little left out with baby on the way and a lot of the focus being on Lilah and her treatments.

Years ago, I trained for a marathon with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training and it was the first time I'd ever heard of "chemo brain." It's the way that cancer survivors describe memory and thinking problems after treatment.  I'm familiar with that fear Lilah's parents have about her long term well post cancer treatment. Through working with our friends at Camp Rainbow Gold, I'm familiar with how Cody and Beck are feeling too. Feeling like they've been dropped to the bottom of the "priority list" while a sibling is going through cancer, is common and that's why Camp Rainbow Gold offers a full "Sibling Camp" where those siblings can meet other kids sharing those same feelings.

Angie really wanted to do something for this family to cheer everyone up, including Lilah who just had another chemo treatment last week.  When we heard that Elsa was her favorite princess/queen, I knew exactly what we had to do.

I immediately called our friends as Capes and Crowns to see if the ice queen would like to be part of our Christmas Wish for Lilah and her family. Of course, she didn't mind traveling all the way from Arendelle to give a warm hug to such a sick little girl.  She met up with our lead delivery elf, Jeff Connell and together, they loaded up the Team Subaru of Nampa Forester Delivery Sleigh for a Christmas Wish we'll never forget.

We surprised the family with a $200 gift card for gifts with the kids and our friends at UltraTouch Car Wash gave us a $50 gas card for them to use as they commute to and from Lilah's treatments.  We wanted to make sure that Cody and Beck got to do somethings where they felt included, so we invited the family to Wahooz & Pinz for their NOON Year's Eve Party and our upcoming Canyon County Kids Expo (little did we know, the boys had actually been asking to go!) And we know with a new baby in the house, there may be a few days where Lindsay's too tired to make dinner, so our friends and Smokey Mountain Pizzeria Grill wanted to pitch in with that.

...and then, we gave Lilah the biggest surprise of the three years of her life! Click where you see the birdies to see it!

Donate to Help Us Grant More Wishes

We want to grant as many wishes as possible in 2018 and we can't do it without your support! If you'd like to make a donation, there's three easy ways to do that!

Donate at PFCU | Pioneer Federal Credit Union is collecting donations at all of their Treasure Valley locations. To find the one closest to you click HERE.

Donate Online | Chances are you've already got a PayPal account set up for your holiday shopping.  Use that same PayPal account or enter your payment information by following the button below.