First to greet you at the McCarthy home is Samantha’s big brother Matthew and their dog Abbey. With the front door held wide open, he announces with a huge five-year-old smile that his sister and mother are waiting inside. His sister Samantha is three-years-old and was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia on August 19, 2008. As she skips back and forth across the kitchen with a giggle and smile on her face, it could be easy to forget she is very sick. Her mom, Linda, quickly shares that it’s a good day today. Samantha has energy and feels good. Not all days are good like this one. Samantha paints with her new Disney Princess paint set from the Treasure Chest as we sit down and talk with Samantha’s mom. 

POTCF: Tell me what made you take Samantha to the doctor. 

Linda: She was getting tired. It was the end of summer and we were running around a lot. I said that we’re going to take a day to stay home and rest. After that, it seemed that she would be okay for a couple of days. She would get a fever, maybe one night the whole week, and then she would wake up fine. On Sundays, we go to a church that has a service with a band. She would normally be in the aisle praising, hands up dancing and everything. By the third Sunday she just laid in the pew. I said that something’s not right. We brought her to Palos Community Hospital and had a blood test and by that night we were at Hope Hospital. Of course, it was just horrifying. Any time someone in my life has said, “It’s not this or it’s not that,” it usually is. Jim (Samantha’s father) brought her into the hospital and I just stood outside, called my mom and cried. Samantha cries when she gets shots so I couldn’t hold her because I cry. 

POTCF: When did the treatment start?

Linda: Immediately. That night and the next day. She was getting all kinds of IVs. I don’t remember everything they were doing. She kept getting poked and prodded for days. On Monday we went in and on Friday they put the port in. They knew it was Leukemia from the blood test but not what type. They had to send it away to four other hospitals to find out.

POTCF: How long was the hospital stay? 

Linda: The first time was at least a week. In the beginning it was weekly for blood work, bone marrow pulls, spinals, getting blood and platelets and getting chemo through her port. The first six months is heavy chemo treatment. The last six weeks of that six months is referred to as “delayed intensification.” There was a day when she was having 4 chemos put in her body. It was just horrible. 

POTCF: How did Samantha handle the hospitalizations? How aware was she of what was happening? 

Linda: She knew right away that she was sick and needed help. It was hard. She kept wanting to go home, but she is pretty resilient. 

Samantha: Remember Daddy came to visit? 

Matthew: Me AND Daddy. 

POTCF: What has been the hardest part for you? 

Linda: In the beginning it’s just hard to see your child that way: all the poking, the treatments, she’s not sleeping, she’s sedated. 

POTCF: What was the hardest part for Samantha? 

Linda: Probably knowing when she is going to get something done and waiting for it to happen. Waiting and knowing. 

POTCF: What is the best part of going to the hospital/clinic, if there can be a best part? 

Linda: I would say the staff; they are just so kind. I can’t imagine working there, it’s just too sad. 

Samantha stops our conversation to show off her princess painting

POTCF: What princess do you want to be when you grow up? 

Samantha: Ariel (The Little Mermaid). Ursula will turn you into a human. You have to have the fins first. First you have fins then you get feet. 

POTCF: What can you tell me about the Treasure Chest? How did you find out about it? 

Linda: The chest is right there in the day room. It’s open all the time to see the toys and they have it painted to catch the children’s eyes. The nurses told us what it was there for. There are also toys in a closet that are considered part of the chest for bigger gifts because of bigger, more painful procedures. Whenever you are there, you get a gift. She’s had bigger procedures (platelets, blood) and got gifts from the closet. 

POTCF: Do you see it making a difference for Samantha? 

Linda: Absolutely. She asks when we are going to the day room where the Treasure Chest is. She likes crafts. 

POTCF: What was the favorite thing you got from the Treasure Chest, Samantha? 

Samantha: Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. (She happily shows off the princess magnets she recently picked from the Treasure Chest.) 

POTCF: What would you say to a family who just learned their child has cancer? 

Linda: Take any support you can. You do need the help. You need a lot of people around you. I’m sure there is more that I could have taken but I didn’t. 

POTCF: Do you think the Treasure Chest has helped? 

Linda: Immensely. I see all the other kids. They haven’t even been treated yet and they are already looking inside the Treasure Chest. That’s how exciting it is. 

POTCF: What would you say to the people who have contributed to the Treasure Chest? 

Linda: Thank you for putting smiles on the faces of these children. You’ve got children that can’t really lead a normal life and the clinic becomes their life. With the Treasure Chest, they walk into a place they don’t really want to be and they see something that’s happy for them.