Saphire Anderson

Meet Amy Pass's second cousin, Saphire Anderson, who is battling the same blood disease Amy's mom Cheryl Slater had.

Saphire's dad and Amy's cousin, Daniel (Spider) Anderson, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome) on Sept. 25th of 2012. Spider has undergone chemotherapy, radiation, bone marrow transplant, and several life-saving surgeries due to complications. He just passed his 100 day check-up, and is doing well! 

Unfortunately, his daughter, Saphire, was also diagnosed with MDS, and recently underwent a bone marrow transplant at Mayo in June 2013. 

Levi, Daniel's 9 year old son, was also diagnosed with MDS, and is expected to undergo a bone marrow transplant sometime around November 2013. 

Daniel was self-employed and has already been unable to work full time for more than 8 months. His wife, Jackie, has taken an extended leave of absence from her job with Webster Public Schools in order to care for her family. Austin, Daniel's 16-year-old son, spent some time in MN while Daniel was undergoing treatment and is now back home in SD, helping his dad take care of things at home while Saphire is at Mayo.

Amy, her cousin Jenn Johnson and I took a trip down to visit with Saphire and her mother Jackie in late June. We were so impressed by these two amazing women! They have such strength and courage.

Saphire and her little brother on her first trip out of the hospital in Rochester

Sapphire and her aunt Deanna, who shaved her head in support of her brother Danny and of Saphire. In a few weeks, Deanna begins her own treatment.

Saphire, about a week into her chemotherapy treatment in preparation for her bone marrow transplant. We went down with a selection of Team Yarn hats in her favorite color blue, and let her pick her favorites.

FAVORITE COLOR
blue

FAVORITE SONG
“Fall” by Clay Walker

FAVORITE QUOTE
It don't get better, you just get better at handling it.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN 3 WORDS
Short, positive, and strong.

IF YOU COULD TAKE A TRAIN TRIP ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WHERE W0ULD YOU WANT TO GO? WHY?
Australia, to see all the interesting animals and the way people live.

IF YOU COULD NAME A MOUNTAIN AFTER ANYONE, WHOM WOULD YOU CHOOSE? WHY?
My dad. Because life is a climb but he made it to the top.

WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO SPEND A RAINY DAY?
My farm

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT LIVING IN A SMALL TOWN IN SOUTH DAKOTA?
Knowing everyone and everywhere.

IF YOU COULD CREATE YOUR OWN VANITY PLATE USING 8 LETTERS OR NUMBERS, WHAT WOULD IT SAY?
Strength

Kelli McCully sent Amy and I this note yesterday:

As promised, the pics of D., the woman who received the hat I made early on in Team Yarn's existence (my second or third hat, I believe). She also sent me a lovely note. In case you can't read it: 

"Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and 'above and beyond' the call for people you've never met. The cap was such a day brightener & I love the color - also very comfortable. Work you do for cancer patients not only helps raise self esteem but keeps our heads warm." 

Well, she warms my heart. My friend who had requested the hat said that when he delivered it, she immediately removed whatever she had on her head and declared her new hat much softer and wore it instead. 

Two ladies from the OLLI group that we met with in February stopped by Amy's house on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 to donate some beautiful knitted hats. See post on our visit to the OLLI knitting group here.

 Nancy, from the OLLI group that we visited in February, stopped by to drop off hats for Team Yarn! Accompanying her was her friend, Shelley.

Shelley & Nancy looking through the yarn stash! Anyone can stop by to look through the yarn and pick some out for Team Yarn projects. Just send us a facebook message or email, and we'll set up a time!

“Thank you. This is wonderful. The kids are going to love them,” Elizabeth Haymaker told us as we dropped off two boxes of hats at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital - Journey Clinic in Minneapolis on Tuesday, June 18, 2013.

In all, there were 104 hats, scarves and shawls made by 13 Team Yarn volunteers that filled the boxes donated to Amplatz. These donations brought our overall total up over 450 items.

“Being able to actually do something has its benefits,” Team Yarn co-founder Amy Pass told the Amplatz representatives. “I needed to do something that was calming after my mom passed away.”

Accepting our donation on behalf of Amplatz were Elizabeth Haymaker and Tara Poncelet.

Elizabeth and Tara both earned undergraduate degrees in psychology and master’s degrees on the East Coast in Child Family Life. Their job is to help kids figure out their diagnosis and deal with it. They see many cases of leukemia and lymphoma, but also many rare types of cancer. “There is a wide range,” said Tara.

Children age 0-25 are treated at Amplatz. Some are outpatient and some inpatient. Each month, roughly 1,000 kids go through the Amplatz outpatient clinic.

“We do a lot of hands-on and interactive activities to help kids understand what’s going on at their level,” explained Elizabeth.

They field lots of questions. Kids are concerned about hair loss. They wonder what is going on with their bodies. They want to know if they can still do the things they’ve always done.

When it comes to choosing a hat, kids at Amplatz are all different. Some want one that’s a certain color. Others want a different hat for each day. They view a hat like a hairstyle, and want lots of variety. Some just want a hat that keeps their head warm. Others care a great deal about texture.

We told Elizabeth and Tara that Team Yarn members would be happy to take requests from anyone that wants a certain type or color, or wants matching hats. It looks like they’re going to take us up on that in the future. We’ll post more when we have it.

Tesha, Kelli and Josey in the lobby at Amplatz

Amy and Josey waiting for the light to turn green to cross the street.

Amy displays Kelli McCully's oh-so-soft shawl.

Introducing ourselves to Elizabeth Haymaker and Tara Poncelet of the Child Family Life department at Amplatz.

Ooooing and ahhhing over beautiful hats

What a fun hat!

Goodbye for now

The man behind the hospital: Karl Amplatz, MD.

We had another beautiful afternoon at Silverwood Park on Father's Day this month! The weather was lovely, the kid's activity was making bug houses, and I heard that the new Spiced Cold Press is fantastic (from Kelli, who is holding one in her hand right there)!

Linda & Kelli laid out a pile of yarn to find just the right colors and textures to finish their current projects...

We all admired Linda's new shawl & the simplicity of its pattern, which starts in the corner, rather than with one big long chain...

And then we admired Kelli's first shawl project, which Kelli says is "all about texture." 

Gabe modeled the Thor hat while everyone helped decide what color should go around the wings...

Then Tesha got busy finishing up the hat...

Sandy may not have time to crochet a lot over the summer, but she managed to whip out an entire hat in a couple of hours...

Gabe & Brad (the dads at our Father's Day meeting) hung out with us, chatted, worked, and went for walks with the kids & grandkids...

On Tuesday we took the hats from May & June to Amplatz Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. Watch for that blog post coming soon!