2020 Little Warrior: Olivia Baldwin
Olivia was diagnosed with B-Cell ALL on September 17, 2018 by a bone marrow biopsy. Her chemo began immediately. Olivia was in remission a very long 29 days later but her treatment would last a total of 2.5 years. She was hospitalized for 8 days on the first round, 4 days after this discharge she was back with a fever and later diagnosed with a blood infection/sepsis where we spent a couple weeks in the hospital. We were eventually sent home with IV antibiotics for another month every 6 hours. We had 3 more hospitalizations during this time of frontline treatment for other infections. We have had multiple trips to the ER for fevers because that’s just protocol.
We live 6 hours round trip from her treatment center and were making trips 1-2x weekly for her treatments/procedures in frontline therapy. Olivia eventually had to get orthotics/braces for her legs because they became extremely weak and almost like she forgot how to walk. Her legs have since made a complete recovery.
Currently Olivia is in the maintenance therapy, which means Olivia receives oral chemotherapy daily but not to the point where her counts are completely wiped out, like in frontline. She has procedures every three months for spinal taps, spinal chemo, and IV chemo and counts monthly for med adjustments and to make sure her blood work is low enough so the cancer won’t come back.
This especially is an incredibly scary time for us as we are dealing with COVID-19. She has been quarantined at our family cabin with her grandma and grandpa because her dad and I’s careers would be considered high risk for exposure. We have always been conscientious about germs, preschool, influenza outbreaks, etc as these can be life threatening to her as she is immunocompromised. So it’s not something super new for us to have her quarantine but with the unknown of a novel virus this is a whole new ball game.
We would never wish this experience on any one ever. However, for us this has been completely humbling. We have met amazing people, been granted so many fun trips, learned an abundance about life, and learned how generous people are during times like this. We would not have gotten through this time without family, friends, and even complete strangers support.
Overall it comes down to the strength of our daughter to fight this battle, deal with side effects, and overcome cancer at 2 years old. Olivia is now 4 and has had to experience so much in life that I wish she hadn’t. If you ever met her you would be amazed with her intelligence, strong attitude, and never willing to back down. She is our hero. Her end date for treatment is 11/20/2020 and we are counting down the days until all of this is over however not forgotten.
Learn more about her story above.
You can also donate below and 100% will go to the Baldwin Family.
During the month of April a portion of the proceeds from shopping INDY Gear and Apparel will go directly to Olivia and her family. Shop now and be sure to mention her name in the comments section at checkout.