A young girl’s cancer journey: part 1

Occasionally, unexpected situations arise and uproot a family’s definition of normal. This was the case for the Oderwald family.

During a regular check-up, a doctor’s appointment scheduled for Violet Oderwald’s annual vaccination shots, a blood test returned abnormal.

With an unknown cause for the blood count dip, Violet’s pediatrician directed her family to The Cancer Center for Kids at Winthrop-University Hospital.

At the family’s first visit another blood test was performed. While it was still unknown why 4-year-old Violet’s blood levels were down, a continued decline was noted and she was scheduled for a spinal tap.

“It was harder for us to see her in the hospital,” said Tom Oderwald, Violet’s father. “You never want to see your child in pain.”

Concerned what the results might indicate, the family was still questioning whether their daughter could really be sick. “She was not exhibiting any symptoms,” recalled Violet’s mother Sharon Oderwald. “Some children will have a stomachache or a fever, but she was her normal, playful self.”

Sharon Oderwald, who was seven months pregnant, and her husband Tom Oderwald, arrived at the hospital with daughter Violet on June 10. On this day, Violet underwent a spinal tap, which revealed she had early stage Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, ALL. This same day Violet received a port in her chest and started her first round of chemotherapy.

Often lethargic and sometimes crabby, Violet’s parents said, “She doesn’t complain about much.” She simply cringes during bath-time when her back is washed. This area is continually sore her parents explained.

A few months into chemotherapy, a new normal emerged when Josephine Oderwald was born on Aug. 3. Every time we become adjusted to a situation normal changes, explained Tom Oderwald. Violet had a seizure exactly one week after the birth of their second daughter.

I wasn’t sure what was happening, explained Sharon Oderwald. “She didn’t have the ‘Hollywood’ seizure. She was standing and her eyes just rolled back into her head.” Immediately after calling 911 she called her sister-in-law who also lives in East Meadow. Karla Oderwald walked up just after the ambulance arrived.

The seizure was a rare side effect caused by one of her many medications affecting only 5 percent of patients, said Sharon Oderwald.

While Violet’s parents have had to adjust to their daughter’s allergic reaction to another medication, weekly chemotherapy treatments, and numerous spinal taps and blood transfusions, they admit luck and chance are on their side.