Wishes

A wish remembered

memories from her distant past.

By Becky (English) Pavick

Hi, my name is Becky (English) Pavick. When I was young The Leprechaun Foundation granted my wish and I’m here to tell you about how grateful I am and how it helped, because I’m one of the lucky few, I’m a cancer survivor.

When I was 7 years old, I was diagnosed with a Primitive neuro-ectodermal tumor or PNET. PNETs are primarily central nervous system (CNS) tumors. This means they begin in the brain or spinal cord. At the time of my diagnosis, it was a rare cancer typically found in teenage boys.

For me it was a tumor the size of a softball in my sinuses and was pressing up against the optic nerve. This ended up with me losing the vision in my left eye on my ambulance ride from Southwest Hospital to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.

My treatments at the time were all experimental. They told my mom that I had about a 10% chance of beating it. Throughout my longer stays for treatments, which included both chemo and radiation therapy, the Child Life workers were a significant part of my life—Sally and Kathy, the 2 most amazing women, I remember them like it was yesterday. I loved doing Arts and Crafts with them.

After several months the tumor had shrunk enough for them to surgically remove what was left with additional treatment continuing for almost a year. During this time, I was given the opportunity to make a wish for something special that I wanted.

Back in the 1990’s, before getting sick I loved playing Oregon Trail in the computer lab at my school. So, I wished for an Apple computer. Then one Morning I woke up and my mom told me that a Leprechaun had granted my wish and that he had delivered it while we were asleep. I was ecstatic and overfilled with joy.

As the following days went by, I would continually ask my mom if she saw the leprechaun and she would tell me no. She said that leprechauns don’t like to be seen and that she heard a knock on the door, opened it and the computer was sitting in front of our door with a note.

I also vividly remember going down for radiation treatment, I was always excited afterwards because I got to pick a toy out of the toy box. After almost a year of continuing treatment I, by some miracle, proceeded into remission one appointment at a time.

Fast forward about 30 years and I am working at a newer job in the mailing industry. One day I randomly decide to read the newsletter that I had been mailing for a printing company and had just assumed was an Irish themed newsletter.

As I read it the light bulbs were going off in my head and the flood gates started to open. I realized the wish I was granted, the toys in the toy box, the toy rooms I got to visit occasionally while hanging out with Child Life workers, it was all coming full circle.

I had no idea that it was a local group and had been so close to me the whole time. The Leprechaun Foundation had made my wish come true and made all the time I spent in the hospital so much more tolerable. .

The reason I’m sharing this is to encourage and remind everyone that donations to the Leprechauns do have a significant impact on the children and families that the foundation serves. Whether your donation is small or large it does make a difference.

The Leprechaun Foundation would like to thank Becky for taking the time to tell her story and allowing us to share it with you along with some photos from that time in her life.

Computer image courtesy of Wikipedia and the Apple Museum (Prague). The Oregon Trail image courtesy of https://oregontrail.ws/games/the-oregon-trail-cd-rom/