The Coveney Kids

Carolyn with her trophy for winning the Optimist speech competition


In January 2003, at age four-and-a-half, Carolyn was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma. She was treated on the N8 protocol at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

On January 18 2009 she will be a six year Event Free Survivor.


Thank you for joining our family in this journey. The support and love we receive from our friends helps us face each day with courage and hope.

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Journal

Thursday, January 22, 2009 6:00 AM CST

Last night Carolyn competed in the Vienna Optimist Club's Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, along with all of the other students in her 4/5 grade class. Each child gave a 4 to 5 minute speech in front of about 70 people on the topic "To me, optimism is..."

Carolyn worked really hard writing her speech and she practiced the delivery many, many times over the long holiday weekend. All of her work paid off last night when she won the competition! She will be competing at the District level in a few weeks. Here is her speech:

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For Me, Optimism is…
by Carolyn Coveney

For me, Optimism is a belief that things will turn out as they are meant to be. An example of this is: me. When I was 4½ I was diagnosed with neuroblastoma stage 4 – in other words, cancer. When I found out that I had cancer I was scared. The only thing I knew about cancer was it could kill you. It killed my gradma and grandfather.

I had to go to doctors in New York City. I had chemotherapy, radiation, a bone marrow transplant and multiple surgeries. Almost every day I was either in the hospital or the clinic. Sometimes I was really sick, and sometimes the nurses had to hold me down to give me my medicine. Every day was hard, but my mom and I just had to keep thinking that the next day would be better.

When I was sick, I met a lot of people and I met the best friend ever. His name was Ryan Connolly. I remember the last night I saw him, his legs and arms were really thin, but his stomach was really big. The reason his stomach was so big was because there was a big piece of cancer on his liver. The next day he died.

I remember when my mom told me Ryan died. I sat on her lap and cried. I was really sad because he never got to tie his shoes, or go to school or lose a tooth. And I was scared, because I didn’t know if I would get better. But I did.

When I got better I thought I was all done with the hospital, but I wasn’t. I had trouble hearing my friends. When the bell range at school sometimes I didn’t hear it and everyone would be in the circle and I would still be playing games.

My mom took me for a hearing test. It showed I needed hearing aids because the chemo killed the little hairs in my ears. I got my hearing aids, but nobody else at my school had hearing aids. I felt kind of odd. Now I go to my new school and everybody has hearing aids.

For me, optimism is not being afraid to try new things. Even though I had cancer and have a hearing loss, nothing stops me from doing the stuff I want to do. I go to school and play the viola. I am a Girl Scout. I am on the SCA and I take ballet lessons. Last month, I finished a 5k with my Dad. In the spring I will finish another 5k with my Mom. When I turn 11 I will take Red Cross babysitting classes and be a babysitter. I am optimistic about doing the things I want to do because I have already done so many hard things.

For me, optimism is believing I can achieve my goals. When I turn 18, I will run the NY marathon for Fred’s Team to raise money for kids with cancer. I know my doctor runs the marathon to help kids with cancer and I want to help too. I am optimistic that I will finish this race too! After I run the marathon, I am going to shave my head and go hang out with the kids with cancer. I want them to see that they can get better and run the marathon like me.

For me, optimism is being grateful for my life and all the good things in it. It is knowing that I can help other kids and maybe no one else will have to lose a friend like I did.

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Needless to say, she was thrilled to be chosen the winner. Her mom and brother were very proud of her too!

All of the speeches were great! The children had some very compelling stories and it was just amazing to me to see kids only 9 and 10 years old stand up in front of a room full of people and deliver their speeches so well! Every contestant received a medal and every one of them deserved it!

Please keep a good thought for Carolyn as she prepares for the District competition, where she will compete against children from throughout Virginia. If she wins, she'll receive a $1500 college scholarship and that is the prize she really has her eye on!

Love,
Jen

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Hospital Information:

Patient Room: HOME!

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Ave.
New York, NY 10021
212-639-5948 (PDH)

Links:

E-mail Author: jsclick@gmail.com

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