Family: Parents: Lori and Iain Step-parents: Tanis and Gary Siblings: Older sister Caitlin and twin Courtney Step-Siblings: Jessica, and twins Kelsey and Jake
Grandparents: Step-Grandparents: Ed and Vera
Birthday: March 28, 1993 at Victoria Children's Hospital
Home: London, Ontario with Mom and Kilworth, Ontario with Dad.
School Info: Grade 6 at Byron Northview

Story
Julie began showing symptoms of cancer back in August of 2004. She was always itchy all over her body but didn't present any other symptoms. That continued on and in the wintertime, Julie developped a nasty cough that just wouldn't go away. It was cold season so we figured that it would go away on its own, but it didn't!

As the months dragged on, it only got worse and Julie began looking very pale. Her energy level had almost disappeared, and no matter how much sleep that she got, she'd nearly be sleep-walking through her day. By April of 2005, Julie was extremely thin and sickly looking. After being treated for bronchitis, possible asthma, and other things with no respone, the doctors finally ordered a chest X-Ray (after a huge scare thinking that she might have Cystic Fibrosis!). We got the phone call the next day. Julie had a big grapefruit sized tumor in between her two lungs, pressing on her heart. There were other tumors from her spleen to her neck. The next day, Julie was admitted to the hospital and first got treated for the pneumonia in her lungs.

She was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage 3 and since her diagnosis in April, she has completed 12 intense rounds of chemotherapy! Unfortunately, the cancer didn't all clear out so she'll be trying 12 rounds of radiation to clear out the remaining cancer. We are all sure that she will back to normal in no time!

Favourites
Colour: Black and blue
Number: 12 and 11
Nick/pet names: Sparky by our friend Sean from Tiger Jack's
Hospital staff: Kathy, Dr. Leaker, Barb, Pat, Julie
Camp Trillum staff: Unfortunately Julie's counts weren't high enough to go! Next summer we'll surely meet memorable people.
Teacher: Mr. Gallant
Treatment friends: Shelby, Kaitlyn, Faith, Matthew
Friends: Karen, Alison, Brooke, Danielle H.W, Danielle S, Robyn, Zach, Nicole, Emily, Stephanie
Wish: For there to be forests and wildlife that remain for millions of years without humans destroying it. Julie wants areas of the earth to be more well-preserved.
Events / moments: Traveling to the Bahamas, Florida, Las Vegas, Western Canada, and many other locations.
Songs: Beautiful by Christina Aguilera, Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas,
Explode and Powerless by Nelly Furtado, Function at the Junction by Little Richard
Pets: Dogs Millie and Winston, cats Jenny, Twister, and Nike, guinea pigs
Cindy and Daisy, rabbit Petri, fish Jimmy
Interests: animals, piano, basketball, computer (Neopets and MSN), reading
Traits: very logical, shy around strangers, perseverant, strong with her opinions, enjoys joking around, picky eater!
Books: A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Child's Wish (and Dreams for the Future): For there to be a treatment for cancer with no side effects. Julie wants to live a long, healthy, and wealthy life. Julie wants to go to university for animal-related studies, sciences, or law.

Mom and Dad's Wish and Dreams for the future: For Julie to be cancer-free for the rest of her life with no long-term damage from chemo or radiation.

Mom & Dads Comments: Julie has never let cancer get her down. She wants to still participate in every activity in or outside of school. Julie doesn't want anyone feeling sorry for her or treating her any differently from when
she was healthy.

Other family comments: I am so lucky to have Julie as my younger sister. She has taught us all lessons in life with not letting things get us down. Even when she is awfully sick from chemo, she'll still want to go to school. Julie thinks of cancer as just a little bump in the road, and barely worries about it. She manages to be an A student meanwhile missing nearly all of the last few months of grade 5. We all hope that she will be cancer-free forever

- she sure deserves it!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/julie

-Caitlin (Julie's big sister)