The evening of April 12 was a huge night for Olds' Mckenzie Robbie.
Not just because a fundraiser in her honour raised roughly $10,000 for her family, but because Mckenzie made a surprise appearance and had an opportunity to connect with her friends.
Last November, the 15-year-old was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and over the course of the past half-year has undergone four rounds of chemotherapy treatment.
Because of the treatment schedule and its impact on her health, Mckenzie spends most of her time in a Calgary hospital.
Her mother, Staci Robbie, has not left her daughter's side during the treatments and her 14-year-old brother is living with friends.
So the community has rallied with a number of fundraisers since Mckenzie's diagnosis to help the family pay for groceries, rent, utilities and fuel for trips back and forth between Olds and Calgary.
The April 12 Kenzie's Journey: Don't Stop Believing fundraiser at the Olds College Alumni Centre brought out 100 people and included a live and silent auction and entertainment from the Western Sunsetters and Friends.
Mckenzie and Staci made the decision that afternoon, based on how Mckenzie felt, to come to Olds and surprise everyone at the event.
“It's been nice to see everybody,” Mckenzie said, adding she spent most of the evening with friends “catching up on everything, on the gossip.”
Staci said Mckenzie has only come home to Olds for eight days in the last six months and having the chance to spend time with friends meant everything to her.
Being away from home has been tough, Mckenzie said, but her friends have kept in touch with her during her treatments.
“It's hard, but I talk to them fairly regularly through my phone so their support is always with me,” she said.
Depending on her white blood cell count and how she feels, Mckenzie could go through her fifth and final round of chemotherapy as early as April 20.
If all goes well, she'll take the summer to recover and rebuild her immune system and Staci said Mckenzie will have to follow up at an oncology clinic over the course of the summer before any plans are made for her to enter Grade 11 at Olds High School in the fall.
“She still has lots of hospital visits but you know, with time to recover, we're hoping for the green light to go back to school in September.”
Mckenzie said she has been “flabbergasted” at the level of community support since her diagnosis and Staci said the donations and cash raised through events such as the April 12 fundraiser have allowed her family to get through this difficult time.
“Without that, I wouldn't be able to be in Calgary with her. She would have to go through chemo and the stay alone,” she said. “It's a full community effort, not just to support Mckenzie, but to support myself and her brother, to make our family stay as normal as we can while we're doing our treatment up there.
“So that on nights like this when Mckenzie does get a rare break from hospital, she has some place to come home to.”
When asked where she hopes to see herself in six months, Mckenzie said she just wants to get back into the activities she loves such as rugby, dancing and volunteering.
“Back into my sports and school,” she said. “Just trying to live every moment.”
