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Prayers For Sadie: 

A class of excited kindergartners huddles around their teacher, Jenny Nash, at Cottonwood Elementary School on Thursday as they anxiously watch her pick up the phone on her desk and start to dial.

After a brief moment, Nash turns on the speakerphone and cues her students to make their announcement.

“Hi, Sadie!” The classmates shout in unison.

A soft voice responds from her hospital bed at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

“Hi,” six-year-old Sadie Olson says with a hint of exhaustion in her voice.

Each student takes his or her turn saying messages to Sadie.

Taylor Paris informs Sadie about the Nintendo Wii she got for Christmas, and Gavin Clemetson tells her about the mouse named Mr. Cheese he received.

Some, though, such as Maggie Cole, who also went to preschool with Sadie, gave a simpler, yet heart-warming message.

“Hi Sadie, I love you,” Maggie whispered into the phone as a smile formed across her face.

All of the words were welcomed by Sadie, who hasn’t seen much of her classmates since Thanksgiving. Her kindergarten friend Rylan Armbruster visited her at the hospital, but most of her conversations with her classmates have been over the phone.

Shortly after her third birthday, Sadie began having seizures and was later diagnosed with Rasmussen’s Disease, a rare degenerative brain disorder.
She underwent a hemispherectomy procedure, in which parts of her right brain were removed and the remaining parts were disconnected from the left side.

After being seizure-free for 17 months following the operation, the seizures returned, and in January 2008, Sadie underwent another brain surgery. This time, all of the remaining right brain hemisphere and tissue were removed.

Sadie spent much of 2008 in and out of the hospital, including a surgery in August that involved the replacement of two shunts and a cranioplasty to install a plate to help shape her head.

On Dec. 19, Sadie underwent another surgery in Cleveland, Ohio, and when she returned home, it wasn’t long before her condition started to worsen. The day after Christmas, Sadie developed a fever and headache.

She was taken to the hospital, where, following blood work, it was determined she had bacterial meningitis.

Doctors were forced to conduct another surgery to remove the plate and shunts and treat the infection in Sadie’s brain. Sadie has spent the past three weeks at the hospital, where doctors will continue to treat the infection until it is gone.

Sadie’s mother, Megan Olson, said the hospital stay has been difficult on Sadie.

“She hasn’t eaten orally in over a month,” she said. “The moments she feels good are very short.”

It has also been difficult on Sadie’s father, Kenny Olson, who has had to return to work, and Sadie’s older sister, Maddie Olson, who has had to return to school at Sunflower Elementary.

One thing Megan said she is grateful for is all the community support her family has received. The Olsons are a part of Heads Up, a Paola-based brain injury support group that has provided the family with emotional and financial support.

The faculty at Cottonwood and Sunflower elementary schools also raised money during the past holiday season to help out the Olson family. The faculty was going to buy books for Sadie to read, but Borders Bookstore in Olathe donated the books, so the faculty was able to give the money to the Olsons to help offset medical costs.

The Paola MOMs Club and local church members also have helped out the family.

The community is picking up the pace of its charity, knowing that the Olsons need the help now more than ever. Fellow kindergarten teacher Tammy Cole is organizing a co-ed volleyball tournament fund-raiser for this weekend, and family friend Carla Wheeler is in the process of planning a chili/soup lunch for an upcoming Sunday at Cottonwood Elementary School.

The volleyball tournament, called Serving For Sadie, is scheduled to take place Saturday at the Paola Middle School gymnasium, with sign-in at 8 a.m. and games beginning at 8:30 a.m.

There is a team fee of $120, and there are still open spots for the tournament. Concessions will be provided for snacks and lunch, and T-shirts will be awarded to the winners. To register, or for more information, call Greg Cole at (913) 731-8550.

Sadie Olson, left, has spent most of the past couple months in the hospital as she fights bacterial meningitis. Here she is seen with her older sister, Maddie. A volleyball fund-raiser for Sadie’s family is scheduled to take place Saturday.

There also will be a money tree and gift card tree set up at the volleyball tournament, so residents or local businesses can make donations. Some local businesses, such as TeamBank, Design 4 Sports, Price Chopper, Pizza Hut and Simply You, have already made donations for the family.

Wheeler said she is not scheduling the chili/soup lunch until Sadie is back home so she can attend. She also doesn’t expect the community support to end anytime soon.

“It makes us feel better, like we’re doing something,” Wheeler said. “We’re helping them, but then again, we’re helping ourselves.”

Sadie soon will be able to hear some of that support whenever she wants to, as her classmates and some staff members at Cottonwood recently made a short video for Sadie, which Nash compiled and edited.

And when Sadie needs a little extra support, all she has to do is turn to Luke the black lab. Luke is part of the pet pals program at the hospital, and after meeting him three years ago, Sadie got a black lab stuffed animal that she keeps close.

Sadie took Luke with her during one of her surgeries in August. Megan remembers Sadie asking her, “Do you remember that time that I had to get my blood checked and I took Luke with me? I didn’t even cry. That’s because Luke is special.”

For updates on Sadie’s condition, visit her Web site at www.babyjellybeans.com and type “Sadie Olson” into the name box.

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