Olivia Mikkelsen

A story of inspiration and determination!

On March 6th, 2007, I was 2 years old when I discovered that I was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) which is a disease that turns your white blood cells to an abnormality.

It all started when my family and I thought I had the flu except it seemed much more harmful. My breathing became difficult to handle, I'd be easily bruised, and ear aches would randomly occur at some point. I became less active and had lack of motivation to do anything like any other toddler would be doing. My dad (Bill Mikkelsen) would take me to the doctors who would hand me generic antibiotics for my symptoms but once it wore off it came back except much worse. My sleeping patterns became disarray, sometimes I would be sleeping for 3 hours or not sleeping at all. It was 2am when my mom (Nicole Mikkelsen) took me from our Vernon home to the hospital in Vernon's hospital emergency room. I was immediately sent to the medical staff and was examined for blood work. I was wrapped into a sheet with one arm out ready for blood. In my weakened state, I was still able to try and fight the procedure, It took 3 nurses to hold me down so for a doctor to extract blood from me. I was just a scared little toddler. On a private Lear Jet bound for Vancouver, I was in need of multiple platelet transfusions and blood in order to survive the flight. When we arrived at B.C’s Children’s hospital, I was sent into for procedures. I was given many lumbar punctures, platelet transfusions, white blood cell transfusions and just a lot of blood work to be done. My parents were told that 85% of my blood cells were abnormal and I was only able to have 24 hours of lifetime left. It was a harsh fight but luckily I survived. Our family was invited to stay at the Ronald Mcdonald house while I was in need of treatment like Chemotherapy. My family made other friends while we were there and my mom and the other moms would high five each other every time us kids would go number 2 in the bathroom. We were all able to move somewhere else with our own home. My treatment became into smaller appointments over the years and on the time of recovering I’ve become much stronger and a healthier person. I hope this story inspires you and know that I kicked some cancer butt!