Nice to meet ya: The Chemo Fairies

The hurt, the pain and stress that goes along with the word “cancer” affect not one individual, but a whole family and friends, a network perhaps of those that love that person. Going through chemo and hospital visits consume huge amounts of time just waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

Cancer is the source of worry and misery and there is no way around it. Lives are upended and who knows about the future? Stephanie Parker of Dripping Springs would visit her brother Geoff Pastrick and wife Heather in Georgia every three weeks to help with his care while he was going through chemo.

“My brother was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma in February of 2019,” Parker said. “And he passed away this past May (2020). And so basically when he got cancer, we just went into it with a ‘we got this attitude’ and what can we do to give back.”

“When he got his first treatment schedule, I wanted to do something happy for him,” she continued. “So I put together these bags, so I left them in Georgia. Heather would deliver them on chemotherapy treatment days. And so we just kind of took this story and made it into something.”

Filled inside the bag were treats, some salty, some sweet, whatever Geoff desired, which changed, and little trinkets to make him smile. Also included were words of encouragement. When she left to come back to Dripping, sister Steph would leave the bags behind in Georgia.

“Steph would stay in our upstairs bedroom,” Heather said. “So she would leave the bags there. So I literally was walking down the staircase one day and said, ‘oh, you know that it looks like the chemo fairy came last night.’ That’s how the conversation started. I think I probably texted stuff at five or six o’clock in the morning and said, ‘oh, snap, like I’ve got an idea. And you know, why not create something with it?’”

The inspiration of a family of chemo fairies that visit children during long visits during chemotherapy treatment was an idea worth pursuing. The network of friends feels paralyzed, wanting to help, and not knowing what to do.

Heather continued, “This is something that really can spread some joy. So it’s not that we plot it out. How does this work? I think it was, how do we help other families? You know, and make this a better situation than it is.”

The plot thickens as Stephanie adds some background information. “We all love to watch “Shark Tank. We would sit there for hours watching “Shark Tank” and we would sit there, Geoff would go to bed and Heather and I would sit there and go, what is our “Shark Tank” idea? Come on, like why can’t this be us? And so when Heather texted me, I think I’ve got it, My Chemo Fairy, we just like rolled with it and just had so much fun with it.”

What could be a two-hour treatment turns into eight. Nothing to snack on, the cell phone is only good for a short while, then what? Snacks, little toys, but also with children, a story of a magical place where fairies delivers goody bags and a little cheer during a very stressful situation.

So the pair wrote a children’s story, My Chemo Fairy, and created a gift set option “includes an 8.5x11 hardcover story book, an 11-inch washable plush fairy (boy or girl), and a 6x6 inch canvas You Got This! bag ready to be filled with treats.”

“So we’ve been able to do a lot with Northside hospital here (in Georgia). I’ve started doing stuff with Children’s Hospital of Atlanta with childhood cancer. I know Steph has been working with Dell Children’s Hospital, because you know, that they’ll help us get these into children’s hands,” Heather said.

Cancer has touched everyone, one way or another. Working through pain and loss, it’s worth it if you feel that you have eased that a little, paying it forward, as Stephanie Parker and sister-in-law Heather Pastrick are doing. They have a Kickstarter program and have achieved seventy five percent of their goal.

Their Kickstarter page is at http://bit.ly/mychemofairy, and their Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/mychemofairy.