Sugar, spice and everything nice … Ward family trades hospital stays for Disney World

Contributed photo/Karen Donato
A ROYAL RIDE — Romain Ouellette served as the royal coachman as he gave the Kirk Ward family a horse and carriage ride around Houlton before bringing them to the Wesleyan Church for the Make-A-Wish event in their honor. Three year-old Makenna, third from the left has been battling neuroblastoma for more than a year. She and her family will be leaving for a trip to Disney World early in December. From left, Ouellette, Makenna’s mom, Amy; her dad Kirk; brother, Blake and her older sister, Felicity.
By Karen Donato
Special to the Pioneer Times
    Sugar and spice and everything nice; that is what every parent’s dream is for their child. This was the dream that Kirk and Amy Ward had for their family, but everything changed in April of 2009. The Wards, expecting the birth of a son later in the fall, were already parents of two daughters, Felicity, 5 and 18 month-old Makenna. They thought their life was perfect.
    Then in late April they noticed a bulge in one of Makenna’s eyes. They immediately took her to an optometrist, who thought it could be related to allergies, but when it didn’t get any better in a few days and the area began turning black and blue they were advised to see an eye specialist in Bangor. After having an MRI it was determined that Makenna not only had a tumor behind her eye, but another one located in the abdomen. It was a rare form of cancer called, neuroblastoma.
    Makenna endured high dosages of chemotherapy for six weeks and the tumor behind her eye dissipated before the first phase of treatments was completed. Now it was important to treat the tumor in the stomach. For this, they went to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in Manhattan, N.Y.
    Ironically another child with family in Houlton had just been at this hospital and his father, Jeremy Cummings was able to give the Wards some information about Dr. Michael LaQuaglia, a cancer specialist.
    Kirk said, “We just called the doctor. We didn’t have a referral from another doctor, we just called him and told him that we had heard about him through the Cummings family and would he help our daughter?”
    The doctor asked for the medical reports and when they received the call back that she had been accepted, the Wards were on their way to New York, compliments of Angel Flight, a service for children with major medical needs. The family stayed in the Ronald McDonald facility nearby.
    Both Kirk and Amy just rolled their eyes about this experience.
    “Here we were, just dropped into this city,” said Amy, “and we had to take taxis, subways and deal with many unfamiliar things, but through our faith we did what we had to do.”
    Meanwhile, back home their families and friends pitched in to take care of Felicity and their home here. Once people became aware of their plight, everything was taken care of, even a new roof on their house. Amy and Kirk are so appreciative of the community support not only locally, but throughout the county and state.
    Kirk, the son of Laura and Russell Ward of Presque Isle, is a physical therapist at County Physical Therapy in Houlton and Amy, a stay-at-home mother is the daughter of Bert and Dianne Suitter of Houlton.
    During their time in New York they became very close to Makenna’s doctor and other families who were in similar situations. Throughout their days of surgeries, blood tests and having Makenna connected to machines by a variety of tubes their faith never wavered.
Contributed photo/Karen Donato
FIRST INTERVIEW — Little Makenna Ward holds the microphone for her first interview with WAGM News as her parents, Kirk and Amy look on.
    “We give all thanks to God,” said Kirk, “just look at her.”
    “Everywhere we went, there were Christians in place for us. When Dr. LaQuaglia, came out of surgery in New York and said, ‘She’s OK, she’s OK!’ We said to him, ‘Thank you for saving her life.’”
    His reply was, “Don’t thank me; I’m just ‘His’ tool.”
    “He didn’t want to take credit for the success of the surgery,” said Kirk.
    Over the course of this past year, Makenna has had two stem cell transplants, both in Boston. She also has dealt with a broken leg and arm, due to the fragile condition of her bones. For many months, including holidays, a hospital room was home to Makenna and her parents, either in Bangor, Boston or New York.
    She has been home since May, although she did receive 12 days of radiation treatments in Brewer. These treatments were successful and now she travels once a month to Bangor for checkups and every six months for scans.
    “Now the family is trying to settle into normalcy,” said Kirk, “free of the hospitals and all of the things that go with it.”
    Felicity is in first grade; Makenna is going to nursery school and little Blake is a year old.
     To help them with this transition is the Maine Make-A-Wish Chapter. They are fulfilling Makenna’s wish for a trip for her family to see the Princessess at Florida’s Disney World.
    The send-off party happened this past weekend, when the family dressed in their royal outfits was picked up by Romain Ouellette, driving one of Mike Carpenter’s Carriages of Acadia with horses, Doc and Duke in the lead. A police escort led them through the town of Houlton and brought them to the Houlton Wesleyan Church where a crowd of more than 150 was waiting.
    The church had been transformed into a Disney-themed setting, complete with Cinderella’s Castle, her royal coach and beautiful white stallion created by Carlene Bartlett and Barbara Ek.
    Marilyn Carey and Karen King, local Make-A-Wish grantors organized this event with the help of many volunteers. They presented the family with new backpacks filled with items they may need for their seven-day trip to Orlando. The Ward family will visit the Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios and Seaworld. All of their daily expenses will also be taken care of by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine.
    Once the presentations were made, refreshments were served and the children attending were treated to having their nails, hair and make-up done at the ‘Bippity-Boppity Boo Boutique’ and playing games or face-painting hosted by the County Clowns of Oakfield.
    At the conclusion of the event, the United Vets Motorcycle Club of Houlton made a special presentation to Makenna; a new puppy donated by Wayne and Wendy Shaw of Littleton. This group has been longtime supporters of several Make-A-Wish events and wanted to add to the day. They had learned that Makenna wanted her very own puppy for Christmas and had already picked out a name for it, Coconut.
Contributed photo/Karen Donato
COCONUT — Makenna Ward with her newly painted tiger face is all smiles with her early Christmas present. During the Make-A-Wish event in her honor, the United Vets Motorcycle Club along with Wayne and Wendy Shaw presented a puppy to her. She had already decided to name her new pet, Coconut.
    Seeing Makenna’s expression when she got to hold her new puppy was priceless.
    This day has been so much fun,” said Kirk, “from the carriage ride, hearing about our trip and now the puppy for Makenna. This is what we have been striving for. Something that is normal, without hospitals and the worry of treatments and surgeries. There are just no words that truly describe what all of this means to us. We feel so very blessed.”
    “Please, just let everyone know how much we appreciate what they have done for us,” he added.
    So to you Makenna and to your family, is a wish for a healthy life and sugar and spice and everything nice forever more.