Whiz Kid: 10-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Inspires Hope in Creve Coeur Company

Pam and Mark Lawson, like most parents, enjoy bragging about their kids.

"Did I tell you about her MAP scores?” Pam says as she talks about Kirsten, her 10-year old daughter. “She scored in the top one percent in the nation."

Kirsten is smart. She also has long, dark hair, a soft voice, big cheeks when she smiles and a face that is the epitome of innocence.

But what makes Kirsten truly special is that as a 10-year old, she has overcome a disease which nearly half of all men and one-third of all women in the U.S. will battle within their lifetime. When Kirsten was 9 months old, she was diagnosed with cancer.

At last weekend's , Kirsten was one of the youngest participants. Kirsten is also the niece of Cid Chase, who works for Creve Coeur-based .

The company is one of the sponsors of the Relay and has adopted Kirsten as a source of inspiration.

"(Kirsten) has been cancer free for the past 9 years and will be participating in her 10th Relay for Life," read an email sent by Jill Alexander, Senior Director of Corporate Communications for the company. "Kirsten is a beautiful, thoughtful, vibrant young lady who is an A student in school ... Kirsten truly inspires all who know her, anyone who has just met her and those who have only heard about her.  She is our reason for HOPE."

At the event, many wanted to say hello to Kirsten, see her and hear her story. Even though ten years have gone by, Kirsten's mom remembers each day in detail.

Listening to your heart

When Kirsten was 4 months old, she started suffering a constant fever. Her pediatrician said it was an ear infection, then a virus, or a combination of the two. In spite of Kirsten taking antibiotics, her fever would not go away. Her mother, Pam, said she always knew something else was wrong with her.

Kirsten wouldn't sleep and was always sick. Her fever would not go down. Kirsten pleaded with an otolaryngologists to examine her closely and find the source of her pain and possible ear infection. The doctor found nothing.

The next day, Kirsten again had a fever.

"They called from day care and they said she's got a fever," Pam said. "So I picked her up and I thought, 'What's the use? I am never going to take her to the doctor because they are not doing any good for her'."

But Pam changed her mind and called Kirsten's pediatrician. That day, Pam said, is when miracles started to happen.

Kirsten's regular pediatrician was out of town, so a different doctor took her in that day.  

The doctor started to feel around the baby's stomach. "Does she always cry when you lay her down?' the doctor asked. "Well yeah," Pam said.

Pam said the doctor was visibly nervous and said he was going to call around other hospitals so she could get an ultrasound. She asked her doctor why her daughter would need that.

"He said 'Well it wouldn't be for anything good,' Pam said. " ‘Well like what?,’ I asked him. He said, 'I think it's cancer.' "

Pam said at first she didn't even want to look at the doctor, "who had just told me my baby had cancer." She didn't want to believe him, she said, but had it not been for that doctor, Pam would not have taken Kirsten's to St. Louis Children's Hospital, where the doctor's fears were confirmed.

"They did an ultrasound and right-a-way I knew it was something bad. I could tell just by the way the doctor was acting," Pam said ... "Minutes later she comes in with a bunch of doctors and they all had their heads down. One doctor just looked at me and I said, 'What is it?’ as I started to cry. He confirmed she had cancer."

Kirsten was diagnosed with an aggressive clear-cell sarcoma in her kidney. As a nine-month old, Kirsten had a cancerous tumor that went from her diaphragm to her pelvic bone.

‘That thing inside of her’

Before removing the tumor, doctors had to put Kirsten through chemotherapy. Within three months of chemo, the tumor shrunk more than 30 percent and doctors were able to remove it without complications.

"She never ever got an infection," Pam said. "She never missed a chemo round. She never got sick because of the chemo. We didn't get sick. Every positive thing that could have happened happened. So we were very very blessed."

After the doctors removed the tumor, Pam asked the doctors if she could see it. She said she just wanted to see what her daughter had been fighting all this time.

"I wanted to see that thing inside of her," Pam said. "I wanted to see that it was out of her."

A doctor came out with what looked like an ice cream bucket and slowly opened it. There was a grapefruit-size mass that looked like an organ with veins. For months, it was Kirsten's source of pain, and now it was out.

"It was a great thing for me because it made me realize it was truly gone," Pam said. "It was out of her and they got it all."

As a 17-month-old, Kirsten was a cancer survivor.

After regular check ups throughout the years, Kirsten remained a healthy child and never had any more signs of cancer. She's now the big sister for 5 year-old Zachary.

Although the times were tough, Pam said her faith, family and support network kept her going day by day.

"You take it one day at a time," Pam said.  "You can't sometimes think of more than one day to get through it."

A source of hope

Kirsten said she doesn't remember anything from her cancer experience. A scar on her belly is the only physical remainder of having survived the disease. Kirsten, however, said she knows because of what happened to her, she has a mission.

"To give hope to other people going through it," Kirsten said.

One of those people is Virginia McDowell, Isle of Capri's Chief Executive Officer. McDowell is a 13-year cancer survivor. Last year, when the company was planning its participation on the Relay, McDowell was informed she was going to be walking alongside 9-year-old Kirsten, the niece of one of her employees, who had survived cancer as a baby.

McDowell said seeing that a child could overcome the disease has inspired many at the Relay.

"All you have to do is look at the smile on her face when she walks that survivor walk," McDowell said. "It tells the whole story."

Isle of Capri has been touched by cancer before. In 2009, the company's chairman, Bernie Goldstein, died after cancer complications.

Then Paul Keller, chief development officer for the company, was also diagnosed with cancer this year.

Keller was at this year's Relay and said hearing stories like Kirsten’s give him hope.

"It gives you the understanding that it is possible to survive," Keller said.

Kirsten's aunt, Cid Chase, said she is glad her bosses and co-workers have met Kirsten.

"It was great because they have been involved in every charity and community effort and they have supported this cause so much and this cause is something that really matters to me," Chase said.

Pam Lawson said she feels very proud of her daughter and the way she inspires others. She said she hopes that as Kirsten grows up, she will continue to help in the fight to end cancer and give hope.

"We tell her all the time that she's here for a reason," Lawson said. 

Correction: A previous version of this story included inaccurate information about the timeline of Kirsten's illness and treatment, and the description of the tumor after it was removed.