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‘TYPICAL’ BOY FIGHTS CANCER

Rourke Wacholz, ellendale, cancer, leukemia
Rourke Wacholz, 6, of rural Ellendale has been fighting leukemia for the past two years. He took a break to be just a kid last week—using a tree branch as a makeshift toy, along with riding his scooter around the yard. Being a kid is something that doesn’t happen very often for Rourke, who has already undergone two years of treatments and faces at least one more year. Staff photo by Rick Bussler
My Happy Place coordinates bedroom makeover for child
By
Rick Bussler, Publisher
“We haven’t had any easy phases.”
-Chelsey Wacholz, Son Battling Cancer

For more than two years cancer has zapped the life right out of a little Ellendale boy who should be enjoying his childhood in other ways.

Rourke Wacholz has been battling B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or more commonly referred to as B-Cell ALL since March 27, 2021. Rourke has been treated aggressively to “hit the cancer hard and fast,” said his mother, Chelsey Wacholz.

ALL is cancer of the blood and bone marrow—the spongy tissue inside the bones where blood cells are made. Acute is in the name because the disease progresses rapidly and creates immature blood cells, rather than mature ones. Lymphocytic refers to the white blood cells called lymphocytes, which ALL affects.

Chelsey said ALL does not have stages like solid tumor cancers. Instead, risks are assigned: low, standard and high. Rourke falls into the high category, which makes his treatment plan longer.

It hasn’t been an easy road for the 6-year-old boy.

In his first year, he spent 100 days, including 35 straight nights after being diagnosed, in the hospital at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

This year alone in his kindergarten year at NRHEG School in Ellendale Rourke has missed 46 days of school. When he is in school, he must always wear a mask. What makes it even more difficult, his parents say, is that Rourke loves school.

“We don’t push him too hard,” said his father, Michael Wacholz. “We keep him at home to reduce the risk of exposure to infections.”

Despite the hardships that have come along with battling cancer, Rourke is just as much a typical boy. He loves dinosaurs, playing outside, camping, fishing, going on the pontoon, exploring and learning and spending time with his family.

His parents are 2009 graduates of NRHEG.

 

The diagnosis

 

On March 23, 2021, Rourke woke up and complained his foot hurt. Michael and Chelsey didn’t think much of it until he couldn’t walk by the next day. He resorted to being carried to the bathroom and crawling from place to place.

“I assumed he hurt it just by jumping around being a 4-year-old,” said Michael.

Rourke had broken his right leg when he was 14 months old going down a slide so his parents thought it may have something to do with that. They reached out to his orthopedic doctor, who took X-rays showing only mild swelling. They ordered labs to see if his C-reactive protein was elevated thinking he might have a bone infection.

“The labs came back, and everything was low, opposite of what they were expecting,” Chelsey said, adding with osteomyelitis out of the picture, they were told to go home, and doctors would contact them the next day.

Just three days after the sore foot complaint, Rourke was faced with a lifechanging situation. Doctors called and said he needed to get to the emergency department immediately where they took a bone marrow aspiration/biopsy to confirm ALL.

“I was saying, ‘Are you sure,’” Chelsey said fighting back tears reliving that dreadful day in 2021. Her husband was on a hunting trip in South Dakota at the time. “It’s kind of a blur. It’s always something that happens to someone else. You never expect it to happen to you.”

The diagnosis set off a flurry of rigorous treatments over the past 26 months. Rourke had his first drug induction on March 30, 2021. The most recent phase of his treatment plan began in April 2022. He receives intrathecal chemo, which is injected directly into the spinal cord, IV chemo, oral chemo and cranial radiation.

“We haven't had any easy phases,” said Chelsey.

If everything goes as planned, his last chemo will be on July 30, 2024.

During treatment, Rourke’s parents try to keep him in good spirits. “We tell him he’s going to sit through this horrible procedure for 10 minutes and then he’ll get a prize,” said Michael.

For Rourke, the biggest risk is infections. “We are constantly worrying about him getting sick,” Michael said. “If he gets a fever, we need to be in the emergency room within an hour,” he added.

Throughout the ordeal, his parents have been diligent about letting Rourke know what’s happening to him. “He’s very smart and remembers everything. We don’t sugar coat anything,” Michael said. “He knows what medications he takes and how many to take.”

There have been other setbacks along the way. Michael lost his job after his employer required him to be back in the office. Because of Rourke’s condition, he has been forced to not look for a job and take care of his son. Meanwhile, Chelsey works in nuclear medicine at Mayo Clinic.

“It has been a blessing in disguise,” Michael says. “I am able to be with him all the time and not depend on daycare,” he said, adding he will likely go back to work within the next year.
 

My Happy Place

 

Better days are ahead for the family as My Happy Place based in Mason City plans to show up next month to outfit Rourke with a complete makeover of his bedroom, something that has long been neglected by the family.

“We’ve lived here eight years, and Rourke’s bedroom is the only room that hasn’t been touched,” said Michael.

My Happy Place believes in bringing communities together to support one of their own. It has created a donation link so that friends, family and the Ellendale community can rally together to give Rourke a bedroom with all his favorite things.

When asked what is one thing he really wanted in his bedroom, Rourke replied with the biggest grin, “A loft bed.”

In addition to the bed, he will also get new carpeting, paint and electrical for a TV. After treatments, Rourke is often confined to his bedroom for 20-22 hours per day.

The makeover, which will cost around $3,500, is planned for Saturday, June 24 with the bedroom reveal taking place on Sunday, June 25 at 1 p.m.

Donations can be made to www.myhappyplaces.org/donations/donate-to-rourkes-bedroom-makeover-today.

While the Wacholzs are grateful that health insurance has covered most of Rourke’s $1 million in medical expenses so far, they are thrilled that the organization is coordinating an effort to bring some much-needed happiness into Rourke’s life.

“I don’t know what he expects of it, but no matter what he will love it,” said Chelsey.

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