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| Cottonwood treated to Slices for Sadie |
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| Education | |||
| Written by Brian McCauley | |||
| Wednesday, 03 March 2010 09:00 | |||
Pizza, friends, fun and more pizza — not a bad way to get welcomed back to school.  Sadie Olson, a first-grader at Cottonwood Elementary, has spent her fair share of time in the hospital. Shortly after her third birthday, she began having seizures and was later diagnosed with Rasmussen’s Disease, a rare degenerative brain disorder. She underwent a hemispherectomy procedure, in which parts of her right brain were removed and the remaining parts were disconnected from the left side. She spent much of 2008 in and out of the hospital, which included a surgery that involved the replacement of two shunts and a cranioplasty to install a plate to help shape her head. And in 2009, she was back in the hospital battling bacterial meningitis. Most recently, Sadie has been fighting complications from a ruptured ear drum following a tissue expander surgery. She was diagnosed with cholesteatoma, a condition in which an abnormal growth of skin pushes its way through the hole in the ruptured ear drum. After a three-hour ear surgery on Feb. 17, the family was exhausted and ready to get back to familiar surroundings in Paola. Sadie’s classmates at Cottonwood were more than happy to welcome her back last week, even though she could only stay for a few hours each day. And the happiness on Sadie’s face showed her appreciation for being back in school. On Feb. 24, there wasn’t a hospital bed in sight — only desks, backpacks and the smiling faces of her teacher and classmates. There was also pizza, lots of pizza. In an attempt to raise funds to help offset the Olson’s medical bills, the school hosted a Slices for Sadie event where students could choose to purchase slices of pizza and eat them with donated drinks, chips and cookies. Jamie Smith, who is Sadie’s first grade teacher, said the school purchased 53 Pizza Hut pizzas, and her husband, who is a manager at the restaurant, offered a reduced rate. The students were all eager to get their unique lunch treat last week, and some even dropped tip money into a jar for Sadie. Principal Janis Grandon said the event raised about $1,000. But most importantly for Sadie, she got a chance to enjoy a fun lunch party with her friends, and her mother, Megan, who visited the school for the event. “This morning she said, ‘I’m so excited,’” Megan said. “She hasn’t stopped smiling all day.” Although there’s still another surgery scheduled for Sadie in the near future, Megan is hoping Sadie will enjoy her time back with her friends at Cottonwood. “We’re ready for things to calm down for awhile,” she said.
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