MOOSE JAW — Moose Jaw residents Amy and Colby Shawn Pruden are facing a difficult journey after their two-and-a-half year old son Lowell was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. To support the Pruden family during this difficult time, the folks at Wrapture Spa & Boutique are organizing a fundraiser and they need your help.
The Love for Lowell Pruden Fundraiser will be held at Smitty’s at the Town ‘N’ Country Mall from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and simultaneously next door at Bugsy’s from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3.
Everyone’s invited and the menu will include dry ribs, Caesar salad, and garlic bread for $20 per person.
“He (Lowell) won’t event walk because he’s so weak right now; he’s just laying on the bed,” said Ekta Dasadia, a close friend of the family and Amy’s former co-worker at Wrapture Spa & Boutique who is setting up the fundraiser alongside Dodie Deets.
“If you saw him earlier and (then) now, you would definitely feel it,” she said. “He was completely full of energy… and now he doesn’t even want to talk to anyone.”
Lowell’s prognosis is hopeful, and with the right treatment the survival rate for leukemia can be higher in children. His treatment is extensive and will take place over two and a half years, with the first six to nine months being the most intense.
Amy worked at Wrapture Spa & Boutique before giving her notice around one month prior to the diagnosis. This is also where Dasadia and Amy first met.
“She was going to start her new business because she took medical esthetics and she completed (her course to become) a medical aesthetician,” Dasadia said.
Amy was prepared to announce the launch of her company, The Luminary Cove Medical Esthetics Inc. in August. This all changed when she learned the results of her son’s medical checkup.
“I got the text from Amy on Tuesday, Aug. 27… saying that they got the worst news of their lives today, and that they were heading to Saskatoon for the next 10 days at least,” Dasadia said.
The next morning the results came back and their fears were confirmed.
The Prudens now face a hectic and emotionally draining schedule that involves a trip into Regina every other day for chemotherapy and once a week they travel to Saskatoon for testing. Lowell’s physical state is also the cause of constant concern as he starts treatment.
“He got a fever once, and they were really worried because… that can turn into a severe, more intense fever (while he undergoes therapy),” Dasadia said. “If you want to meet him, you have to sanitize yourself completely. Every few minutes someone is sanitizing because of the treatment going on.”
The Prudens’ older child is five years old and they’re trying to keep life as normal as possible for her. “It’s truly a lot of work right now, and it’s stressful. Their whole life has become so stressful.”
Amy remains constantly by Lowell’s side. “Through everything he has had to go through in this short time he still has managed to keep making jokes, giving us his cheeky smiles, playing with his Power Rangers, and asking how others are doing,” she wrote in a social media post.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have enough words for the doctors, nurses, and his team that have cared for him in Moose Jaw and here in Saskatoon at the (Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital).
“Our world is turned upside down but the support is keeping us afloat,” Amy wrote. “I’ll never fully be able to express what I feel in my heart and we will be paying it forward.”
The Town ‘N’ Country Mall is located at 1235 Main Street North and both Smitty’s and Bugsy’s can be accessed through the main entrance on the west side of the building.
To help out, please contact Dodie Deets at 306-631-4092 or Ekta Dasadia at 306-513-6359.
