PORT ANGELES — Jazmin Nicolaysen looked dejected when her mother told her there was only one day left in the school year.
“One more?” she asked Kristina Van Auken.
Jazmin, 5, refuses to miss class at Little Sprouts Christian Preschool despite her four-month battle with Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a rare, bone-eating, cancer-like disease.
The Port Angeles girl undergoes weekly chemotherapy at Seattle Children’s Hospital and takes powerful drugs for a condition that afflicts one in 200,000 kids.
She schedules her rest and recovery from the chemo around school so she can play with her friends and maintain a sense of normalcy, her mother said.
“I like to bring show-and-tell,” Jazmin said while getting ready for school Friday.
Van Auken described her daughter as a “social butterfly” who loves T-ball and the Disney Channel.
“She’s always spunky,” Van Auken said. “She lights up when people are around.”
Maureen Meier, Jazmin’s preschool teacher, described her courageous student as a “wonderful little girl” and a “real smart cookie.”
“I have not heard one complaint from her,” Meier said.
“She’s quite a girl. And she has a strong and courageous mother.”
Meier predicted Jazmin will ace kindergarten next year because of her determination.
She’s very popular, Meier said. “She has lots and lots of friends.”
Jazmin recently had to be isolated for a week because of a low blood-cell count. That was hard for the outgoing child, her mom said.
After Jazmin lost her hair through chemotherapy, Van Auken shaved her own head in a show of solidarity.
So did Jazmin’s cousin and good friend, Maddox Van Auken, who is only 18 days older than Jazmin.
Langerhans cell histiocytosis, or LCH, occurs when the body accumulates too many immature white blood cells that normally help fight infection. They can form tumors that build up on bones and damage organs.
Although it can be fatal in severe cases, most people with LCH recover with treatment.
So says the Histiocytosis Association and Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Van Auken said the research on LCH treatment is ongoing.
“They won’t call it cancer yet, but it acts like cancer in a lot of ways,” she said.
“It’s eaten half of her right inner-ear bone. So far, we don’t know if she’s going to lose her hearing.
“We got very lucky that it hadn’t reached her brain.”
Van Auken thought her daughter had an ear infection when she complained of ear pain in mid-February.
Steroids didn’t help, so she had surgery. The procedure revealed a mass growing in her ear canal, which led to the diagnosis.
Van Auken took leave from her job at the Port Angeles Walmart when she gave birth to her son, Jayden Fitzgerald, 18 months ago.
She has since returned to work — sooner than she wanted her to — because of the mounting medical bills and constant travel.
“I’m trying to play catch-up,” Van Auken said.
Jazmin has to have another year of chemotherapy.
Meanwhile, Van Auken and her friends are trying to be strong for Jazmin.
After all, the child is doing the same for them.
“Jazmin is my inspiration, that if my baby girl can go through what she is going through, I can do anything,” Van Auken said.
Van Auken said she intends to establish a fund to support her daughter’s chemotherapy. The fund had not been set up as of Monday.
For more information on Langerhans cell histiocytosis, click on http://tinyurl.com/73dvpzd.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
