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Dec 20, 2008 12:09 pm US/Central
14-Year-Old With Leukemia Receives Special Gifts
(WCCO)
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"It's noisy, " she says about being in the hospital. "You can hear little kids. It does not feel good at the hospital." (File)
CBS
A teenage girl from Cambridge was told last month she has leukemia. It's the second time she has heard that, but this time she needs a bone marrow transplant.
Vanessa Kuehne, 14, will finish another round of chemotherapy Christmas week. However, Friday was a special day to get away from all of that.
Several businesses decided to give Vanessa and her mom some holiday joy a little early.
Last month, Vanessa thought she had a sinus infection but her doctor didn't think so.
"The doctor said to take me to Children's," she said. "And that's where they found the cancer."
However, on Friday afternoon she was thinking about the facial she just had and the pedicure she would have.
"How's the water… good?" asked one of the women helping them at Twiggs Salon in Wayzata.
Everything that Vanessa hates about cancer was drowned out.
"It's noisy, " she said about being in the hospital. "You can hear little kids. It does not feel good at the hospital."
However, it did feel good at the salon. The owner, Shauna Raisch, helped her father with his struggle with cancer. Also, when she was a teen her mother died of cancer. This is the fourth time she's worked to help a cancer patient with the gift of some relaxation.
"I know that Vanessa would be an age where she would just love to come to a spa, and then knowing that her mom is probably the one that, you know, really needs to have relaxation," said Raisch.
And clearly, Mom too could use a break.
"I do take care of her every day all day," says Vanessa's mom, Debra. "It makes me feel good to be included once in a while in something that's done for her."
However, she knows that it is more important to her daughter, who was fighting exhaustion from the four hours of chemotherapy she had earlier in the day. She was choked up when she tried to express how much the day meant.
It was just the beginning. With pretty blue toes and glamorous faces, the mother and daughter moved on. Their next stop was the clothing store, Lyric. Vanessa tried on a pink jumpsuit and a green hat. She turned it sideways and immediately expressed how cool she felt.
"Do you get a chance to feel really cool very often lately?" asks WCCO-TV reporter Mary Costello.
"No, not really," said Vanessa.
"What's it usually like?" asks Costello.
"It's kind of dumpy, laying around, messy hair.." said Vanessa. "(And now) it's all better," she said as she lets out a laugh.
As Vanessa models for all of us, there is a glow in her eyes. Not even Mom is looking at Vanessa as the cancer patient.
Martin's and Chico's in Wayzata contributed new looks for both women as well.
To finish the day of fun, Vanessa and her mom had dinner compliments of Sunsets.
As for Vanessa's dad and younger brother, Debra said they were more than happy to stay home and watch football instead.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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