Cathy and Jason Pickrell said that if they really thought about it, their daughter Roxanne’s health symptoms began a year ago. As a newly minted teenager, Roxie, as she is known, began gaining significant weight and having acne issues.
“We chalked it up to puberty,” Cathy said.
At her June 2019 annual checkup, they presented the questions to her pediatrician and blood work was done, but the results were all normal.
“There was nothing that alarmed us,” Jason said. “But she doesn’t complain.”
At one of her twin brother’s football games this season, Roxie turned to Jason and asked what the score was. She had recently told her parents that she was having problems with her vision, but her annual eye exam was already scheduled for mid-October, only a couple of weeks away.
When she asked the score, Jason said that he looked at her and pointed to the scoreboard. When she asked what quarter it was and if her brother Jude was on the field, Jason asked her if she was being serious, because the answers to her questions were plainly visible. She answered yes, she was serious.
Jason then asked her to read the numbers on the backs of the players on the sidelines and she said she couldn’t. He asked her to read the yardage marks on the field. She couldn’t. He asked her to read the back of a lady’s t-shirt who was sitting in front of them. She couldn’t.
The next day, Oct. 3, Roxie went for an eye exam and was quickly referred to an ophthalmologist. An MRI revealed a 4-centimeter brain tumor, which meant Roxie needed to go to Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville that day to be admitted.
While receiving the news from the ophthalmologist, Jason, a firefighter with Owensboro Fire Department, received a text of an emergency at his parents house. While driving home from the appointment, Jason received the devastating call that his father, Gary, had died.
Once home, Cathy sat the three kids down — Roxie, Jude and 16-year-old Rhianna — and told them about Roxie’s tumor and that Cathy and Roxie would be leaving for Norton. She then broke the news that Gary — Poppy to his grandchildren — had died of a stroke.
Roxie and Cathy left for Norton and Jason, Jude and Rhianna left to be with family after Gary’s death.
After Roxie was admitted to Norton, a pediatric neurologist scheduled Roxie’s surgery for Oct. 14.
“We [Roxie and Cathy] were in the ICU from the 11th to the 13th,” Cathy said. “We had a good two-to-three days together.”
To pass the time in ICU at Norton, Cathy said the two talked about how to let the Owensboro community be a part of what was happening. So many people were reaching out to the family because of Gary’s death and because word was getting out about Roxie’s tumor and upcoming surgery.
Cathy and Roxie decided to post on social media that people should wear red the day of her surgery. Although red is not Roxie’s favorite color, she attends Owensboro Middle School, cheers for the Kansas City Chiefs and has red hair, so they decided this would be good, and Cathy included Roxie’s nickname from when she was younger — Foxy Roxy, in the hashtag people could use on social media — #rockyourRED4foxyROXIE.
The morning of the surgery, both were awake early, but both were tired, so Cathy said she got in bed with Roxie and they talked more.
“We talked about how this is her story and journey and where it would take her,” Cathy said. “We talked about how this wasn’t pointless.”
Then, the two did a visualization exercise that is unique to the Pickrells — the Care Bear stare.
Cathy explained the two visualized the tumor being melted from the brain and then stared at it as the Care Bears, the 1980s characters, would do. They brainstormed different things that could melt the tumor, including medicine and water out of a fire hose.
“Then we fell asleep, and I got to hold her for three hours,” Cathy said through tears.
When they woke, Roxie’s favorite nurse came in and showed them her red fingernails, which she had painted for Roxie. They played the card game Uno until it was time for Roxie’s pre-surgery sedation.
“It was a great send off,” Cathy said. “She didn’t seem scared.”
Jason said that as Roxie was being taken to surgery, he was fighting back tears, but Roxie said to him, “Daddy, it’s going to be alright; I got this.”
“She was a warrior going in there,” Jason said.
Cathy said that Roxie’s surgeon was hoping to do the surgery through her nose, but the position of the tumor didn’t allow for it, so they went in through the top of her skull. The tumor, which was a teratoma and germinoma, was wrapped around other brain structures, according to what the Pickrells were told, meaning the surgery was a delicate process.
Nine hours later, Roxie’s surgeon told them that the tumor had pulled away as a solid mass — the complete tumor had come out and he felt it was a very successful surgery. Roxie was stable, but now they had to wait for the biopsy results.
“I think I just expected her to wake up — to say, ‘Hey, mom, what are you doing?” Cathy said.
Since surgery, Roxie’s has run a high temperature that seems to be subsiding. Her vitals have been erratic and her sodium levels have been high.
On Oct. 16, a doctor of oncology told Jason and Cathy that 20 percent of the tumor was malignant and they needed to consider treatment options for Roxie.
On Oct. 21, the Pickrells held Gary’s funeral. Cathy’s dad stayed with Roxie so that Cathy could return to Owensboro for visitation and the funeral. This day, Roxie was also more alert.
During the next week, Roxie began to stabilize and began answering questions by blinking slightly and giving a thumbs up with her right hand. An MRI and EEG have shown that Roxie’s recovery is “normal” for what she has been through.
On Oct. 29, Roxie was extubated and began breathing on her own. Physical therapists have been working with Roxie for over a week and on Oct. 30, had her sitting on the side of the bed and taking drinks of water, both with assistance.
And, Roxie squeezed Jason’s hand on command. She had done it to Cathy, but not to Jason. She also used sign language to answer questions Jason asked.
“It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Jason said. “But it’s there.”
Cathy said that the medical team keeps reassuring them that Roxie’s recovery is within the normal parameters, and Cathy said she needs to remain faithful.
“I feel very blessed,” Cathy said. “I was shocked and then mad the first couple of days, but there is a lesson in everything and anger is not going to help…I can learn from this.”
Both parents agree that Roxie is extremely patient and that this is a test of patience and faith — in Roxie and in God.
“I am trying to be aware of the lessons and the process,” Cathy said. “This is happening to Roxie, and it is her story to tell. We can only tell it has her mother and father.”
Jason and Cathy said that the community support over the past month is what has gotten them through these two devastating events.
“I feel like I have an Army behind me,” Cathy said of the local community.
To keep the community updated on Roxie, and also so that the family knows that what is being said is accurate, Cathy regularly updates the social media page, Foxy ROXIE’s Army of Angels.
“I want to show people the power of faith and the power of prayer,” Cathy said.
The comments people leave are read by the family and Jason said that hearing the success stories from the people who have reached out helps.
Dylan Hammons is one community member who reached out to the family before posting his story on Facebook. As Hammons explained in his video, his daughter had a health issue when she was young and spent two weeks at Norton Children’s Hospital.
“I will never forget the support we received from our community and have been trying to plan something for a while to give back,” Hammons said.
Hammons has been recovering from a surgery and had planned a big event, but had to push it back. He said that when he saw the stories from the Pickrell family, they really called to him.
“I know Jason through cycling,” Hammons said. “I have always been impressed by how he treats people.”
So, to bring awareness to Roxie and her family, Hammons will be running 100 miles at the Tunnell Hill 100 on Nov. 9. Hammons has enlisted a crew, including his wife, and although he said he is not prepared for the race, he realized that people are never really ready to battle and fight for their life.
“The courage it takes for this 13-year-old — the same age as my daughter — to fight for her life,” Hammons said. “I want to honor her and hopefully let people see how amazing she is.”
Hammons hopes that the money he raises through donations will give the family a chance to be fully present with Roxie.
“I hope other people also see how fragile life is and how we should live in love and grace and not in fear,” Hammons said. “The greatest part of our community is its willingness to help. I feel like if more people acted on that first emotion to help people in need, we could move mountains.”
