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The Joyful Steward, Some good pals
By Jane Rutter

Stewardship: “You have to pray and get down on your knees and ask God to inspire the physicians and everyone else. You need hope,” Sylvie Carpentier tells families whose children are going through major illnesses.

Looking back at her own daughter Pascale’s struggle with leukemia, Sylvie, a member of St. Thomas more Newman Center parish in Columbia says, “What I really felt is how I was carried by God.”

The second daughter of Matthew and Sylvie’s three girls, Pascale was diagnosed when she was only 1-and-a-half years old. Theystarted Pascale’s Pals as a prayer chain and recorded her daily progress on a web page that had over 72,000 hits. “People from all over the world prayed for us,” says Sylvie, still awed by the sense of tremendous support they received. ”

In addition to their prayers, during Pascale’s many stays at Children’s Hospital at the University of Missouri-Columbia, friends and family showered them with food and gifts. Sylvie and Matthew recognized how blessed they were to be surrounded by community; seeing many families there without support systems. As a result, Pascale’s Pals began raising money to ease the burden of families and children staying at the hospital.

“When children are first diagnosed we fill up a basket with --- oftentimes Gameboys and iPods --- so they have entertainment during their hospital stay,” Sylvie explains. Among other help, Pascale’s Pals supplies clothes and toiletries for the parents in the emergency room who come in with nothing and gift baskets and phone cards at Christmas.

Last year, the organization realized its four-year effort to have a playground at Children’s Hospital. The $95,000 it raised built a playground specifically for patients of the hospital, allowing children a safe and fun outdoor place to play and “keep being kids.” Pascale’s Pals is now in the main supplier for the Children’s Hospital, having funded everything from highchairs to flat-screen televisions with Sony PlayStations in every room. Sylvie is extremely grateful for her friends who are the core of Pascale’s Pals. All volunteers, they are “just friends, not people who have gone through this.” As a result, everything people donate to the organization goes directly to the families and hospital.

As more children and families are being treated, Sylvie needs more prayer partners on the prayer chain. Information about this loving ministry is at www.pascalespals.org.

Background: Matthew White and Sylvie Carpentier met as students at Logan Chiropractic College in St. Louis. They graduated in 1986, married, moved to Columbia and opened a clinic. The couple has three daughters: Monique, Pascale, and Chloe.

When Pascale was initially diagnosed with leukemia, she went through three years of treatment and the family thought she had it made. But Pascale relapsed in June 2000. This second round was much harder, taking six months for her to achieve remission.

Chloe was a match for her sister, and Mathew and Sylvie began the process for a bone-marrow transplant between them. Two days before the transplant, Pascale’s doctor recommended the couple consider umbilical-cord blood transplant as a more effective means to combat Pascale’s worsening leukemia. They agreed.

Pacale’s recovery was slow and had many setbacks. She reacted against the transplant and contracted an infection that caused seizures and unconsciousness. At one point, the feisty seven-year-old was down to thirty pounds. “To this day, her transplant doctor doesn’t understand how Pascale made it,” says Sylvie, adding, “It is a miracle.”

Perhaps hers is a miracle of love and care, as well. Sylvie and Monique stayed with her at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis for over six months, while Matthew ran the clinic and took care of Chloe back home. Both sets of parents came in to help --- Matthew’s from Springfield and Sylvie’s from Quebec.

“We and big support from Columbia Catholic School as well,” says Sylvia. “Mr. Darcy was incredible and Monique’s teachers faxed her homework to the hospital so she wouldn’t get behind.”

Now, all three girls are back in school and thriving. Pascale is in 6th grade and is the class secretary. Monique is the class president of the 8th grade. Chloe is a second grader. Best of all though, is that Pascale has made the five-year health marker and looking at her there is no trace of the illness that made her a miracle child.