HUNTINGTOWN, Md. – Five months prior to her diagnosis, 10-year-old Jaylyn Almond was making constant visits to the doctors office for continuing symptoms such as headaches, neck and back pain. However, nothing was working.
In November of last year, Jaylyn’s parents planned on taking her to Children’s Hospital if she didn’t get better by the end of Thanksgiving week.
On Sunday, November 27, 2022, Jaylyn’s parents noticed her walking sideways. Jaylyn didn’t even know her name. When her parents asked Jaylyn where it hurt, she replied by saying, “1920.”
They immediately dropped everything and rushed Jaylyn to Children’s Hospital in Washington, DC. Within one hour, doctors found a large mass (the size of a lime) in her brain as well as fluid buildup due to her tumor blocking the fluid from draining into her spine.
“We were at a loss for words. Our nine-year-old little girl was suffering all this time but stayed so strong through it,” Amanda Kalnoskas, Jaylyn’s mother, told TheBayNet.com.
On November 29, Jaylyn underwent a six hour procedure to remove the tumor. Surgeons were able to remove 99% of the tumor. The other one percent was attached to her brain stem, which isn’t something they could work on, due to potential serious damage.
Post surgery, Jaylyn was hospitalized for 15 days at Children’s. Jaylyn and her family returned home 13 days before Christmas, during which they were waiting on the pathology report to find out what type of cancer Jaylyn was dealing with.
On December 28, Jaylyn started proton radiation therapy at Sibley Hospital, which took 30 days.
“About the second week of radiation treatment, we had a clinic with all of her neuro team and we had found out the name of this cancer which is medulloblastoma group four,” Kalnoskas explained. “It had metastasized to the front of her brain and spine which were very small spots so they upped the dose of radiation for her and she would also start a small dose of chemo once a week from there as well.”
Throughout her time going through chemotherapy, Jaylyn struggled with eating and felt nauseous. She also had to attend physical therapy since she could barely use the left side of her body.
Through all of that, Jaylyn stayed strong. She completed her 30 days of radiation on February 13, 2023, and was able to ring the bell.
She will still have nine months of chemo, which will require her to be hospitalized for four days of the first week of every month. In the meantime, she will have many appointments including MRI, hearing, and vision scans. March 14 will be her next MRI appointment, where they will see how well the radiation worked.
“Jaylyn has the biggest heart, she had balloons delivered to her room when she was at the hospital for 15 days and she took a balloon and hung it on other kids doors that were on her floor,” Kalnoskas explained. “Everyday she would start her day and say ‘it’s time to put my armor on’. We call her our princess warrior. She has an amazing spirit and soul and always thinks of others, especially her siblings which are 22,18,13 and 2. She has two brothers and two sisters.”
Due to the costliness of the medical bills, friends and family helped start a GoFundMe for Jaylyn and her family.
“Her Dad and I are just average people. I work at IHop in Prince Frederick and have been employed with them for 12 years. Her Dad, Orlando, just started a mobile mechanic business so we did not have PTO and family suggested we start a Gofund me which has helped us tremendously. Without it I don’t know what we would have done,” Kalnoskas said. “The community has helped us out so much. My neighbors started a meal train for my other children while we were in the hospital for those 15 days. So many people donated and left gifts for Christmas, it really put my faith back in humanity seeing everyone come to our family. It was quite amazing and we love our Calvert community.”
If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe, click here.
If you would like to follow Jaylyn’s journey, you can follow their Facebook page here.
Contact our news desk at news@thebaynet.com