‘Wren’s Week’ underway to spread awareness, honor Fort Mill girl’s battle with cancer

A young Fort Mill girl is hoping to help others like her receive the “Unicorn Juice” that keeps her strong.

On Aug. 6, 2016, the life of Wren Jansen, 4, and her family was turned upside down. She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

Wren was running fevers and suffering from prolonged leg pain to the point of not being able to walk. A scan of Wren’s leg at Levine’s Children’s Hospital showed that she had leukemia in her bone marrow, causing it to painfully push out, her mother Brandi Jansen explained.

Wren’s 7-year-old brother, TJ, said when he first learned of Wren’s diagnosis, he thought she had just hurt her leg.

“At first, I didn’t believe it,” he said.

Now, though, TJ gets to see his sister happy again – and with more energy.

Wren is now feeling better and has reached the maintenance stage of her treatment, her mother said. The tumors are gone, but Wren still receives chemotherapy once a month and must take pills at home to keep the cancer from returning. She started transitional kindergarten this year at Village Montessori and Preparatory School in Fort Mill, something Wren has been looking forward to since her diagnosis, Jansen said.

In honor of her fight, Wren’s family, along with American Red Cross, is hosting a blood drive on Sept. 1.

Since her diagnosis, Wren has received four platelet transfusions and 16 blood transfusions, or as she calls it, “Unicorn Juice,” Jansen said. Unicorns are a recurring theme in Wren’s house.

“We’re asking everyone we know to donate their Unicorn Juice,” Jansen said. “A big mission of ours is to raise awareness of blood cancers.”

The blood drive wraps up a whole week of events marking Jansen’s fight and bringing awareness to pediatric cancers.

“Wren’s Week,” started Aug. 26 and continues through Sept. 3. It marks the one-year anniversary of Jansen’s diagnosis and the start of Pediatric Cancer Awareness month.

Wren has undergone long hospital stays and many chemotherapy treatments.

“She was a trooper,” Jansen said. “We had some tough spots, but 90 percent of the time she had a smile on her face and was feeling good about it.”

Wren lost her hair in November and her mother shaved her own head to match her daughter’s look. The family has had challenges over the last year, but has celebrated too.

Wren got a new baby sister, Stella Joy Jansen, earlier this year.

“It was definitely a big year,” Brandi Jansen said.

Doctors do not expect any more complications, Jansen said. In December, 2018, the family hopes Wren will be off treatment and in remission.

“We expect to ring the final bell,” Jansen said.

It’s a light at the end of a long tunnel. Jansen said friends and family, near and far, have gotten them through it.

“Without our village and all of Fort Mill, we could not have done what we did and gotten through this so well,” she said. “I can’t thank everyone enough.”

Jansen said friends brought them meals and helped take care of her other three children while Wren was getting treatment.

Friends have also donated unicorns – from clothes, to toys to unicorn-themed duct tape.

“There were days when we couldn’t even get in our front door because of all the unicorns on the front steps,” Jansen said. “Wren has been very inspirational to a lot of people. I don’t know many adults who could have handled some of the things she did as well as she did.”

Giving Back

The Jansens hope to give back through “Wren’s Week,” which will raise funds for pediatric cancer. The family also hopes to launch a new effort, Wren’s Wallets, to help families in the hospital facing what they faced.

The idea is to provide wallets with gas and food cards to families in need, Jansen said. She said while her family was blessed enough to have insurance and means to focus on just Wren, others aren’t so lucky.

“All we had to worry about as a family was fighting cancer,” Jansen said. “For a lot of people we met at the hospital, that is just not the case. Some people struggle to have gas money to get to the hospital.”

With just four percent of federal funding going to pediatric cancer, Wren’s family also wants to raise awareness and money for research toward a cure.

The Jansens are joining the third annual Baxter Trails CureSearch hike on Sept. 16 to raise money for research. The 12-mile hike will be in Baxter Village.

“We’re getting close, but we aren’t there yet,” Jansen said.

Follow Wren’s progress on social media using the hash tag #ALLinForWren.

This story was originally published August 27, 2017 at 2:22 PM with the headline "‘Wren’s Week’ underway to spread awareness, honor Fort Mill girl’s battle with cancer."