‘Pretty amazing’: Bailey Jacobson battling for more than points – Jamestown Sun

NEW ROCKFORD, ND — Bailey Jacobson has in all probability been fairly busy all through the 2022-23 faculty 12 months.

Her time on the New Rockford-Sheyenne school volleyball roster would eat up a very good chunk of the autumn months, and after she completed volleyball, she anticipated to maneuver straight into the Class B basketball prep season, which might deliver them to not less than mid-February.

A go to to the physician modified all of Jacobson’s plans.

“She just hadn’t felt well for a year,” stated household buddy Tiffany Schaefer. “She was simply drained. Nothing out of the strange, youngsters are so lively and so busy and he or she is (not totally different).

“They started doing some doctors in August. They did some lab work and went back and forth trying this and that. They thought it was mono and tried drugs but it wasn’t (mono).”

In the week of her sixteenth birthday, Jacobson was confirmed and identified with stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma.

“She had to come home this weekend — it was homecoming weekend here, so she was celebrating homecoming and her birthday,” Schaefer stated. “Then on Monday she had to go back to Fargo and start her chemo.”

Jacobson is the second member of her household to be identified with stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma. Her 10-12 months-previous sister, Taylin, was identified with the identical most cancers on the similar stage 5 years in the past. Taylin had her 5-12 months bodily final spring and medical doctors confirmed her most cancers was in remission.

The New Rockford household and neighborhood solely prays that the identical will occur to Jacobson.

“I’ve known this family for 17 years,” Schaefer stated. “Our children went to kindergarten together. Bailey is one of my daughter’s best friends and she is just the cutest kid.

“There is no doubt that when a child is sick, everyone flocks to them. It’s just amazing to see the community coming together.”

Post / Karla Jacobson

Jacobson can have 12 rounds of chemotherapy each two weeks at Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo. After 4 rounds of therapy, Jacobson can have a CT scan to make sure the chemotherapy given is working. If there is no such thing as a enchancment, medical doctors change the kind of chemotherapy Jacobson is receiving.

Each therapy lasts between seven and 9 hours and is run each different Monday. The sophomore’s fourth spherical of therapy is scheduled to be administered on Halloween. Her mom, Karla, stated medical doctors weren’t certain if she wanted radiation on the finish of the 12 rounds at this level.

Aside from some nausea and complications, Jacobson is responding pretty nicely to her therapies. She attends faculty when she will and remains to be current at virtually all the Rockets’ volleyball practices and video games.

“Bailey is doing as well as you could expect for a 16-year-old who was diagnosed with cancer,” Karla stated. “Most of the time her spirits are up, but some days are just harder than others. Overall she is doing well except for a few days after treatment it seems difficult.”

Schaefer said if he looked inside from the outside, no one would know something was plaguing the Jacobson clan.

“The angle of her household could be very, excellent and they’re very assured that they’ll beat that,” stated Schaefer. “They are an amazing family. Anything thrown at them, they just work through it. They have true hearts of gold. We could all learn a million things from this family. You are quite amazing.”

Karla attributed her household’s constructive angle to 1 factor.

“Our family has a strong foundation of faith and without faith life is really hard,” Karla stated. “It’s easy to be proud of Bailey, she’ll get through it all, but without a positive attitude and family and friends, it could be different.”

The approach prep volleyball groups have responded to Jacobson’s information has been to assist them in any approach they’ll.

“Our team has been so supportive of her,” stated New Rockford-Sheyenne head coach Sara Myhre. “They deliver her treats and verify on her.

“She comes to practice on the off-duty weeks and watches her teammates practice while she helps out with sex, or I let her go and do a practice with them and tell the girls that Coach Jacobson is the Practice guides, and she smiles at me.”

The Rockets ordered staff t-shirts that stated “Battling for Bailey” and commenced sporting them because the staff’s pre-match jerseys this 12 months. The staff order spawned a neighborhood and area-vast sale that has offered nicely over 350 shirts to this point. Five {dollars} from each t-shirt sale shall be donated on to the Jacobson household to assist with medical bills.

“I’m amazed at her strength and I know it’s not easy for her, but she keeps fighting and we keep fighting with her,” Myhre stated. “She doesn’t want people to feel sorry for her or to be sad. So let’s not make it sad when we’re around her. We make it fun and normal like any other day. She has so much support from her family, our community, her coaches, teammates and the surrounding volleyball teams.”

Four different Class B volleyball groups bought the “Battle for Bailey” t-shirts and wore them as heat-up jerseys. When the Rockets traveled to St. John for a sport, all the St. John staff gathered round Bailey and introduced her with flowers and a card.

“They recognize them at every game,” Myhre stated. “It brings tears to my eyes to think how much it means to her and her family to have all these wonderful, caring people out there trying to help in any way.

Langdon/AEM held a 50/50 raffle and donated all proceeds to support Jacobson’s cause. Griggs-Midkota decided to run a bake sale and donated all the money he earned to the family. Other teams have held silent auctions and raffles to help the Jacobsons.

“Those moments once we’re pausing for Bailey simply remind us that volleyball does not come first,” Myhre said. “Our ladies collect intently collectively to say a prayer for Bailey and we take this second to understand how a lot more our acts of kindness and all of the assist Bailey receives from everyone seems to be than the volleyball sport, that.” we’re about to play.”

The metropolis of New Rockford took its cues from the prep volleyball scene.

Schaefer helped manage a neighborhood-vast meat raffle to assist the household with medical bills. The occasion is scheduled to happen on November third on the New Rockford Eagles Club. The occasion begins at 4:30 p.m. and lasts till 8:00 p.m

Those wishing to contribute to Bailey’s trigger can donate to the open checking account at Bank Forward, buy a t-shirt, or make a voluntary donation. Karla stated prayers for Bailey and the household are all the time appreciated as nicely.

“Friends, family, surrounding communities, the New Rockford volleyball program and the surrounding volleyball programs really did everything they could to make Bailey feel like it wasn’t just her fight,” Karla stated. “It’s absolutely humbling for me.”