Every year members of the Ottumwa Police Department participate in No Shave November as part of a fundraiser. It is that time again. This year marked our 9th annual No Shave November event.
This was by far the biggest and best year to date. This year we were able to branch out into other communities and sponsors along with new sponsors in Ottumwa. Saturday morning we were able to present the family with a huge check in the amount of $6.635!
This year we raised funds for 4 year old Khinley. Below is a quick narrative about Khinley, her family and her story.
“Khinley Jo has a unique story that starts out with we thought she had allergies the beginning of June, and with two Dr. visits and some blood work June 28th 2023 we received the news that she has T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, and upon her admission to Iowa stead Family children’s hospital they took a chest X-ray and found a mass/tumor the size of a football taking up the space in her chest over her right lung, and pushing on her heart.
Within 12 hours of being admitted to the pediatric oncology unit, she was rushed down to the PICU, because she could no longer keep her oxygen level up by herself, and they risked losing her airway and not being able to intubate her as the mass/tumor was laying over her airway, and if she stopped breathing the mass/tumor could crush her heart, the artery’s around it, and her collapse her right lung. The next 24 hrs. were the most nerve racking as the Drs. had a long road to figure out how to sedate her without making her too sleepy so her mass/tumor wouldn’t crush the vital organs.
Friday June 30th she underwent successful procedures and came out like the champion we know her to be. On top of getting a PICC line placed, and a lumbar puncture done, within a few hours they noticed her kidneys were failing and needed to be placed on dialysis, they kept her lightly sedated and put a dialysis catheter in and she received dialysis for 48 hrs. After we found the kidney failure we noticed her chest was swelling, and she ended up needing a chest tube as well, and then she spent over a week in the PICU and 4-5 weeks in the pediatric oncology unit at the university of Iowa.
They did her bone marrow aspiration a couple of weeks ago, and said it came back negative and that means we can start phase two of treatment because she is now in remission, but that doesn’t mean we are close to the end of treatments, they quoted us a 2 and a half year treatment plan for the cancer she has.
As of right now we go to the hospital/ clinic once a week for chemo, and then give chemo meds at home, some weeks we have to go Monday- Friday. I quit my job back in April after working for ORHC for 14 years to stay home with our kids, my husband Taylor Selix works at Cargill for 12 years, and just joined the Centerville Police Department as a reserve officer.
We have 4 kids Tucker – 16, Kharley- 11, Khinley-4, Maverick-2. Khinley has a Facebook group if you would like to join to keep up on updates for her. Khinley Jo’s Journey.”