Childhood cancer survivor and her family will host golf outing fundraiser for Make-A-Wish

SHEBOYGAN FALLS – When Olivia Stern became severely ill in seventh grade, she thought she had the flu.

She stayed home from school for a week and had a 103.8-degree fever. Olivia wasn’t getting better, so she went to the emergency room at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton. After some tests, the medical team suspected Olivia may not have the flu, so she went with her family to Children’s Wisconsin in Milwaukee. There, she underwent a bone marrow biopsy.

Olivia was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2014, a common type of leukemia among children that targets blood and bone marrow.

“We didn't know anything about childhood cancer,” Olivia said. “It was something totally unfamiliar to us.”

Olivia said she couldn’t comprehend what a cancer diagnosis meant. She wondered how it'd affect her seeing friends and family, going back to school and attending summer camp.

“I was only 12 at the time,” Olivia said. “Thankfully, my doctors and my family were super supportive in that my worst fear wasn't even, ‘Oh, my goodness, I'm going to die.”

Her dad, Dave Stern, said after days without an answer, the diagnosis was a type of “relief.”

“A few times, because they (medical staff) thought it might have been a virus, they'd come out in the room sometimes almost like in a hazmat suit, which scares the bejeebers out of you,” Dave said. "Once we knew what it was and there was a treatment protocol, it was kind of like, ‘Well, now we know what we need to do.’”

Olivia and her family didn’t talk about chances of survival. Instead, they focused on getting her better.

“To me, that made a big difference because then that meant we weren't concentrating on that,” said Olivia’s mom, Monica Stern. “We were just like, ‘OK, what do we need to do to get through this period?’ And not surviving wasn't even a thought in our heads.”

During two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy treatment — traveling to Children’s Wisconsin, missing school and seeing family and friends at home or in the hospital — a trip to New York City during Fashion Week granted through Make-A-Wish Wisconsin was a positive distraction from the difficult time the Stern family was going through.

Now, Olivia and her family are hosting a local fundraiser to give other children and families with cancer a moment of respite and fun.

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Make-A-Wish granted Olivia Stern's wish to go to New York Fashion Week

Because of her interest in fashion, Olivia and her family chose to go to New York Fashion Week for her wish through Make-A-Wish in early 2015.

She went into the cockpit of the plane they took to New York City, toured Tiffany & Co., met some fashion designers, went backstage of a fashion show and sat in the front row of another. She saw several notable people in the industry, like Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and “Project Runway” judge Nina Garcia.

“I just really got to take everything in, and it was so cool,” Olivia said.

Monica said the trip came at the perfect time for their family, a little more than a year after Olivia’s diagnosis.

“That just really is something you can't replicate to give that kind of break in your treatment,” Monica said. “Very, very grateful to them.”

The trip made such an impression that Olivia went back to New York City years later, graduating from Fordham University and now living there.

Stern family hopes to raise enough funds to support five wishes

Dave's employer, Harrigan Solutions, will sponsor Harrigan for Wishes at The Bull at Pinehurst Farms, 1 Long Drive, May 20 to mark 10 years since Olivia’s cancer diagnosis. The event will start at 10:30 a.m. There is an $800 entry fee for a four-person scramble, with 18-hole play, a golf cart, lunch and dinner, on-course events and awards.

Proceeds from the inaugural golf outing will benefit Make-A-Wish Wisconsin. The family hopes to raise $25,000 that could support granting five wishes. Olivia will speak at the event, too.

"We just want to make sure that other families who are going through a stressful situation are able to relax and enjoy themselves like we did,” Monica said.

The family hosted a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish and the MACC Fund Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Wisconsin when Olivia finished her chemotherapy. They split $17,000 in proceeds between the organizations.

Call Dave Stern at 262-389-6851 for more information.

Have a story tip? Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @alexx_garner.

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Make-A-Wish fundraiser set at The Bull at Pinehurst Farms