Oconomowoc HS students, community rally around one of their own battling leukemia

What began as a fundraiser to help fulfill National Honors Society requirements at Oconomowoc High School has turned into something more personal and meaningful.

The Oconomowoc High School National Honors Society (NHS) chapter has held two fundraisers within the last two months to help Adriana "Addie" Bavuso, a freshman at the school who was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in September. 

The first NHS fundraiser was Nov. 18, when the society hosted its "Gather to Give" Kids Fall Festival at the Oconomowoc Winter Farmers Market. More than $1,000 was raised that day. 

The second fundraiser was held Dec. 9 at the Kids Winter Festival, also in conjunction with the Oconomowoc Winter Farmers Market. That event raised just under $750. In total, according to National Honor Society president and Oconomowoc High School senior Nick Schulz, the two events raised more than $2,000.

"Running it is a lot different because you got to delegate a lot of stuff to committee heads. I've just never realized how much goes into it. It takes 150 of us in the club to put this all together," said NHS vice president and Oconomowoc High School senior Tessa Christopherson.

Diagnosis

Making the transition from middle to high school isn't easy, and doing so while battling leukemia makes it much more difficult. 

Before her diagnosis, Addie Bavuso was athletic, having been a swimmer and bowler. She joined the Oconomowoc High School swimming team at the start of her freshman year. A swimmer since she was 3, it was the first time she swam competitively. 

At the beginning of the school year, Addie and two of her brothers had gotten hand, foot and mouth disease. While her brothers were getting better, Addie wasn't, according to her mother, Amy.

Multiple trips to the doctor's office had Amy thinking Addie had mononucleosis because of her symptoms. But tests for the condition kept coming up negative. Blood tests showed that Addie had low platelets; other tests revealed Addie had an enlarged spleen.

Amy knew something was wrong. On Sept. 30, she took Addie to Children's Hospital in Wauwatosa, where she learned within hours that Addie had B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

"It totally blew me and my husband's minds because we just were like 'How can this happen to someone that eats healthy, does everything the right way, exercises daily?'" said Amy Bavuso.

After failing to reach remission for a month, Addie was labeled very high risk B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia.

Fundraiser idea

One of Addie's swimming teammates and a member of the Oconomowoc High School NHS chapter, senior Makenna Balsewicz, said she found out about Addie's diagnosis through a Snapchat story Addie had made. 

"The swim team is like a family, and then this very terrible thing happened to one of our family members," Balsewicz said. "It hit all of us really hard."

During planning for the Gathering To Give event, OHS' National Honors Society chapter had originally planned to send proceeds to the Salvation Army for hurricane relief.

Balsiewicz had different ideas after learning of Addie's diagnosis.

"I didn't see the point in donating to the Salvation Army when there's a girl in Oconomowoc that needs help," Balsiewicz said. 

She then texted her fellow classmate and the school's NHS president, Nick Schulz, about her idea. 

"We right away thought that it would be a good idea since this was closer to our home and in our community," Schulz said. 

Support for Addie

Addie said she was kept in the loop about the fundraisers through her friends on Snapchat. She also made a brief appearance at the Dec. 9 fundraiser.

"It was a little weird, but it was cool to see people who want to help me out and be there for me," Addie said.

Amy Bavuso also said that support has helped her family with handling Addie's medications and the drives to and from the hospital.

"It means a lot to us. I can't believe how supportive they've all been," Amy Bavuso said.

Attitude

Addie's attitude has also impressed those around her. 

Balsiewicz said that she's been able to keep up with Addie through Snapchat, and has noticed the positivity in her posts. 

"She's posting funny stuff on her story like how her nurse leaves her cute messages on her board," Balsiewicz said. "I really haven't seen anything really negative ever on her story from her. Other than her saying she has leukemia, everything's been positive, and she just seems to still have a great attitude about everything."

Current outlook, going forward

Addie has been alternating between hospital stays and time at home. And while she is on the bowling team, she hasn't been able to participate. She is taking one class at a time online to keep up with school.

Her family hopes that her leukemia will be in remission by the end of December. Otherwise, she will get a bone marrow transplant. The family had her siblings tested to see whether any of them would be a match.Addie's 13-year-old brother, Kaiden, is a perfect match. Her other brother, Nathan, was only a half match. Results have not come in yet for her sister, Bianca. 

Addie hopes to be able to return to school and participate in swimming and bowling again. 

For those supporting her, Addie's fight has not only provided a new perspective, but also an example of the power of collaboration, as the efforts involved not only NHS, but other groups, including the Oconomowoc Future Farmers of America chapter.

"I've just learned about how important it is to give back, and the collaboration too, that when multiple people collaborate, the impact can be so much greater," Schulz said. 

How to help

If you'd like to make a donation to the Bavuso family, you can drop them off at Oconomowoc High School, 641 E. Forest St., Oconomowoc, or mail them to the school. If a donation is made in the form of a check, it should be made out to the school's National Honor Society's chapter with "Addie Bavuso" written on the memo line.