Alexis N. “Lexi” Helfrich
June 6, 2000- September 11, 2010
When Lexi was 2yrs old, the family was out to dinner. Her grandmother picked Lexi up and felt something that was not right, a big lump in her lower abdomen. Lexi was taken to the doctors, her parents heard words that no parent wants to hear. Lexi had stage 4 cancer; a tumor was on her kidney and in the cavity between her chest and lungs, Wilms tumors to be exact. Three days after discovery of the tumor they removed her right kidney and started chemotherapy the same day. One day away from her 6 month checkup, her parents noticed that she was not feeling well. Lexi just was not herself. She was having trouble breathing and not running right. Lexi seemed to be always out of breath. They took her to the doctors, where they performed a CT and took x-rays. Lexi had relapsed right before Christmas. It didn’t come back in her kidneys, it came back in her lungs. It was hard the first time, when Lexi’s little body had to go through the surgery and chemo. The second time was going to be harder. Any time you relapse it’s a lot harder, there were no shots the first time and the drugs are a lot stronger the second time around. This would mean more hospitalization and more sickness. Lexi’s counts were awful. She did not have many platelets and her little body was bruising all the time. Lexi spent some time in Memphis, Tennessee at St. Jude’s and a lot of time in Peoria, Illinois at the St. June Midwest Affiliate and in Chicago. Lexi even began a stem cell transplant. The transplant was cut short when it was found to not be working. Jude Clinic was Lexi’s extended family for eight years. Lexi was very active in the Peoria St. Jude Run / telethon and a dear friend to Peoria’s Mayor Jim Maloof, a St. Jude board member. Lexi was a “social butterfly” and she loved to make people smile. She loved to sing, dance and have a good time. She savored every day that she felt good. Lexi showed more strength and courage in her 10 years than most people will show in a much longer life span. In the end Lexi had her family and loved ones with her. She told each one good-bye in her own special way. She removed the leads and monitors herself and demanded smiles from everyone. She told us that it was okay and commanded that we were not to cry. She was truly ready and at peace. The Alexis Helfrich Foundation must thank D&D Productions for keeping Lexi’s spirit alive. D&D Productions in Peoria, Illinois was Lexi’s favorite place to be. Lexi loved being at D&D among all her friends who shared the same passion for dance as she did. D&D Productions keeps Lexi’s memory alive 365 days out of the year. They hold many events to raise money for St. Jude in honor of Lexi. They also offer a dance scholarship which is presented to a student at the end of the year at their dance recital. This student must be selected by their teacher. Then the student must write an essay on what dance means to them. All letters are gathered and read by Lexi’s family and the winner is selected.
