Most of you probably know that a beautiful, 13 year old, inspirational young lady named Talia Joy Castellano passed away after a 6 year battle with childhood cancer. Diagnosed at age 7 with neuroblastoma, Talia endured much of her young life in and out of hospitals undergoing treatment and relapsing 4 times. Throughout it all she kept an upbeat and downright inspirational demeanor as evidenced by her lively youtube videos.
I could write for hours on this topic. I worked for 4 years at St. Jude Children’s Research hospital as a pharmacy student intern. My primary job was to prepare and mix intravenous chemotherapy. Before doing so I had to gown up which included shoe covers, a special gown, a face mask, and gloves. I did my work inside of a special hood in a special room. Granted some of these precautions were to prevent contamination of the chemotherapy so we could ensure that the children were receiving a truly sterile product, but much of the precautions were to protect myself from the poison I was making. I was only preparing the mixtures and the children in the hospital had to have this poison pumped through their bodies. I saw many Talias walking the halls of St. Jude: Laughing, smiling, skipping, squealing with delight. I saw many children cured, able to move on with their lives and try to make up for the childhood they lost, while many others did not. You could tell when a child was nearing the end of their journey, they were pushed in wheelchairs instead of skipping, connected to IV poles instead of using portable pumps for medication, eyes closed instead of open and sparkling. Once rosy smiling lips, now dry and cracked. I once assisted in a “Harvey Team” meaning a child’s heart had stopped and they needed immediate lifesaving assistance. The little boy lay motionless in the lobby while practitioners scrambled to bring him back. I mixed and drew up the life saving medications he needed to jump start his heart. The little boy survived. I will never forget that, nor will I ever forget Talia. Childhood cancer is a raw topic that is hard to talk about. Even writing this brings tears to my eyes. Children aren’t supposed to get cancer!
Today, many ladies in the nail polish and beauty community are participating in Mint Manis For Talia Joy. Talia’s last instagram photo was of her gorgeous mint mani.
Talia’s last Instagram photo.
To show support of a lovely young lady who is gone way too soon, I did this mint mani.
I used Star Decals from AlexCole Designs, Skylark by Elle and Blair polish in the color Sea Glass with China Glaze Fairy dust over the index and ring fingers.
Thanks to Nail Polish Wars for coming up with this great idea. I’ve seen some gorgeous mint manis today.
Rest in Peace beautiful, sweet girl, and thank you.
- Picture borrowed from RIP Talia Joy facebook page.
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