Jourdyn's Cruise Wish

Jourdyn is sixteen, and had been holding out for her wish to go on a Caribbean cruise for a long time until she was well enough to go. But when her dream finally came true, she found it was one worth waiting for!

Jourdyn is an amazing young woman who has endured a great deal, including 48 weeks of chemo, but her cancer returned after only three weeks off treatment. She then needed a bone marrow transplant. A second round of chemo to prepare her body for harvesting cancer-free marrow was given at such a high dose that it produced a fungal infection, and her right lung had to be removed as a result. Further complications meant that she had to have her left kidney removed.

In between all this medical attention at Primary Children's Medical Center, her high school in Southern Utah voted her prom queen. The hospital let her out for a day to travel back to get crowned. The day after the prom, she came back to Salt Lake and had her kidney removed. Now her remaining kidney is failing, so she will have to begin dialysis; and she is not a candidate for a kidney transplant.

Throughout, Jourdyn has maintained a 3.8 grade point, taking many classes from the hospital, and is even a student body officer participating in SBO meetings by conference call. And that’s not all. Already she is a cancer mentor at Primary. She took part in the Relay For Life in Cedar City. And in Las Vegas, she talked the owner of a wig store (who makes Cher's wigs at $1500 a piece) into creating an upscale wig donation program for folks with cancer.

After all she has been through, and her great contributions to the community, Jourdyn richly deserved a spectacular wish experience. She and her family were honored guests for a cruise event created by Royal Caribbean just for Make-A-Wish families, in honor of our 25th Anniversary this year. It was a special cruise to San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Nassau.

Jourdyn was having so much fun on the cruise that when her mom told her to slow down, she said, “I can sleep next week. I’m playing my guts out this week.”