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Jack’s Big Sister –– “T” Tina, Tiny, Tinky, NaNa, Bubba Girl, and all around BRAT

When Jack was born Tina was 4 yrs. old and thrilled to say the least. She couldn’t wait to get to the hospital to see her baby brother. She put on her I’M THE BIG SISTER shirt and off we went to see Mommy and the baby with no name. Sitting in the hospital room we talked about giving this baby a name. Baby name books are for the birds, we had names picked out but this cute little baby did not fit any of them. It took Christina to bring it all together. We asked her what we should name this baby, we threw different names at her and she would say yes or no. Christina was singing “Jack & Jill went up the hill”. She said what about Jack, Charlotte and I looked at one another and said Jack Hagelin sounds good. So Jack Reed Salvatore Hagelin was named by Christina.

Christina plays a huge role in Jack’s life. She can wind him up when he is not feeling so well. She can also make him scream out of frustration when she doesn’t want to play with him. At times she tries to be his second mother. Jack looks up to her and wants to know where she is at all times, whether she is at school, camp or anywhere else she goes.

Over the last 3 years Tina has endured more ups and downs than you would like anyone child to endure. She has suffered side by side with Jack. Not in the physical way Jack has, but from the emotional aspect. Every time Jack went to the hospital Tina's first question was why does he have to go? How long is he going to be there and who is staying with him Mommy or Daddy? Mommy has always stayed with Jack 24/7 for his 300 and something days in the hospital.

Christina has one wish in her life, that one wish means more to her then we could ever imagine. The wish is for Jack to get better and stop having to go back and forth, in and out of the hospital. We talked to her about having HLA blood typing to see if she was the same as Jack. If she was the same it would be Christina’s stem cells that Jack would receive during his stem cell transplant. During the blood draw Tina kept her fingers crossed and hoped and prayed that she would be the one to help her brother. To her and our disappointment she was not a match. When she found out she was not a match she was very upset. Christina was also tested to see if she is a carrier for the Ectodermal Displaysia and N.E.M.O, and we found out she is not a carrier of ED, but a carrier of N.E.M.O. We know what this means, but she really doesn’t, however she really feels she has something in common with her brother now.

Christina is now entering the second grade at Adali Stevenson School in Fairfield, NJ. She loves to play baseball, soccer, riding bikes and is very savvy on the computer. She wants to share her favorite places that she visits on the internet. She also loves to get e-mail, so send her a note……Bubbagirl98@aol.com

Her favorite links are:

Playhouse Disney

 Kids Island

Noggin

Nickjr