Ten-year-old Emma Lockwood will be going through another chemotherapy session next week with her mother following her medical therapy charting on calendar pages and hearing that her daughter may be able to return to her class at Sequoia School in a motorized wheelchair in late September.
“She had been crying for four days non-stop,” her mother Michele added. She recalled her daughter saying, “I’m crying Mommy, but I don’t know why.”
There is good news this week regarding her tumor that is located on the right side of the pelvis, with her doctor saying it has measurably shrunk with her continuing treatments of radiation and chemotherapy along with removing her feeding tube on Tuesday. 
That new wheelchair is being delivered next week but there is a problem — having a bigger car or van that Emma can swiftly enter and exit on her own power rather than having the wheelchair mounted on an extension on the back of their van. She said they have been looking at a Honda Odyssey or a Chevy Tahoe but the cost has been prohibitive.
“Emma enjoyed her Fourth of July with family and friends,” Michele said Wednesday morning. “She was in the hospital last week and we were going to have a party no matter how tired we were — and we were all very tired.”
Her mom said they wrapped their daughter in Saran Wrap and put her into a kiddie pool ,and she watched fireworks in their court with 30 friends and family members in attendance.
“Gotta have these good times,” her mother said. “You have to have your family and friends around you when you need them most.”
She said she hopes the family can find a way to have Emma’s dad helping at home more often from work to help in the hospital and household duties that are being shouldered mostly by the girl’s mother.  She said the state only allows 12 weeks of family leave time noting that has come and gone. 
“We’re really running two homes,” Michele said.  One is in Manteca and the other at the hospital in Oakland where she sleeps in a chair at her daughter’s bedside, saving the cost of a motel. 
The Lockwood family needs help and their Gofundme.com site has been stalled at $11,000 which is far less than the $35,000 they were hoping to raise from members of their Manteca community.
“I really appreciate the donors who have already helped — more than they know,” Michele Lockwood said.

To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.