‘Elsie Strong’: Waterloo teen’s cancer battle sparks push for stem cell donors

Adrienne Wiemerslage sat outside her 16-year-old daughter’s favorite local business Friday evening. In between greeting guests, she turned her gaze to the busy road, where a German shepherd bellowed from a white truck.

“That’s my Elsie,” Wiemerslage said with a smile.

Elsa “Elsie” Wiemerslage died earlier this month after a decade-long battle with blood cancer. Community members packed Salt and Honey Bistro in Waterloo on Friday afternoon to share their favorite memories of Elsie, as well as make bracelets and paint rocks in her honor.

As the sky prepared for sunset, Wiemerslage said she sees Elsie everywhere – in how the lights flickered at her funeral earlier that day and random animal appearances like fluttering hummingbirds and, most recently, the happy dog.

Elsie would want to be remembered for not only her resilience, but also for her love of animals, here mother said. Elsie was a proud pet parent to two dogs, Winnie and Bella, and two cats, Dot and Boo. Wiemerslage said Winnie, a little furball who was always curled up by Elsie’s side, was Elsie’s “pride and joy, her bestie.”

Elsie cared deeply for her two siblings, 13-year-old Claire and 10-year-old Eli, and showed empathy to everyone she met, her mom said. She described Elsie as “a quiet, quiet warrior.”

Angie Augustine, a family friend of the Wiemerslages, said she couldn’t ask for a better role model for her 4-year-old twin daughters.

“I know they learned her strength, and she was patient, loving and kind,” Augustine said. “She’s just the perfect person for them to look up to.”

One could also tell a lot about Elsie through her bucket list. Though Wiemerslage described her daughter as “low-key, chill,” happy to be at home working on diamond art, Legos, puzzles and reading, she also had an adventurous spirit.

Her last few years were filled with travel: to New York to see the musical “& Juliet” on Broadway; Nashville and Kansas City for Taylor Swift concerts; Florida to swim with dolphins; and Hawaii to watch an ocean sunset, according to an obituary from Quernheim Funeral Home in Waterloo.

“It was big things, it was little things she wanted to do,” Wiemerslage said.

Elsie was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2015 at 5 years old. Initially, the Wiemerslages and Elsie’s pediatrician thought she had a virus with a stubborn fever. When she didn’t get better with Tylenol and rest, they went to the emergency room, Adrienne said, where an oncologist determined Elsie had cancer.

The 10 years that followed included a myriad of 30-day hospital stays, chemotherapy, radiation, transplants and tough decisions – but they were also glittered with rays of hope. Elsie spent four of those years in remission.

The cancer-free years were possible because of stem cell transplants, Wiemerslage said.

Leukemia wreaks havoc on the body’s ability to produce healthy blood cells, which are important for immunity and blood clotting. Stem cell transplants help encourage the regeneration of healthy blood cells, websites for the Leukemia Research Foundation and National Marrow Donor Program (formerly Be the Match) explain.

Elsie had three stem cell transplants, each of which led to a year in remission. Doctors use specific genes to match donors with patients who need stem cell transplants, and in Elsie’s case, each transplant was from a different donor.

Two were from family members, and one was from an unrelated match in California.

“Thank you doesn’t seem like enough,” Wiemerslage said. “Thank you to all individuals who donate. There are so many kids and adults who are still looking for a match.”

Elsie’s third donor could be considered her brother, although he didn’t know it at the time. When parents have a newborn baby, they have the option to donate umbilical cord blood – which is rich in the stem cells needed to form healthy blood cells.

Parents can put cord blood in a public bank, where it can be used to help any person provided the necessary genes match, or pay to put it in a private bank to be used at their own discretion.

Just as the Wiemerslages did with Elsa and Claire, they put Eli’s cord blood in the free, public bank. Eli was born a month after Elsie was first diagnosed with cancer, and his cord blood was a match for Elsa.

“(Cord blood donation) is probably the one thing you get for free, that I’m aware of, when you have a kid,” Wiemerslage said. “Stem cells in cord blood can do so much, and we’re just throwing them away.”

In honor of Elsie, the Wiemerslages encourage parents to consider cord blood donation and individuals to join the National Marrow Donor Program’s registry. To learn how to register yourself as a donor, visit my.nmdp.org; and learn more about the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank at slcbb.org.

Wiemerslage also has advice for others whose children are battling cancer.

“Spend as much time with them as you can, advocate for them … and definitely keep pushing to find answers,” she said.