AUGUSTA — Kalee Weatherwax has many titles: baker, small business owner, content creator, singer-songwriter, “momcologist.”
When her barely 2-month-old son was found to have a rare vascular tumor, life changed forever for Weatherwax and her husband, Joe. Now, seven years later, Weatherwax is finding ways to spend time with her family, give back to her community and earn money through a self-run bakery stand in her front yard.
Her charmingly comedic — and sometimes vulnerable — videos chronicle her day-to-day running the bakery and taking care of her sons, Alec, 7, and Everett, 4, while also showcasing her singing and songwriting skills to thousands of followers online.
To her kids, she’s a rock star in every sense of the term. And they’re not the only ones who think so.
A ‘momcologist’
Nobody plans to become a “momcologist,” a term often used by mothers of children with cancer to describe themselves, given the level of at-home caretaking cancer can require.
It started when Weatherwax discovered a bruise on her son Alec’s side not long after he was born; she rushed him to the doctor.
Her son underwent numerous tests and scans and a biopsy surgery before doctors determined he had an extremely rare tumor called Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma, or KHE for short, caused by an abnormal growth of blood vessels. While technically noncancerous, KHE spreads rapidly through veins, which can “strangle” and pierce through muscles and cause other complications.
Alec has taken oral chemotherapy medication twice a day since he was diagnosed as an infant to keep the growth of the tumor in check. Because of the medication, he has a weakened immune system and gets sick easily, often causing him to miss school, but it’s not all the time.
Weatherwax started lessons at home with Alec early, when she wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to attend school at all. Thanks to her efforts, despite his missed school days, she said he’s at the top of his class. On the October day Weatherwax sat for an interview at Barnes & Noble in Augusta, her next stop with her younger son Everett in tow was picking up Alec from school.
Watching her child go through so much at such a young age has been hard, she said, but throughout appointments, blood work and chemotherapy, Alec has always put up a brave face.
“That literally breaks my heart … that he’s just, like, used to this,” Weatherwax said. “But at the same time … he’s just that confident, strong kid that I just, I don’t have any doubts about that kid.”
Alec and his family hope for good news on the horizon. This month, he will undergo an ultrasound to see if he can wean off the chemotherapy without any new tumor growth.
A baker
As the Weatherwax family was figuring out life navigating Alec’s sickness, Kalee had to decide whether she would return from maternity leave to work as a state employee.
With her husband working at Central Maine Power, she decided to stay at home with Alec while exploring alternative ways to earn money to help pay for Alec’s treatment.
“Time has been a thief,” Weatherwax said. “And we haven’t gotten all of those normal experiences that a lot of other people have, and I’m grateful for every experience I get with my child, no matter what. But to me, I’m just like: how could I steal that time back? And that’s kind of why I wanted to start a home business.”
Weatherwax had worked as a restaurant manager and always loved baking in her free time. And others certainly loved her baking. When she brought baked goods to her husband’s CMP co-workers during storm duty, they always asked her why she wasn’t selling her delicious treats.
After years of selling candles and baked goods at craft fairs, she tried something new. Last summer her father built her a small, bright pink stand for her front yard where she could sell items regularly. Now every weekend, Weatherwax, with the help of her sons, stocks the stand with sourdough bread, cookies, sweet breads, muffins and seasonal treats for neighbors and community members to enjoy.
“The sourdough bread is my favorite,” neighbor Nancy Richards said. “I’ve had the muffins and and the cookies, and I’ve tried all of them. And I love them all, really.”
Weatherwax can bake up to 24 loaves of bread in one weekend, in addition to all the other goods. She always bakes banana chocolate chip muffins because they’re Alec’s favorite. They were one of the only things he liked to eat when dealing with painful mouth sores from chemotherapy.
Both her sons get excited to help her with the stand each weekend, and she often takes them to the grocery store so they can see what the money goes back into and how the business works.
Weatherwax said the stand has also helped in engaging with the community. With an immunocompromised child, many people were afraid or hesitant to visit because they didn’t want to get him sick.
“It was just so isolating,” Weatherwax said. “So I’m like: ‘OK, what can I do? What can I do? What can I do?’”
With thousands of followers online and many eager to purchase baked goods in person, Weatherwax is building community one loaf at a time.
A rockstar
Before she started selling baked goods, Weatherwax was looking for ways to occupy her time while staying home with Alec. Knowing she wanted to sing her kids to sleep, Joe surprised her with a guitar and lessons one Christmas.
She said music has always been a part of her life; when she was younger, she wanted to grow up to be a rock star.
Weatherwax started posting videos of her singing and her day-to-day life with her sons on platforms like TikTok under the username “weatheringthelife” several years ago, and now she has over 12,000 followers.
Weatherwax said watching her singing and guitar-playing progress in her past videos is encouraging. She’s hoping to host small free concerts at her house for the community.
Weatherwax also posts behind-the-scenes videos of her baking, many of which are creative or comical. The most recent videos feature Weatherwax in green face paint and a wig for Halloween.
Weatherwax said part of the reason she posts online is to be a role model for children about internet culture.
“If I’m gonna be online and perceived for online stuff, and everything else, for influencing these kids, I want it to be for something good that they can see exactly the work that goes into it and everything else,” Weatherwax said. “Nothing’s instantaneous.”
Weatherwax and her family’s impact on the community extends beyond her online presence or her baked goods.
Richards, the next-door neighbor, said when she was locked out of her house, Weatherwax let her use her phone and drove her to her daughter’s workplace to get a spare key. When Richards fell on the ice, Weatherwax’s husband helped her up and back into her house.
“They’re just a special family for sure,” Richards said. “And I love them dearly, just like they were my own.”
Weatherwax said her biggest takeaway from her son’s experience and running the stand is that you never know what others are going through.
“I mean, honestly, when people look at my family and look at my kid, they don’t immediately jump to: he’s on chemotherapy,” Weatherwax said. “You never know what other people are going through, and you should just always be kind and try and do what you can for the people around you. Because like I said, this is the way that I can give back to my community.”
Weatherwax’s stand is on the corner of Eastern Avenue and Pleasant Hill Road and stocked on Saturdays and Sundays.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Sara Coughlin can be reached at scoughlin@metln.org