On a hot August day, 6-year-old Sydney Lambert wielded a child-size shovel to take part in a tree planting ceremony to dedicate the Homearama home that bears her name. Just a few weekends later, a Chesapeake couple visiting TBA’s Dusty Boots Homearama open house fell in love and bought the Sydney Lambert.

When the sale of this special Homearama home is complete, the proceeds will be contributed to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughter, a facility that served as a home away from home for Sydney when she was an infant battling valiantly against an aggressive form of cancer.

Built by veteran Homearama builder Herb Watson of The Walters Company Inc., the Charity House, named “The Sydney Lambert” will be among the 12 showcase Homearama homes – including another by Watson on display at Culpepper Landing in Chesapeake from Oct. 3-18.

Sydney’s story

By the time Kim Lambert of Chesapeake reached the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, she knew something was terribly wrong with her 9-month-old daughter, Sydney. What she didn’t expect was the diagnosis: surgeons had to remove a softball-sized tumor from Sydney’s abdomen.

Kim and Casey Lambert’s baby girl had ovarian cancer, a rare occurrence for a child.

“When they become malignant, as in Sydney’s case, they are extremely aggressive,” said Dr. Eric Werner, one of Sydney’s treating oncologists at CHKD. CHKD surgeons discovered that the tumor had burst, spilling malignant cells into her stomach. Sydney had to undergo chemotherapy, which meant periodic eight-day hospital stays over six months.

During the six months in and out of CHKD, Sydney stayed on track developmentally.

“She learned how to walk when she was in the hospital. I’d walk behind her, pushing her IV pole,” Kim Lambert said.

“You’re so excited and so happy it’s over, but it’s bittersweet because you’re leaving behind all these great people who’ve taken care of your child – and you,” she said. “When Sydney got sick, I felt so blessed to have these incredible people and CHKD right here, so we didn’t have to

travel out of state during the months Sydney was being treated.”

Now Sydney is thriving. She loves gymnastics and cheerleading, and according to her mother, “never stops talking.”

“You don’t know how to thank them enough other than to show them what a great kid she’s become,” Kim said. “You just want those wonderful people to know, ‘Hey look, all your work paid off, look at her now.’ ”

The Sydney Lambert

Sydney was joined at the tree planting ceremony by her family, Tidewater Builders Association President Pete A. Kotarides; Chesapeake Mayor Alan Krasnoff; Chesapeake City Council woman Dr. Ella Ward; Culpepper Landing developer and vice president of Robinson Development Group Tim Culpepper; senior vice president of community relations for CHKD Beth Duke and Watson.
Watson, who built the Charity House for the 2008 Homearama was pleased to be able to again take part in the event.

“We agreed to build the Charity House again for a couple of reasons,” said Watson. “Number 1, I think the charity that we are working for is an outstanding organization. A lot of people in Hampton Roads have children that have been there and you get to see some real results, as seen in Sydney. Secondly, we did it last year and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. I got to know a lot of good people in the trades, many of whom I had never met. As a company, we felt like we were doing something that would benefit the community.”

Watson was able to get contributions from suppliers and subcontractors to help increase the proceeds available to the hospital after the sale.

“CHKD means a lot, and has meant a lot to us personally,” said Watson. “It impacts the lives of so many people here in Hampton Roads and it’s a very fine organization to be supporting. It’s easy to see success stories.

“She is a lovely young lady,” he continued about Sydney. “I'm just amazed. Her parents are so lucky and fortunate to have the organization such as CHKD and to have their children so healthy.”

For information about The Charity House and Homearama, visit www.homearama.tv or call 757-420-2434.

Contributors
The Charity House would not be possible without the generosity of the subcontractors and suppliers donating their skills and products.They are: