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Posted May 30, 2008 Best friends, Batson patients form support system as each battles cancer  Watching your best friend get terribly sick with cancer can be a difficult and frightening experience for anyone, especially a 5-year-old boy. Five years later, when that same little boy is diagnosed with a similar cancer, the difficulty and fear return only to be heightened by the knowledge of what comes next. Seth Harris, 10, was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) six months ago. He knew what came next - hair loss, long hospital stays and rounds of chemotherapy. Harris's best friend since preschool, Brelon "Hawk" Hendry, was diagnosed with ALL five years earlier. Both Hendry and Harris are patients at the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. ALL is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow and the most common type of cancer in children. Some may incorrectly assume that the boys' shared diagnoses are more than coincidental. Dr. Rathi Iyer, pediatric oncologist at the Batson Hospital, advises, "You cannot catch or get leukemia from hanging around someone with leukemia. It is pure coincidence that they are friends and have leukemia." She cautions that while it is true that humans can catch all sorts of things from each other, such as common colds, leukemia is not contagious. Additionally, Hendry and Harris have different subtypes of ALL. Hendry’s subtype, B precursor leukemia, usually starts in the bone marrow and spills into the circulatory system. Consequently, Hendry's diagnosis came after a bout of excruciating pain in his joints. Just after attending Harris's 5th birthday party, the pain was so bad that he refused to walk. Harris, on the other hand, has T cell leukemia. This subtype of ALL sometimes starts with a tumor in a lymph node in the neck, armpits, groin or chest, as was the case for Harris who was diagnosed after experiencing what his parents and doctors originally believed to be gastrological problems. Unfortunately, this subtype is less common, constituting only 15 percent of ALL diagnoses and requires a more aggressive treatment protocol. To counteract the stronger treatment, Harris relies on a strong support system of family and friends, including his best friend Hendry, who has been through all of this already. They are, aside from the leukemia, just average tenyear- old boys. Their shared love of football and country club summers hints at a lifetime of pretty girlfriends, frat parties, and lives as sweet as tea in the South. Hendry's gregariousness serves him well as Harris leans on him for support during his treatment. Having a strong support system of family and friends is a vital part of recovery from any illness, especially for children. Just prior to a particularly scary procedure, the insertion of his chemoport, Harris asked his mom to call Hendry. A chemoport is a device placed under the skin allowing chemotherapy medicines and other fluids to be administered without having to be stuck in the arm or leg veins each time. When Hendry responded that getting the chemoport didn't hurt, Harris believed him, not realizing Hendry was trying to be brave for his friend. Having undergone the procedure, Harris now believes otherwise. The support system extends beyond the boys to their mothers, who also have been friends since preschool. Dawn Harris giggles as she remembers her friend Kelly Stringer breezing in and out of her baby shower "with Hawk in one arm and a present in the other." Dawn Harris also remembers bringing her son to visit Hendry in the hospital and knowing instinctively that company wasn't what they needed. Unwilling to stand idly by and do nothing, Dawn took it upon herself to organize what came to be known as "Hawk Day." The event raised over $10,000 for whatever the family needed during their long stay away from home. Stringer returned the favor when Seth was diagnosed by hosting a "Seth Day" at the boys' school in Bay Springs, Sylva Bay Academy. Thanks to great strides in the treatment of ALL, Harris and Hendry have a good chance of being cured and will again look forward to what comes next - after beating cancer. - Jennifer Hospodor |