One Book selection highlights childhood cancer on The Murfreesboro Post

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One Book selection highlights childhood cancer

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By: TRAVIS SWANN, tswann@murfreesboropost.com

Posted: Sunday, October 28, 2012 12:07 am

One Book selection highlights childhood cancer | Cancer, Leukemia, Health, One Book, Literature, The Fault In Our Stars, Family, American Cancer Society, Travis Swann, Living Well, Viola, Vanderbilt

Travis Swann

Cancer is scary.

And when it hits you as a child, it can be ever scarier.

With that being said, Rutherford County’s One Book selecion for this year seeks to raise awareness for childhood cancer.

“The Fault in Our Stars,” written by John Green, is narrated by a 16-year-old cancer patient named Hazel, who is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she subsequently meets and falls in love with the 17-year-old Augustus Waters, another teen with cancer.

Their story is different fom mine, but similar in many ways.

According to research from the American Cancer Society, cancer is the most common cause of death by disease found in children.

And I’d like to share my cancer story.

You may have spoke with me about advertising or possibly read an article regarding music in the pages of The Murfreesboro Post, but today, I’d like to share my story as a cancer survivor.

In February of 1990, I was diagnosed with leukemia, which represents nearly one-third of the most common forms of cancer.

The sights, sounds and overall feeling of that initial diagnosis are all too clear, even more than 20 years later.

In my case, my left arm had intense pain for a few days, and I recall going to visit Dr. Gordon Jackson Jacobs of McMinnville, Tenn., who was quick on the case and sent me to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital very rapidly.

With family and neighbors gathered at my grandparent’s house, the scene was a little frantic and too much to think about for a 7-year-old.

The timeframe between McMinnville and the trip to Nashville is all a little blurry now, but when you get from point A to point B that fast, then it’s expected.

Waking up in a new hospital with doctors and nurses around was a new visual. From here, the ride was on for a three-year mix of chemotherapy, radiation, daily medication and all sorts of new medical encounters.

After a few days in the hospital, I had already learned to swallow a pill, which I’m sure the nurses were finally glad to see happen as they had an uneasy time with this young boy from Viola, Tenn.

There were bone marrow tests, spinal taps and new medications that still rank as some of the most excruciating, grueling and painful experiences to date.

Within due time, I was released from the hospital and graduated to clinic visits for the remainder of my term. And let me tell you, this is where it gets grinding and the memories roll.

For most of this span, I would go to the clinic at least once a month and sometimes more, depending on the cycle of the medication. I was acquainted with Dr. John Lukens and was on a first-name basis with nurses Connie, Anne, Darlene and Ms. Stewart.

The sights and smells of the rooms where radiation occurred have their place with you and some of the drugs used in chemotherapy included methotrexate, vincristine and prednisone among many others, which all have different effects on the body.

Not too long into this routine, I would go to sleep at night and wake up the next morning with a little less fuzz on my head.

Fortunately, I had a nice, purple Los Angeles Lakers cap that covered my bald crown, and it stayed on my head for many days and nights.

The super-tough nights came when I would get doses of treatment that would cause me to vomit all night until there was nothing left inside. On those nights, a hotel room on West End was found real fast as you knew what was ahead of you.

Other days, you might have blood given to you where you would remain weak for the majority of the day. This is just a small portion of the adversity that cancer patients face day in and day out.

Through it all, I found my solace in NBA basketball, card and comic book collecting, and of course, music, which is still in my blood today. I learned to be very introverted and that helped me along.

And when you think the ride is going smooth, there is always something else that can happen to you with a weak immune system, and you’re then back in the hospital. In my case, this was an outbreak of shingles. I was sent to isolation very quickly and developed pneumocystis pneumonia, both within a short timeframe.

Luckily, I had a mother and grandmother who were there every step of the way, not to mention great family, friends and a community who always showed their support as well.

By age 10, times were looking up.

But the next few years, I found out some treatments had weakened a few muscles including my heart, for which I still take medication to this day.

As you grow older, cancer is always in the back of your head in almost everything you do. It simply becomes part of you.

While others may complain about the common cough, cold, allergies or whatever ails them, I always tried to shrug that stuff off because I knew it could be worse.

I knew I could have been dead.

In my mind, I knew I had already won the fight. And that’s what keeps you going. I knew I had one word that many didn’t have – survivor.

To this day in my hometown, I still have people who recognize me as the kid who had cancer or have people who say “we prayed for you.”

When you have these people in your corner, they make the fight a lot easier.

Chances are that my story is similar to someone else’s battle with childhood cancer.

While my story is different from that in “The Fault in Our Stars,” the book and the message behind it are clear: Remember those who didn’t make it along the way.

I congratulate the childhood cancer survivors who had the will and endured the journey.

And last, I acknowledge the doctors, nurses, caretakers and all the family and friends who are the backbone and support team for children with cancer.

We’ve come a long way together in the last 20 years, but there is always more work to do.

Tagged under American Cancer Society, Cancer, Family, Health, Leukemia, Literature, Living Well, One Book, The Fault In Our Stars, Travis Swann, Vanderbilt, Viola

Member Opinions:

By: Meat_Tators on 11/1/12
With a smile and undivided attention, I read Travis Swann's "One Book selection highlights childhood cancer," a personal essay best described as an amalgam of stellar writing skills, character, courage, and the desire to share with, and uplift, others - the resultant whole, arguably, greater than any of the contributing parts.

Years ago, I interviewed rock-blues guitar great Lonnie Mack. During the interview, I asked Lonnie to comment on guitar slinger Stevie Ray Vaughn, with whom Lonnie had performed and recorded. Anout SRV, Lonnie said: "He was an old head on a young body. Some cats know, some don't . . . Stevie Ray knew."

Some time back, I told Travis's father, Monty (a.k.a. the "Viola Legend"), that Travis wrote way beyond his chronological years, essentially, the same compliment Lonnie gave SRV by saying he was an "old head on a young body."

A story this caliber and effect is worthy of being published on a national level and read by the president of the United States!

Mike Vinson
McMinnville, TN