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Families Spread the St. Jude Story
By Kelly Wilson
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
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Liberty boys Jacob Sorrill and Spencer Waters and Quincy
native Justin Kemner share a common bond as one-time
patients of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. All are doing well now, and their families want to spread the word about St. Jude and the coming St. Jude Quincy to Peoria Run fundraising event. "Anybody who's able to help, that's money well spent," said Justin's mother, Cheryl Reardon of Quincy. |
Jacob Sorrill, 10 helps his father Mike Sorrill, left, process pigs after school at his grandparents' farm located near Plainville. Eight years ago, Jacob was diagnosed with bilateral Wilms tumor. He received treatment at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. |
| St.
Jude, founded by entertainer Danny Thomas, is a
world-renowned center for the treatment and research of
life-threatening childhood diseases, such as cancer,
sickle cell anemia and pediatric AIDS. All patients accepted for treatment at St. Jude are treated without regard to the family's ability to pay, and that's why fundraising efforts are so vital. Reardon, along with Spencer's mom, Nancy Waters, and Jacob's mom, Kathy Sorrill, say their sons are proof that the money raised for St. Jude directly benefits local families. |
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Jacob's story
Jacob Sorrill turned 11 Monday, and it certainly was a much happier celebration than it was eight years ago.
A lump about the size of an egg was found on Jacob's abdomen March 18, 1998, just nine days before he turned 3. Dr. Jim Daniels ran tests in Quincy, then referred Jacob to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. |
Jacob Sorrill has blood drawn by a nurse at the St. Jude Midwest Affiliate in Peoria. Jacob, who recently turned 11, was 3 at the time. |
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The Liberty boy was diagnosed with bilateral Wilms tumor, a rare form of cancer that causes tumors on the kidneys of small children.
"He started out with 12 weeks of chemotherapy," said Jacob's mother, Kathy Sorrill, who still chokes up slightly when talking about her son's illness. After the initial round of chemotherapy, Jacob had surgery to remove his entire left kidney and one-quarter of his right kidney, followed by two weeks of radiation and 32 more weeks of chemotherapy. While such situations can be trying on young children and their families, Sorrill says St. Jude helped ease their fears and took care of details such as transportation, lodging and food, so she and her husband, Mike, could concentrate solely on getting Jacob well. "When you go to St. Jude, they assign you a counselor who helps you through the times when you think you just can't do anymore," Sorrill said. "And the other families just give you so much support." Jacob spent a lot of time at both the Memphis hospital and its Midwest affiliate in Peoria. "They were all so good to him," Sorrill said. "They always worked with him and talked with him. They treated him like he was something special." Jacob became quite fond of his doctors, nurses and other staff members. He liked the activity director so much, he asked her to marry him a couple times. "They were always doing things with the kids," Sorrill said. Once his treatment was completed, Jacob continued to return to St. Jude for periodic check-ups, and now must return to the Memphis hospital once a year until he turns 18. Sorrill says it's heartwarming to see Jacob, now a fifth-grader at Liberty School, as a healthy, active boy. "He's very active," she said. "He's in 4-H, he's been playing on a summer ball league and he helps his dad on the farm a lot. He's just a normal kid." A priority now is to get in shape for the Quincy to Peoria Run. |
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Justin's story
Justin Kemner was in kindergarten when he was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. Now, he's a healthy 19-year-old in his first year at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.
"He had been sick off and on for three weeks," Reardon recalls of the days before Justin's diagnosis Sept. 22, 1992. Dr. Richard Schlepphorst of Quincy ran tests and referred him to the St. Jude facility in Peoria.
"They kept us over the weekend, confirmed the diagnosis and on Monday we drove to Memphis," Reardon said. "He got chemotherapy every week for 2 1/2 years.
If we weren't getting it in Memphis, we were going to Peoria." |
Justin Kemner |
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His last chemotherapy treatment was in March 1995. Like most St. Jude patients, he then went back for checkups every six months and finally once a year.
"He had his last checkup with Memphis this past September," Reardon said.
She recalls how scared her son was during his illness, especially because he had to endure several complications. But the St. Jude staff put him at ease.
Reardon also is grateful to the support given to families. |
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Justin Kemner is shown while he was undergoing treatment at St. Jude Childern's Research hospital in November 1992. He is now 19 years old. |
"They assign everyone a caseworker and that person is made available to you for any problems you may be having," she said. "They also had two teachers down there to try to keep them caught up with school work." She says Justin will be home for college during the Quincy to Peoria Run, and hopes he can participate and give something back to the hospital that helped save his life. "We were in Memphis when the runners took off from Memphis on the run to Peoria," Reardon said. "So we are familiar with the event." |
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Spencer's story
Spencer Waters, a seventh-grader at Liberty School, was involved with last year's St. Jude Quincy to Peoria Run, serving as an inspiration to the runners, fundraisers and volunteers involved.
A son of Bill and Nancy Waters, Spencer was 2 years old when Dr. Richard Noble of Quincy referred him to St. Jude.
Like Jacob, he was treated for bilateral Wilms tumor. Nancy Waters says it's such an odd coincidence that two Liberty boys were both diagnosed with the disease because Wilms tumor occurs in only about 350 children a year, and just 2 percent of those cases are in both kidneys. |
Spencer Waters |
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Spencer had his right kidney and a piece of his left kidney removed. He also had chemotherapy and radiation treatments, traveling to Peoria once a week and to Memphis once a month for about nine months.
He barely remembers being ill, but he and his mom have high praise for both the Memphis and Peoria facilities.
"They saved his life," Waters said. "And at St. Jude, they treat the whole family, and that helped us to facilitate his good health."
Spencer says the staff at St. Jude helped make him feel calm during procedures, and he became friends with many of them.
After his initial treatment, he had to go back every three months for a year and then every six months for a year. He'll continue to go for annual checkups until he's 18.
He'll turn 13 next month.
Waters was amazed at how well Spencer handled going through treatment, and she's equally proud of his desire to get involved in fundraising efforts for St. Jude.
The Run
In addition to helping patients and families directly, the research done at St. Jude is shared with other hospitals worldwide to benefit countless other children.
Rick Meehan, race director of the second St. Jude Quincy to Peoria Run, says St. Jude's operating costs are a little more than $1 million, which are primarily covered by public contributions.
The Quincy to Peoria Run, set for Aug. 4-5, is part of the Memphis to Peoria Run, a relay-style run in which participants go from the hospital in Memphis to the one in Peoria.
Satellite runs are held each year at the same time, with runners starting at various communities throughout Illinois and meeting up with the Memphis runners in Peoria to help kick off the annual St. Jude Telethon at the Peoria Civic Center.
The event raises more than $1 million each year for St. Jude. Meehan hopes to recruit 50 local runners who will cover 170 miles in 28 hours during the two-day relay from Quincy to Peoria.
For information about the Quincy to Peoria Run, to provide corporate sponsorship, to sign up as a runner or to serve as a volunteer, call Meehan at (217) 224-7639.
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