{"id":410,"date":"2015-03-07T20:06:02","date_gmt":"2015-03-07T20:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/after-cancer\/?p=410"},"modified":"2015-07-14T18:44:48","modified_gmt":"2015-07-14T18:44:48","slug":"after-cancer-many-fears-both-real-and-imagined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/after-cancer\/2015\/03\/07\/after-cancer-many-fears-both-real-and-imagined\/","title":{"rendered":"After Cancer, Many Fears, Both Real And Imagined"},"content":{"rendered":"

Surviving childhood cancer comes with costs. Survivors are at a higher risk for developing secondary cancers later in life. The treatments they receive as kids can affect their growth, their ability to have children, and even their learning. Then there\u2019s the lingering fear of remission. Jude Cobler, who was diagnosed with leukemia, faces his own fears.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"The

The Cobler family at home in Plano. Photo\/Mark Birnbaum<\/p><\/div>\n

Early one winter morning in Plano, Jude Cobler sat at his kitchen table with his parents, eating ham, toast and scrambled eggs before school \u2013 and talking about basketball practice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jude seems like your average 10-year-old. But after leukemia, Jude is different.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For one thing, he has different fears. He\u2019s afraid of getting sick.
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got out, I thought there was no more, that\u2019s it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I realized you can have it again. I\u2019m trying my hardest to stay healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jude

Jude Cobler on a recent bike ride in Plano. Photo\/Mark Birnbaum<\/p><\/div>\n

Yes, he plays sports and eats some <\/em>vegetables. He also has little tricks to keep away from germs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s GermX in the room and someone\u2019s coughing, if there\u2019s someone coughing next to me, I slide to the left a little,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m really cautious at school.\u201d<\/p>\n

After school, if someone starts coughing at a friend\u2019s house, he\u2019ll head home.<\/p>\n

Kids who\u2019ve recovered from cancer often worry about the cancer creeping back, Dr. Shannon Poppito says. She\u2019s a clinical psychologist who works with childhood cancer survivors at Baylor\u2019s Sammons Cancer Center.
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is something about having cancer that is ever present in your mind,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s this hypervigilance and control to make sure that you\u2019re doing everything to take care of yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

And time doesn\u2019t always wash it away.<\/p>\n

I realized you can have it again. I\u2019m trying my hardest to stay healthy.
Jude Cobler, reflecting on life after cancer.<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n
\"Jude

Jude Cobler, left, eats lunch with classmates at All Saints Catholic School in Far North Dallas. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018With you for the rest of your life\u2019<\/h3>\n

Cynthia Sekerke of Mansfield is 58. She had Hodgkin\u2019s Lymphoma as a teenager.<\/p>\n

\"Cynthia

Cynthia Sekerke Photo\/Stephanie Kuo<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOne of my oncologists later told me that all cancer survivors are all paranoid,\u201d Sekerke said. \u201cAnd I scoffed at that idea, but later realized there was some truth in that. Because after dealing with something like the Hodgkin\u2019s any little lump or bump took on a magnitude that it didn\u2019t have before.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what happened to Kyle Freeland of Tyler. He was diagnosed at age 10 with the same type of leukemia as Jude.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t realize that once you\u2019re done with cancer it\u2019s not like you get to say goodbye and walk away,\u201d Freeland said. \u201cIt\u2019s with you for the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeland returned to school full-time in seventh grade. But in eighth grade, he started having anxiety attacks \u2013 and issues focusing in school.<\/p>\n

\"Kyle

Kyle Freeland Photo\/Stephanie Kuo<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt got so bad to the point where my mom had to pull me out and I started homeschooling again,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Of course, not all kids who have cancer will end up with learning problems or anxiety. But it is true that childhood cancer survivors are more likely to get cancer again later in life.<\/p>\n

Freeland, who\u2019s 21 now, is being treated for testicular cancer. And Sekerke had breast cancer decades after Hodgkin\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get it the second time around and so much time has elapsed in between I think my take was, \u2018I\u2019ve beaten this before, I\u2019ve got this one,\u2019\u201d Sekerke said.<\/p>\n

\"Jude

Jude Cobler played football with classmates during recess. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018A sense of resiliency\u2019<\/h3>\n

Finding that strength \u2013 it\u2019s another way cancer changes people. Poppito, the clinical psychologist, calls it post-traumatic growth.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.

Dr. Shannon Poppito Photo\/Courtesy Baylor Scott & White<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThey have learned a sense of resiliency, a sense of overcoming, their sense of identity becomes stronger,\u201d Poppito says. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to look at the post traumatic growth and the power behind cancer as opposed to the negativities of cancer this is what can come out of cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

After facing down death five years ago, Jude Cobler has also become more empathetic. Remember how this 10-year-old is afraid of getting sick? Well, he\u2019s just as worried about getting other kids sick. If he has a cough, he\u2019ll strap on a scratchy paper face mask even when it cramps his style.<\/p>\n

\u201cJude was just wearing a mask the last three days,\u201d says his mom, Boots Cobler.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe even asked if he should wear a mask at school. I told him there was no need to!\u201d says his dad, Keith Cobler.<\/p>\n

I like to consider myself an ordinary kid right now. But I remember … I wasn\u2019t that ordinary.
Jude Cobler<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n
\"Jude

Jude Cobler is a student at All Saints Catholic School in Far North Dallas. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

Wanting to live an \u2018ordinary life\u2019<\/h3>\n

Jude\u2019s ambition, though, is clear. Like many kids who recover from cancer, Jude wants to help others stay healthy. One day, he hopes to be a doctor.
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a pediatric oncologist and work at Children\u2019s,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Jude says he feels a bit different than other kids his age.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I like to consider myself an ordinary kid right now,\u201d Jude says. \u201cBut I remember now and then I wasn\u2019t that ordinary. But I kind of want to live an ordinary life now and don\u2019t be so different.\u201d<\/p>\n

A normal kid, doing something pretty remarkable. Growing up — after cancer.<\/p>\n

\n

Update: Jude’s Leukemia Has Relapsed<\/h3>\n

In early April, we learned that Jude Cobler’s leukemia relapsed.<\/p>\n

Since Jude had gone five years cancer-free after chemotherapy, radiation and a bone marrow transplant, there was very little chance of a relapse. So when Jude went to Children\u2019s Medical Center in Dallas after not feeling well, the news that his cancer was back was a shock.<\/p>\n

Even doctors like Laura Klesse were surprised.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost children with leukemia right now are cured of their disease long term,\u201d she said. \u201cI think one of the things we knew about Jude\u2019s leukemia is that it was a little more resistant to chemotherapy. Our goal is to have children in remission that first month. His was a little slower. Why it is that the leukemia cells were quiet for five years before they came back? That\u2019s a question none of us can answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Testing shows Jude\u2019s original cancer cells have overtaken the cells his brother, Joshua, donated years ago. Doctors have started Jude on intensive chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

\"Jude's

Jude’s parents, Boots and Keith Cobler. Photo\/Mark Birnbaum<\/p><\/div>\n

Jude’s parents, Boots and Keith, are camping out at the hospital that\u2019s once again become a second home. They\u2019re trying to stay awake — and optimistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we\u2019re at the base of Mount Everest, just getting ready to start the climb,\u201d Keith Cobler said. \u201cWe\u2019re starting chemo this month and that\u2019ll go on, and then it\u2019ll be the next step from there. But it\u2019ll be a long and difficult climb over the next few months.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first plateau to reach is remission. That\u2019s where the signs of leukemia are gone, even though cancer cells may still be in the body. Then Jude could need another bone marrow transplant. Scaling that peak is extra tricky.<\/p>\n

Keith Cobler is white. Boots is from the Philippines. Being a mixed-race couple poses a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge, of course, is finding a match for Jude,\u201d Keith Cobler said. \u201cFinding that match is very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are around 16 million volunteer donors on the national Be The Match Registry<\/a>. Of those, only 3 percent identify as mixed race.<\/p>\n

Dr. Klesse says it may be possible to use bone marrow from Joshua again. But she says that there could be some benefit in looking for somebody else that also is a match. You want the donor cells to be similar enough to blend in, but not so similar they forget to fight off the leukemia.<\/p>\n

The Coblers, and all of Jude\u2019s friends, have already started the search.<\/p>\n

In a video, classmates of Jude\u2019s at All Saints Catholic School in Dallas hold up handwritten signs saying \u201cI AM JUDE\u201d to promote a bone marrow drive on May 6 with the national\u00a0Be The Match\u00a0Registry.<\/a><\/p>\n

The video has thousands of views on Facebook.<\/p>\n

As Jude works through chemo, he\u2019s finding new ways to distract himself. Among them, learning to play the ukulele.<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Team Jude: Register with Be The Match to be a potential marrow donor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How To Help: Bone Marrow Drive May 6<\/h3>\n

All Saints is teaming up with Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas for a bone marrow drive. It\u2019s from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. May 6 at Jesuit, which is at 12345 Inwood Rd. in Dallas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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