{"id":486,"date":"2015-03-06T18:46:01","date_gmt":"2015-03-06T18:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/after-cancer\/?p=486"},"modified":"2015-07-28T17:13:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T17:13:00","slug":"it-sucks-judes-leukemia-has-returned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/after-cancer\/2015\/03\/06\/it-sucks-judes-leukemia-has-returned\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It Sucks’: Jude’s Leukemia Has Returned"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an enormous photo of Jude on the sixth floor at Children\u2019s Medical Center in Dallas. It was taken five years ago, right after a successful bone marrow transplant. He\u2019s smiling, holding an iPad and wearing a dark hat that reaches to where his eyebrows should be. Today, Jude is on the sixth floor again, but he\u2019s not smiling.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

In early April, we learned that Jude Cobler\u2019s leukemia relapsed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt sucks, because it does,\u201d Jude says. \u201cIt definitely does, but I know I\u2019m going to get through this.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jude, who\u2019s 10, has just finished his second of three rounds of chemotherapy. He\u2019s been filling his time with video games, TV, and putting together a computer with his dad, which he said was fun and challenging.<\/p>\n

The challenge for doctors, and Jude\u2019s parents Boots and Keith\u00a0Cobler, is finding the right bone marrow donor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Jude\u2019s case, being \u2026 half Caucasian and half Filipino, it\u2019s very difficult to find a match,\u201d Keith\u00a0Cobler\u00a0said. \u201cWe\u2019re still searching the databases and trying to get people to join the registry with\u00a0Be The Match<\/a>\u00a0to get on that. It\u2019s really a difficult task for minorities and mixed races.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jude

Jude Cobler stands next to a picture of him hanging on a wall at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Jude’s Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia has relapsed. Photo\/Courtesy Cobler family<\/p><\/div>\n

Sometimes, Cobler says, you might find someone who\u2019s registered to donate, but no longer is able to take a week or so off for the procedure.<\/p>\n

\"Jude

Jude Cobler wears a pin with silver and gold medals — St. Peregrine, the Holy Spirit and the Miraculous Medal of Mary. It’s pinned right above Jude’s heart. Photo\/Lauren Silverman<\/p><\/div>\n

In the meantime, the whole family has to be careful. The chemo drugs have left Jude with almost no immunity. As he gets ready to go outside, he straps on a white face mask.<\/p>\n

Something shiny glints from his Minecraft T-shirt. His mom, Boots, touches what look like charms.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same pin with silver and gold medals that he wore five years ago when he was first diagnosed with leukemia. There\u2019s St. Peregrine, the Holy Spirit and the Miraculous Medal of Mary, pinned right above his heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wears it 24\/7,\u201d Boots Cobler said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t take it out, only when he takes a shower.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

After diagnosis, family stays optimistic<\/h3>\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, earlier this year, when Jude went to Children\u2019s Medical Center 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 started Jude on intensive chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

\"Jude's

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

Jude\u2019s parents, Boots and Keith, are camping out at the hospital that\u2019s once again become a second home. They\u2019re trying to stay awake \u2014 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. \u201cIt\u2019ll be a long and difficult climb.\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

\"Jude

Jude and Joshua Cobler, before Jude’s leukemia relapsed. Photo\/Mark Birnbaum<\/p><\/div>\n

Dr. Klesse says it may be possible to use bone marrow from Joshua again. But she says that there’s a 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, started the search soon after the relapse.<\/p>\n

In a video,Jude\u2019s classmates at All Saints Catholic School in Dallas held up handwritten signs saying \u201cI AM JUDE\u201d to promote a bone marrow drive in May 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, he’s 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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