Posted on
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Lil' Wranglers Gives Party For Youngest Cancer Fighters
By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer
FLINT - It was an invite-only party Friday night boasting horse rides, a carousel, free lip-smacking hamburgers and live music for dozens of East Texas kids who share a legacy of kicking cancer.
Staff Writer
FLINT - It was an invite-only party Friday night boasting horse rides, a carousel, free lip-smacking hamburgers and live music for dozens of East Texas kids who share a legacy of kicking cancer.
For the 12th year, Li'l Wranglers, the first event of the Cattle Barons Gala, honored area pediatric cancer patients age 2 to 18 with an unforgettable night of fun and prizes.
For most, whether still in the throes of chemotherapy or newly cancer free, it was a hiatus from tedious recuperation.
Sunshine poured into the inflatable jumping room where 5-year-old Briana McPhearson smiled and laughed, flopping on her stomach in a yellow dress.
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A rare cancerous tumor led doctors to remove Briana's right kidney after radiation and chemotherapy when she was 3 - but dealing with her disease seems to have just started, says her caretakers and grandparents Dale and Liz Boxberger of Gresham.
"She's having a hard time right now," Mrs. Boxberger said. "It's like it's all caught up with her. It's a form of post-traumatic stress."
A retired nurse, Mrs. Boxberger said Briana's father died in fall 2007. But despite heartache and months of painful illness, Briana starts kindergarten in August.
Roberto Rojas, 11, stares in amazement at David McCullough, the “Long Tall Texan” on Friday. The event featured food, games, rides and prizes.
"She's very lucky," she said. "We're so fortunate to have the medical community we have here."
More than 100 children and parents partied in the shade under a huge tent at Threlkeld Farm, riding a mechanical bull, tossing bean bags and painting tiles.
The free event is an important celebration of life for the region's youngest cancer fighters, said co-chair Meredith Roberts.
"A lot of kids look forward to this party all year long," she said. "And we have so many donors that help raise thousands to put this on."
As children like Briana struggle to cope with cancer's blow, older cancer survivors can reflect on their recovery, and even find blessings in it.
Rebecca Hoffman, 15, said when she had a rare recurrence of leukemia at 11 it led her to find "reality with God" in a hospital room she was confined to for weeks.
"At first I was shocked, it was like, this is not supposed to happen," she said Friday night. "But I didn't want to die in that room. I couldn't go outside, and there was this big window, and I think that got me through, looking forward to seeing everything out there again."
Rebecca received a bone marrow transplant, which she described as "they kill you and bring you back to life again," and therapies doctors normally prescribed for adults but tested on her rare form of leukemia.
Now two years cancer free, it's hard to imagine this perky teenager ever suffering such a disease. On Friday she watched her little brother take a horse ride, waiting patiently for her turn.
"It's good to be here," she said. "We came last year, when there was that tornado warning, but this year it's a lot warmer."
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