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Cancer, families and physicians (book excerpt: A Lion in the House)

Ohio journalist Margaret A. McGurk tells the story of five child cancer patients whom filmmakers followed for six years as the children were treated.

By Margaret A. McGurk, amednews contributor. Oct. 9, 2006.

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Book Excerpt
A peek inside what's new on the shelves on topics pertinent to physicians.

The children were treated at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital Memorial Center. Documentary filmmakers also followed the children. In this first excerpt, Beth Moone talks about dealing with her daughter Jennifer's diagnosis

Jen was five. It was in the fall of 1996, I guess, and she started having ear infections again. She had tubes in her ears, but she started getting fevers with the ear infections, which is kind of unusual, but yet, nothing alarming. Then January of 1997, she started getting lethargic, just not herself, tired, taking naps. She's always been a nap person, but still -- she started getting one ear infection after another.

We knew she was really sick for about four months. We knew something was wrong. We kept taking her to the pediatrician and they would keep sending us home. "It's a virus. Go home. She's fine." We'd say, "No, wait a minute. Nobody in our home has a virus. She doesn't have any symptoms of a virus other than a fever."

When we finally got the appointment with Children's (in Columbus), we met with the chief of hematology and oncology. He said, "Guys, you aren't thinking this is something serious are you?" We said, "Yeah, we think there is."

He says, "Well, we can do a test. We can do a bone marrow test if you think that you would feel more comfortable with that. It's kind of painful." [Husband] Frank and I are like, "Yes, we need to find out." So he did the procedure and he told me, "Folks, go home." I remember that this was the day after Mother's Day. She was sick on Mother's Day with a slight fever.