Chase was running around, appearing completely healthy on the day of the appointment, Lisa remembers. Regardless, Geisinger Pediatrician Pat Kane, MD, decided to have bloodwork done to determine any underlying issues that could have been causing Chase’s pain. That evening, Dr. Kane called Lisa and her husband, Randy, with bad news. “She said she had gotten the results of the bloodwork and that we needed to go to Geisinger right away – tonight,” Lisa remembers. “We were completely caught off-guard. We weren’t thinking that anything bad could be happening.” More bloodwork was done throughout the night once they arrived at Geisinger’s Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. Then, in the morning, there was more news: a bone-marrow biopsy was necessary to confirm the diagnosis, but it looked likely that Chase had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) – a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. The biopsy confirmed the diagnosis, and chemotherapy was started the next day. “We were in complete shock. It happened so quickly, and we weren’t prepared for it,” Lisa says. “It completely turned our life upside-down.” “We started treatment immediately,” says Jagadeesh Ramdas, MD, the pediatric hematologist-oncologist who diagnosed Chase. “If this hadn’t been caught when it was, the cancer could have spread, and treatment would have been even more intense.” The odds seemed to be on Chase’s side. ALL has become the most common childhood cancer, with recent statistics indicating that there are more than 3,500 cases nationwide. It also has proven to be highly curable, with a survival rate of nearly 85 percent – up from only 30 percent in the 1970s. Those statistics, combined with the quick diagnosis, gave confidence to Dr. Ramdas and his team. As positive as the long-term outcome appeared, however, it would be a long, hard road to recovery for Chase. Chemotherapy treatments – which cause a number of difficult side effects – needed to be administered for at least three years. The chemotherapy made Chase very tired, and he would develop nausea when he tried to move. His leg muscles atrophied as he rested, so he had to battle through the sickness, moving and walking to keep up his leg strength. Because the treatments compromised his immune system, he wasn’t allowed to have visitors, even when he was at home. Pre-school had to be delayed. He was separated from Noah often when his counts would drop and he was hospitalized. Then there was the broken arm – a compound fracture that required six surgeries and compromised the use of his arm. “Chase faced a number of admissions for fevers, life-threatening infections,” Dr. Ramdas says. “We thought, ‘how are we going to do this for three years?’” Lisa says. “It was so hard to think about what was happening that we just focused on the end.” To help them keep that focus, Chase and his family kept a countdown of treatments and marked off each one. When the final treatment came, the children’s hospital staff helped him celebrate – and Chase finally was able to ring the bell that indicates a final chemotherapy treatment. “We had passed that bell so many days,” Lisa remembers, noting how exciting it was for Chase to finally be able to ring it. Now 8 years old, Chase is in remission and is an active youngster. He and Noah are looking forward to a third trip to Camp Dost – a specialized summer camp for pediatric cancer patients and their siblings. The camp, a program of the Danville Ronald McDonald House and a recipient of Children’s Miracle Network funding, has helped the twins meet other children who have gone through similar situations. This past year also marked the first time Chase was able to go out and play in the snow – another milestone for the family. “You take so many things for granted when you see children playing, and you don’t realize how lucky they are. … There were so many days when Chase was in a hospital room,” Lisa says. “It was just our entire life for three-and-a-half years.” Chase continues follow-up treatments and undergoes routine bloodwork to check for any sign of recurrence. While the fear is present at every test, Chase and his family continue to focus on the positive and believe that some good may have come out of the whole ordeal. “It sounds like a cliché to say that you think it’s never going to happen, but you don’t. You don’t ever think that’s something that will affect your family,” Lisa says, adding that it gave the family a different perspective. “We now appreciate the day-to-day things I might have overlooked otherwise – things like watching them get on the school bus or setting all four places at the dinner table. “It’s amazing to think we actually got through it – but there is hope at the end. I just never thought we’d get to the point where we almost feel normal now.” Chase's story will be featured during the 2008 Celebration broadcast on WYOU May 31 and June 1. | 
