Family Stories
Respite Spotlight: The Brewers Brew-up Support
By Jasmine Touton
One evening in late January, David and Jennifer Brewer noticed a subtle change in their one and a half-year-old daughter, Sarah; she started losing some of her coordination.
“Deteriorating motor skills – that’s what tipped us off,” says David. “Ironically, that’s the thing she is still battling now.”
A visit to the neurologist and MRI didn’t reveal anything at first, but soon doctors found the source of Sarah’s motor skill problem: a tumor at the back portion of her left shoulder. Two weeks later, Jennifer and David sent their daughter into surgery to have the tumor removed. After six months of chemo, regular steroid treatments, and muscle therapy, Sarah is slowly regaining the coordination (although she may never have full control.) And, with the help of Believe In Tomorrow respite trips, Sarah’s family is working on regaining some of their own coordination and normalcy.
At first David was hesitant to join Believe In Tomorrow’s programs when a Johns Hopkins Hospital social worker approached the family with information on joining Believe In Tomorrow’s respite programs. “We thought we didn’t qualify, but they said if you have a child with a life-threatening illness, you can go.”
The Brewer’s arrived at the Believe In Tomorrow House on Fenwick Island in August 2008. Sarah’s chemo treatments were finished and the family finally had the time to focus on themselves while experiencing a normal getaway at the beach.
“We were just blown away,” says David. “The house is so clean and nice. It’s set in a great community. Right from the moment we checked in we were just given tons of stuff to do.”
The Brewers visited Bethany Beach before, but this was the first time the vacation was about the family. The kids explored the pirate ship and ate plenty of donuts and ice cream.
“When you go through something like this, it is obviously hard on Sarah,” says David. “But there is also a reality that the other kids sacrifice as well. There are a lot of things our other kids haven’t been able to do because of Sarah’s illness.”
David says the initial respite trip boosted morale significantly and blessed the family. When the Montgomery Village, Md. residents returned from the trip they told Sarah’s grandparents – who live in the Baltimore area – about the wonderful time they had connecting as a family. The retired grandparents decided volunteering weekly at the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House at Johns Hopkins would serve as the perfect opportunity to give back.
Jennifer and David also plan to give back as top fundraisers for the Believe In Tomorrow Port to Fort 6K race on April 26. The couple have organized aunts, sisters, and friends - some flying in from North Carolina – to join “Sarah’s Brew Crew” team, race, and raise money for Believe In Tomorrow programs.
In mid-March, the Brewers headed to the Believe In Tomorrow House on Wisp Mountain for their second respite. All Believe In Tomorrow families are encouraged to participate in the Respite Housing program on an ongoing basis during and up to a year after the treatment process.
“Personally, it’s a blast,” says David. “It will be nice to getaway.”
He added: “I think we all need to give back to the community more. This is one organization that we know we can endorse and support.”
Spotlight: The Lathwells Show Sibling Support … Eight Times Over
By Jasmine Touton
It’s a mild Tuesday morning and four Lathwell boys sport matching red thermals while finishing bowls of cereal around the table at the SunTrust Suite in the Believe In Tomorrow House at St. Casimir. Their father, Kevin Lathwell, energetically wipes down the table and introduces the grinning boys.
“They love it here because at home we don’t have a TV,” says Lathwell, who lives an hour and forty minute-drive away from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Hedgesville, W.V. “These are big hockey guys.”
Ten minutes later an older boy peers into the living room. Eventually, a blonde, little girl wanders out from a bedroom. Lathwell explains that he has two more children away at college. Lathwell’s ninth child, however, Thomas, 9, is the reason the Lathwells came to stay at St. Casimir. Seven years ago Thomas began battling reoccurring bouts with leukemia. The just-large-enough suite at St. Casimir allowed the family to come out in full force to support Thomas through his latest leukemia battle. And with more than a month behind them and probably several months to go, Lathwell believes having the family around Thomas makes a world of difference.
Thomas was first diagnosed with leukemia at 2-years-old.
“He seemed like he had a cough that just kept going,” says Lathwell. “We took him in and did a blood test and right away they knew. They called us that day. It’s been a long haul.”
The long haul included 30 days of initial treatment then maintenance on long weekends, when the family stayed at the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House at Johns Hopkins to be across the street from the hospital. After two years, the Lathwell family thought Thomas recovered completely, but September 2006 Thomas relapsed and required a bone marrow transplant. In July of that year, he relapsed again. This time, Thomas’s brother Nicholas, now 11, was a perfect bone marrow match for his brother’s transplant. July 2006 was the first time the family came to stay at St. Casimir. They stayed one hundred days past bone marrow transplant.
“It was wonderful, I mean considering I still had my expenses back there and, you know, we needed something that was affordable and big enough,” says Lathwell. “And then with the laundry facilities downstairs, walking distance to Safeway, and with the church, it’s all pretty convenient.”
The Lathwells brought Thomas back for maintenance treatment every couple of months. September 2008, at two years post transplant, doctors declared Thomas cured.
Come February 2009, though, Thomas began to bruise badly and look jaundiced again. The Lathwells arrived at Believe In Tomorrow’s House at St. Casimir Feb. 10. A quick rearrangement of the three bedroom suite allowed the family to make their “home-away-from-home” and set up a rotation for all of Thomas’s siblings to visit him in the hospital.
“That’s an important part of the puzzle too, having family with Tommy,” says Lathwell. “I mean just being in the hospital forty days, I can’t imagine. He’s on that floor forty days.”
During the six plus years of treatment, the Lathwells also visited the Believe In Tomorrow House By The Sea and the Believe In Tomorrow House on Wisp Mountain, both respite properties, when Thomas was in remission.
“Vacations with seven, eight, nine kids, when most income goes to feeding this crew, it’s very difficult,” says Lathwell. “Tommy loves the beach. And being together as a family? That’s what it’s all about.”
Lathwell also remembers the family vacation to Wisp Mountain fondly: “That was just a wonderful getaway. To be able to take a breath, and you know, come back to reality every once in awhile.”
*At publication, Thomas’s white blood cell count was up and his father said he would be able to start chemo and get a transplant soon. Lathwell expected he would stay at the Believe In Tomorrow House at St. Casimir another 130 days.