Though diagnosed with cancer nearly a year ago, Elizabeth White, a second-grade teacher at Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Vienna, has maintained a positive attitude and a strong faith in God. (GRETCHEN R. CROWE | CATHOLIC HERALD)
On a good day, Elizabeth White’s smile is sunny, her laugh infectious.
On a good day, she has the energy of her 24 years. On a good day, her
mom, dad and brother gather around her, playing games, savoring every
giggle, every moment together.
Not every day, however, is a good one. For nearly a year, Elizabeth, in her second
year as a second-grade teacher at Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Vienna,
has battled diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Cancer. Believed
at first only to be fighting one large tumor — a mass in her chest — Elizabeth’s
prognosis was good: a 90 percent chance of recovery, a six-month treatment. That
was 11 months ago.
In March, two “new” tumors were detected — both of which were
outside the first tumor’s chemotherapy and radiation zones.
Now, with months of treatment behind her and months more to come, Elizabeth and
her family live for each precious moment together. And the family, already filled
with the gift of faith, is relying more on God than ever before.
‘She smiles too much to have cancer.’
Sitting with her parents in their Vienna home on a recent Saturday afternoon,
no one would ever guess Elizabeth was sick. She couldn’t be. Her long hair — a
well-disguised wig — is healthy and shiny. And, like one fourth-grader
at Elizabeth’s school told his teacher: “She doesn’t have cancer.
She smiles too much.”
The only telltale sign is the thin tube leading from a black bag to a port under
her shirt — continuous chemotherapy on-the-go.
The chemo is a new one — part of her enrollment at the National Institutes
of Health in Bethesda, where she recently began receiving care.
The walls of what the family jokingly calls the “White House” are
filled with framed family photos. The mantle is lined with tributes to angels
and saints — including a relic of Blessed Zdenka Schelingova and St. Padre
Pio.
The Whites are a faith-filled family. Well before Elizabeth’s diagnosis,
they had their sights firmly fixed on God. Kathy and Tom are both active at Our
Lady of Good Counsel. Tom, a convert, is involved with Cursillo. Kathy ministered
for six years to the sick and homebound. Even with this background, her first
reaction to her daughter’s diagnosis last June was denial.
“She’s a healthy young teacher, how can she have a tumor the size
of my hand pushing up against her heart and lungs?” Kathy said.
Nearly a year later, though, Kathy is well past denial — her attention
instead focused on “the miracle” that is to come.
Her mantra: “We are one day closer to full and complete healing.”
Kathy’s words are an example of the family’s devotion to the optimistic
spirituality of St. Francis de Sales. Drawing from that spirituality, Elizabeth,
a graduate of Our Lady of Good Counsel School, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory
School in Washington and Elon University in North Carolina, has learned how to
live in the moment.
“There is a purpose to everything that happens and God has a plan for it,” Elizabeth
said. “It gets you through every day. It’s easier to handle everything
as it comes to you if you can take it moment by moment.”
How to save a life
Elizabeth’s tumors now are being treated with chemotherapy in preparation
for a bone marrow transplant that will, if successful, give her a new immune
system — one that will fight the cancer that hers own no longer could.
Here’s where you can help.
Besides Elizabeth’s care, the current focus of the White family is on a
marrow donor drive scheduled for Sunday, May 18, at Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Family friends, including Gail McCarthy, have spent hours organizing.
“They’ve taken it on en masse,” said Tom, describing
the posters that were plastered in restaurants, gyms and dry cleaners all over
town. Students distributed flyers at the Vienna Metro station.
The drive will last for nearly 12 hours — from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and
the donations might help not only Elizabeth, but any number of Elizabeths who
wait — by the thousands — for a perfect match.
No blood is taken at the drive. Rather, donors give cell samples (taken from
their cheeks), which are further used to classify each donor according to several
unique antigens. If the antigens are a match for a patient waiting for a transfer,
more blood tests will be taken to further check for compatibility.
If a close compatibility is found, the donor will then be asked to donate by
one of two ways — either from the hip or pelvic bone or via a newer and
more widely used peripheral blood stem-cell transplant. According to the National
Cancer Institute (NCI), peripheral blood stem-cell transplantation can often
be substituted for bone marrow transplantation. Peripheral blood stem cells are
obtained from a large vein in the arm or a central venous catheter — a
process less invasive than marrow harvesting. Besides the cell samples, donors
will need to give contact information for two people that don’t live at
the same address as themselves and who would always know where to find them.
Other than its medical benefits, organizing the drive has enabled those who felt
helpless to help.
“It’s given people focus and given them some way that they feel that
they can help,” McCarthy said.
Though the odds are slim that a donor from this particular drive could help Elizabeth,
Kathy said any good news would be welcomed.
“It would be wonderful if we could hear that someone who went to this drive
was called and was able to help somebody,” Kathy said. “And of course
deep down we hope that someone will be able to help Elizabeth.”
According to the NCI, there’s about a 50 percent chance of finding a non-related
donor whose antigens match.
But even if Elizabeth doesn’t find a perfect match, “there’s
still hope,” Kathy said. The hope includes “centers of excellence” around
the country they can visit for more treatment options.
Right now it’s a waiting game.
‘Storming heaven’
The Whites, however, are hardly waiting alone. Instead, they find themselves
surrounded by a “foundation of love and support,” Kathy said.
When they are blessed with peace during a “moment of craziness,” they
know their community of faith is praying for them. Members of this community,
including parents, students, co-teachers, family friends — dropped off
meals and cards, well-wishes and hugs.
“We’ve never experienced anything like this before,” Tom said. “The
love of the community has been awesome.”
They truly feel like part of the body of Christ.
“You see Christ in other people when they are literally feeding us and
offering all the comfort that we need when we need it,” Kathy said.
For Elizabeth, it’s simply overwhelming.
“There are no words to express how grateful we are for everything that
everyone’s done,” she said. “I think that’s what’s
given us such a calm peace during everything — knowing that even if we
can’t lift ourselves up, other people are lifting us up.”
One way the community lifts them up is through consistent, organized prayer every
Sunday at 6 p.m. — what a friend of the family calls “storming heaven.”
Her school, too, has worked with her. Trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy,
Elizabeth has taught on and off at Our Lady of Good Counsel over the last several
months. Principal Austin Poole said he has tried to strike a “balance” with
her, letting Elizabeth — who he called a model for the community — work
whenever she could and in whatever capacity.
‘Bit by bit’
As the Whites wait for the next chapters of Elizabeth’s story to unfold,
they thank God that they are people of faith.
“I know that God loves her so He’s going to take care of her, bit
by bit,” Kathy said.
All the while, the Whites continue to pray for the miracle they know is coming.
“I can’t say we’re always optimistic,” Kathy said. “We
have our moments. But God is in that darkness. He’s strong. He’s
carrying us through.”
As He carries them, the family will continue to live moment-by-moment, savoring
every laugh, every smile. And during each day, whether it’s a good one
or a bad one, Kathy’s constant, faith-filled words are sure to echo with
all of them — a gentle reminder that they all are “one day closer
to full and complete healing.”
Gretchen R. Crowe can be reached at gcrowe@catholicherald.com.
How to help
Marrow Donor Drive
May 18
Our Lady of Good Counsel Church
8601 Wolftrap Rd. , Vienna
7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Marrowdrive.homestead.com
