Great suggestions! (post 13)
In addition, there are many online schools which could have been another direction for this family as well as parents could have chosen the homeschool option.
Check out the interview below.
4:59 Minutes
Middle School Expels 12-Year-Old Cancer Survivor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmQ2FWqd4aw
She had been in remission since Dec, but it was last week the school said she could not attend school. (from the video on the page)
12-Year-Old Girl Battling Leukemia Kicked Out of School Over ‘Attendance and Academic Concerns.’ But Then the Issue Hit the News…
McGrath was kicked out of St. Joseph Middle School in Battle Creek over ’attendance and academic concerns,” according to a letter the school sent to her parents, which said their daughter had attended 32 of 134 school days this year.
I’m going to cut the parents some slack here.
I can’t imagine how having a child with a cancer diagnosis won’t make one c-r-a-z-y.
That is a good option. It lacks one thing...schoolmates...daily friends a peer support group. That is probably one of the considerations the parents and even the school thought about. I'm sure the school was very supportive in the beginning. But compassion in our cold world tapers off quickly. Leukemia in most cases is a 3.5 year ordeal of chemo treatments. After the first few months to the first year people who don't experience such stop contacting or lose interest or can't be bothered. You REALLY find out who loves your family, who cares and who seeks the Heart of Jesus Christ after that small time period. Not only schools, but family and friends. One lady in our neighborhood who is not family nor a close friend periodically 'just came by' to drop off a covered dish when she knew it was a busy chemo week. She knew getting home late after a full day of chemo for my son meant we did not think far enough ahead to cook that late. She kept this up until she knew my son was finished with chemo and on the road to full cure.
One of the reasons I commend Tired of Taxes for keeping the Cancer warrior ping list and prayer requests.
So this kid is in this for the long haul, not because she wants to but because she has to. She did not choose to get cancer. She did not 'get' leukemia due to a bad diet or a risky life style or something her parents did or didn't do. She was born with it in her 'gene pool.'
The ultimate test Christ gave us is how we treat children, sick, orphans, widow and lowly. The Catholic school has academic standards...I get that. How far off she was is not in the details. Was she offered to repeat? The attendance standards, however, were just plain stupid given the child's condition and risk of infection and possible death. The cure rate for blood cancers is very high 90-95%! But what actually can end the life of the kid more than the cancer is the risk of infection leading to life threatening complications. Personally my son faced two non-cancer sicknesses which made it touch and go there for a few late nights and doctor's preparing us for what parents never want to think about...Praise be to God, all in His Hands.