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 wonder if the family was paying tuition during her sickness? My high school had a student who we had compete his senior year from his bed due to cancer treatment. We were more than accommodating, doesn’t the bible say something to that effect? He did graduate, but unfortunately passed shortly afterward.
A full understanding of 'remission' in child leukemia is in order. Assuming this child had Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), she would be in remission within 2-3 weeks of initial intense chemotherapy. If not, her outlook would not be good. Given her age (over 9 years full cure chances decrease rapidly), her outlook is in the 50-50 or 70-30 category off the bat for a cure, unless her genetics test came back with promising information.
When a child is diagnosed with leukemia they go through intense chemotherapy in a hospital for an initial three weeks. After that another bone marrow sample is taken and the child is either in remission or not. They should be in remission. All that means is they cannot 'see' with the most modern diagnostic equipment cancer cells in the blood or marrow. But the doctors will tell you 'the cancer is still there we just can't see it.' This is the 'carpet bombing' or 'shock and awe' portion of the chemo. Even after this initial remission, the child then gets a week or two off to regain strength and allow their white cells to build up. At this point they are vulnerable to infections and many contract fevers and staph infections during this period. Then the child goes in the hospital for a week and more treatments. This cycle is repeated for about three months. This the 'ground war' of the treatment regimen. Then the kid goes in for twice weekly and eventually once a month treatments in an oncologist office. This is the 'counter insurgency' period of the treatments. This lasts for THREE years. In between these doctor's office visits for a 4-5 hour infusion, the kids are still weak and vulnerable to infections. Schools are full of germs.