ShawneeDispatch.com

In the past four months, James Dooley has had to learn a lot about being sick and having to go to the hospital.

At the mention of the treatments he's endured since his leukemia diagnosis June 28, the young Shawnee resident says "My chemo? I go to the doctor," and goes back to playing.

James has done an amazing job trying not to let his illness keep him from being a normal 3-year-old, said his parents, Tina and Sean Dooley. Sean has particular reason to be amazed; it was only a little less than five years ago that he was going through chemotherapy treatments himself for lymphoma.

Having already battled the disease, Sean hopes his experience will help James.

"It's still quite a shock, but at the same time, we'll be able to deal with it, get through," Sean Dooley said. "Having gone through it myself, that probably makes it a little easier."

Now, some of the Dooley's Shawnee neighbors hope to do their part to make things easier for the family. On Oct. 4, they have organized a trail ride to help the family with a mounting pile of medical bills.

James was diagnosed after he had been running fevers off and on in June, causing enough concern for his parents to take him into a health clinic.

"Of course, they'd find nothing and write it off as a virus or something going around," Sean Dooley said. "One day, we ended up taking him to the hospital because he was yellow in color. He just didn't look right."

After running several tests, doctors finally diagnosed James with acute lymphoblastic leukemia that day, and he was immediately taken to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. There, doctors told the Dooleys that James' cancer was the most common and most treatable.

"It's not good that he has it to start with, but it's the 'good' kind to get," Sean Dooley said.

But it's still a strain on such a little boy. James soon had had four blood transfusions, two platelet transfusions, bone marrow testing, chemotherapy treatments and spinal taps. He had a double port inserted in his chest, which became infected about a week after he was first released from the hospital July 6. The Staph infection put him back in the hospital July 17, and he began having trouble walking after all of his treatments.

His parents said he walked stiff-legged and flat-footed, obviously hurting from the bone marrow tests and spinal taps, but he never complained of any pain. James was given antibiotics intravenously for 14 days and had another blood transfusion during this hospital stay. The infected port was removed and a new one inserted a week later. After 17 days in the hospital, James was released to go home again Aug. 3.

Now he goes into the hospital every Thursday for two- to three-hour chemotherapy treatments. He'll do this for the next six months, and then once or twice a month for the next two years, though his Aug. 7 bone marrow test showed no signs of cancer.

"He knows they're trying to make him better," Sean Dooley said. "He was pretty confused at first; he didn't know what was going on."

Sean's previous experience with the treatments has helped. He's been in remission from lymphoma for nearly five years, but he remembers the sessions of chemotherapy and the month of radiation treatments.

James' treatments have weakened his immune system, and his parents have had to pull him out of daycare. His grandmothers have been able to watch James during the day so his parents can continue working.

"The risk of infection is too great with all the other kids," Sean said. "If he gets sick, that's more than likely another hospital stay, so we're trying to avoid that."

The pile of brown curls on James' head before the treatments began have noticeably thinned, but his parents say he is prepared for the future hair-loss. He's seen the pictures of his father bald during his treatments, and he sees the children in the treatment rooms at Children's Mercy.

"He's fine with it; it doesn't seem to bother him at all," Sean Dooley said. "I hated it; I shaved all mine off."

James also hasn't let the side effects from his treatments keep him from being active; he seems to be returning to normal after those first two tiring months of hospital stays. Sean Dooley said he is surprised by James' energy.

"When I was going through mine, I didn't want to do anything," Sean Dooley said.

The illness has been more than an emotional strain on the family; the sudden medical bills have added to their financial strain.

"We haven't even touched them yet; they're still coming in, and I need to figure out some sort of payment schedule," Sean Dooley said. "It's going to be tough, because we basically live check to check now as it is."

Which is where some friendly neighbors are trying to help. Teresa Maxwell, who lives across the street from the Dooleys and whose son is just a few days older than James, spearheaded the effort to have a fundraiser for James and had a trust fund created for James at a local bank.

"It's a pretty friendly neighborhood, but I wasn't expecting anything like that," Sean Dooley said. "It's pretty awesome that they took that step and did that; I wasn't expecting anything."

With the help of Jesse Curry, another neighbor, Maxwell is organizing a horseback trail ride and a poker run to benefit the Dooley family Oct. 4 at Hillsdale Lake, near Paola in Miami County. In addition to the trail ride and poker run beginning at 1 p.m., there will be a raffle, silent auction, music from Shawnee's The George England Band and a barbecue dinner at 4 p.m.

Dinner tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children ages 5-16. Poker run entries, which include the dinner, are $30. For more information, contact Maxwell at 563-5190 or Curry at 962-9023.

Learn more about James and follow his progress at caringbridge.org/visit/jamesdooley. To help support the Dooley Family, donations can be made payable to: James A. Dooley Relief Trust Fund and mailed to M & I Bank, 6333 Long Avenue, Shawnee, KS 66216.