Friday, January 22, 2010
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Neighbors | Submitted.A young Meredith Reffner standing in front of the friendship wall at Tod Children's Hospital in 1999. The personalized tile that she created is tile number 94. .
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Neighbors | Submitted.There is no better way to spend winter break than with loved ones. An all grown up Meredith Reffner (center) spends Christmas with her parents Susan Reffner (left) and Terry Reffner.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Carving pumpkins is no problem for 9-year-old Meredith Reffner. She did not let her illness deter her from childhood activities.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Eight-year-old Meredith Reffner continued with daily activities despite her diagnosis. Here she is swinging outside her grandmother's house in summer 1999.
By SHAIYLA HAKEEM
shakeem@vindy.com
A routine visit to the doctor’s office for a reoccurring fever and leg pains landed Poland resident Meredith Reffner in the hospital.
After several days of testing, the results finally came in.
Just six months after moving to Poland Township, Reffner was diagnosed with leukemia, she was 7.
Reffner, now 19, looks back at her childhood and realizes how fortunate she was. She had the support of friends, teachers and most importantly, family.
According to the American Cancer Society, though leukemia is the most common cancer in adolescents, overall, childhood leukemia is rare.
This cancer effects white blood cells that are located in bone marrow. The cells that are produced become abnormally large, which prohibits them to protect the body from diseases.
Some of Riffner’s childhood hobbies came to a standstill due to continuous treatment and testing. A catheter was placed in Reffner’s chest that was used to draw blood and administer medicine intravenously.
Since she had to keep the catheter in place for long periods of time, swimming was cut out of her schedule.
Dancing, which Riffner had been doing since she was 4, was put on hold as well. School attendance was tough due to her illness and the necessary treatments.
“I couldn’t go to school all the time, it was tough on my family. We had some difficult times.” Reffner said.
School absences due to treatment schedules were unavoidable, but Poland’s school system was very supportive. Reffner says that her third- and fourth-grade teachers made special trips to her home to help her catch up on material she had missed. Classmates also came out to visit her and would give her get-well-soon cards.
In an effort to make things more comfortable for Reffner, a representative from Tod Children’s Hospital, where she was receiving treatment, came out to her elementary school to explain to the students exactly what her condition entailed. She says that she sat out in the hall during the presentation because she was a little embarrassed.
“I felt awkward. I don’t know what they said, but people were very supportive,” she said.
Reffner says that her and her family tied to make the most out of life, regardless of her complicated circumstances. They still took family vacations and participated in fun childhood activities like pumpkin carving. Reffner received treatment from 1998 to 2000. She has been in remission since 2001. She says that when things get though in her life, she looks back to her childhood experience for courage and strength.
“It was definitely a tough experience, but I feel like I’ve gained something and that it all happened for a reason,” she said.
Reffner was an active participant in the R.O.C.c.K. childrens choir which she says helped her open up a lot. She has also written poems and a personal essays about her experience for the A Way With Words Foundation.
“Writing for the foundation was really encouraging for me,” she said.
Reffner is currently a sophomore at Indiana University, Bloomington Campus, and is anticipated to graduate in May 2012. After college, she would like to start a journalistic career.
“I would like to be writing, not sure if for newspaper or magazine,” Reffner said, “My main goal now is figure out what I want to do.”