It was a diagnosis that would shock any parent : “ Your child has cancer .” Those four small words felt like four tons of weight to
Terrance and Sherri Moultrie .
It was a diagnosis that would shock any parent : “ Your child has cancer .” Those four small words felt like four tons of weight to Terrance and Sherri Moultrie .
The Moultries first heard those words in 2007 when their 15-month-old son , Trevor , was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia ( ALL ). Terrance says the immediate moments after that were a complete blur .
“ When the doctor told us Trevor had leukemia , it felt like we ’ d hit a brick wall . It was devastating ,” Terrance recalled . “ I was trying to control my emotions in the room , but when I stepped out to call my family , I was just a ball of tears . I couldn ’ t really process what in the world was going on .”
However , it didn ’ t take long for the Moultries to realize that there was a positive side to the diagnosis : The remission rate has improved from barely 50 % in the 1970s to as much as 96 % in recent studies . That gave the Moultries hope and a reason to enroll Trevor into a clinical trial for his treatment .
“ The reason the cure rate is so high now is because of the research that has been done before ,” Terrance said . “ My wife and I realized that we wanted Trevor to be cured and healthy , but we also wanted to have those who come behind us benefit from the research that we provided through him .”
Under the guidance of now-retired pediatric hematologist Raymond Watts , M . D ., Trevor entered into an ALL clinical trial through the O ’ Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center . Terrance says his son experienced hair loss and moodiness , with a couple of potential setbacks . In one case , it briefly appeared that the cancer might be growing again . But after 31 / 2 years of aggressive treatment , Trevor was declared cancer-free . Currently he is 17 years old and a junior at Hewitt-Trussville High School .
“ Trevor has beaten every challenge thrown his way pertaining to this ,” Terrance said . “ He ’ s healthy , and he ’ s excited about life . He ’ s good in sports and plays football . He ’ s also very aware of what he went through and of the importance of giving back and trying to help other people .”
Actually , by going through the ALL clinical trial , Trevor already has helped others . According to UAB Medicine pediatric hematologist-oncologist Julie Wolfson , M . D ., MSHS , the trial helped change the approach to standard-of-care monitoring for leukemia .
“ This study helped us understand so many things about treating children with ALL , but one important thing was about how we could get to a more nuanced way of classifying children according to how high-risk their disease is ,” Dr . Wolfson said . “ For example , we used to do a lot of bone marrow procedures throughout treatment . But this study established a much more specific way to look at the way a child ’ s leukemia was responding to treatment . This has helped change the field in terms of how we treat these patients .” ❚■
BELOW : Trevor Moultrie ABOVE : Moultrie with his family
TREVOR MOULTRIE
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