WEDNESDAY,DEC.12,2001
FROM THE COVER
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Cancer: Coping with chemo
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Lee Boos, Ellis senior, tries to live as normal a life as possible while continuing to fight Hodgkin's disease.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
"I thought he was looking fragile," Diane Boos said. "I would ask the typical mom questions, like 'are you eating well,' and 'are you losing weight?' He even weighed himself to show me that he'd only lost about two pounds."
But Diane Boos said her son felt tired all the time.
"You have these fears," she said. So she scheduled him an appointment with their family physician in Lindsborg.
He receives the treatments every other Friday and they will last for seven more months.
Although Boo's parents had been informed of Boo's illness from the start, Diane Boo said it was still hard to deal with.
"He refers to it as getting Drano." Diane Boossaid. "It's hard to watch how hard it is on his body."
Diane Boos said she made the three hours drive from Ellis each time Boos had chemo.
"It's hard to tell people your son has cancer," Diane Boos said. "I always think to myself why Lee. Why couldn't it be me. I'm 54 and have lived my life. He has his whole life in front of him."
But it is his roommate, Robert Sandlin, who takes him to each three-hour session.
She was right.
He is undergoing chemotherapy treatments to rid his body of the cancer cells and to reduce the tumor in his chest.
"He's more like a brother to me than a roommate," Sandlin said. "I do everything I can. It may not be much, but it's what I can do."
That doctor ordered a chest Xray and noticed large lymph nodes in Boos' chest. He recommended Boos see a specialist in Salina. Boos went and had a biopsy done on the swollen lymph node.
Hanging on
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Doctors determined that Boos had Hodgkin's on Oct 31.
In the meantime, Boos is trying to carry on a lifestyle as normal as possible.
He said that school was important to him and he said he went to class when he felt up to it.
"I mallowed to go to class, but it's highly recommended that I wear a mask." Boos said. "I get many a stare, but its worth it not to get sick."
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"When you hear biopsy, you think cancer," Diane Boos said.
Boos has to wear the mask to protect himself from getting sick while undergoing treatments.
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"My teachers are working with me," he said. "They do everything they can to get me the material presented in class."
Boos was able to go home for Thanksgiving break, and if he feels up to it, he said his doctor was letting him go home to spend
How to help:
If you'd like to make a donation to help Lee Boos, send a check or money order to:
Christmas with his parents, brother and sister.
"I'm going to spoil him," Diane Boossa said. "This year it's going to be extra special to have him home.
Lee Boos and Family Cancer Fund Ellis State Bank P.O. Box 255 Ellis, KS 67637
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