Terry’s Story

Terry was a very outgoing, popular teen who was very athletic. He broke three track records the spring of 2004. Terry always looked forward to being on the football team once he made it to eighth grade. In August 2004, Terry went to school the first two days of his eighth grade year with excitement that he could be on the team. When he woke up on the following day of school, his gums were swollen so large that we could barely see his teeth. We took him to our family dentist who immediately sent us to an Orthodontist. Following a scaling procedure to remove the excess gum tissue from Terry’s gums, he became very pale and began to pass out. We immediately rushed Terry to the emergency room. Several hours later it was believed that he had Leukemia. When the doctor told me this, I was numb. I really didn’t know that it was a form of cancer and just how serious it was.

Terry was transported to UNC Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill where he ended up staying for four months. Terry had four rounds of chemotherapy treatments while there. He developed a lung infection which resulted in the removal of part of his lungs. It was later decided that he needed to go to Duke Hospital for a bone marrow transplant because the doctors did not get the response that they wanted during the induction period from the chemotherapy.

In January 2005, Terry had a bone marrow transplant at Duke Hospital. A month following transplant, Terry developed encephalitis on the brain. He started hallucinating and had severe memory loss. Soon after, he lost the ability to walk and care for himself. This was a very hard time for the family to see Terry go through such a transition from being this very energetic athlete to a person who had to become total dependent on the care of the nurses and family members. Terry was in Duke another 10 months. I had to give up my job to be with him 24/7. We had to get an apartment in Durham near the hospital for over a year. I had three other children who were in high school and middle school at home over 60 miles away. We always did everything together as a family such as go to church, go bowling, travel and go gold mining. Now we had to spend all of our family time at the hospital. It was a time that we never saw coming. We were in disbelief.

My sister shared with me that she had heard about the Me Fine Foundation at a yard sale she went to in Clayton. She knew the financial hardship that we faced with me no longer working and still having a family in two locations. It took a toll on us physically and financially. It was by the God’s grace that I made it through mentally. I left a message for someone at the foundation to call me to see if they could help us in anyway. I was immediately contacted. I was so overwhelmed by the support that I was given. The Me Fine Foundation was there for us during at time when I had just told my four children that we probably would not be able to get them anything for Christmas. We just didn’t have the finances. I told them to be thankful that we had each other. I received a call one day from Lisa saying they wanted to bless some families for Christmas. She wanted to know if we would like to be included on the list. I couldn’t do anything but cry after talking to her. It was a prayer that was answered immediately.

On another instance, Terry was discharged to come home from Durham. We were not sure how we would get him in and out of the house in a wheel chair. We had to bring him up four steps to bring him in and out of the house. I was with him 95% of the time and could not lift him in the wheel chair. I mention this to Lisa who spoke with Lori about it. I was later informed they had someone who was willing to build a porch with a ramp so that my son could come in the house alone. This was such a blessing to us. I am so thankful for the Me Fine Foundation. I will never forget the impact they have had on our life. Just recently, Lori had it setup through sponsors to give Terry and his date (a heart transplant patient) the best prom night ever. Everything was provided from the dress, hairdo, makeover, manicure and pedicure, corsage, gift card to eat a fabulous restaurant to a limousine service. I am so thankful for having such special people in our life during such trying times. I appreciate them more than words can say for their willingness to reach out in whatever way they can.

May God Bless Them,
Pam (Terry’s mom)