Health, Wellness and Nutrition
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Danielle Spearman counts blood platelets at the ARS Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland.
Surviving Cancer:
A Mother’s Story of the Son She Lost
By Bruce Poinsette
Special To
D
enise Sayles lost her son to leukemia
ten years ago; today she is dedicat-
ing her life to making sure other
moms – and their kids – have better options
in the face of cancer.
“Woody was a courageous, ambitious per-
son,” she says. “He was full of life. Full of
fun.”
After years of grieving, she decided to
channel her loss into a book titled
“Leukemia Took My Son: The Journey of a
Brave Teen Named Woody and His Griev-
ing Mother.”
Sayles is using the story to implore people
of all backgrounds to see the importance of
childhood cancer screening and donating
blood.
According to the Leukemia and Lym-
phoma Society (LLS), there were an
estimated 274,930 people living with
leukemia in 2011, plus 44,600 new cases
and 21,780 leukemia deaths estimated for
the past year.
would only have six months to live if he
didn’t start chemotherapy immediately;
unfortunately in his case chemotherapy and
radiation weren’t able to eradicate the dis-
ease.
Woody’s weakened body rejected a bone
marrow transplant because of complications
with his immune system. Sayles says his
white blood cells were too weak to balance
with the transplant.
The family had a brief window of hope
when former Portland Trailblazer and NBA
all-star Brian Grant came into Woody’s life.
“The doctor sent Brian to Woody as an
angel in disguise,” says Sayles. “He was the
first to donate blood.”
She dedicates an entire chapter in her
book to the relationship Grant and Woody
shared.
Grant helped organize what was the
largest blood drive in Oregon and Washing-
ton history at the time. It had over 400
participants with the hope of finding a
match for Woody and doubling registry.
Despite these efforts, Woody wasn’t able
to be saved; he died at the age of 18, while
In addition to her book, Denise Sayles has also
created the Facebook group Open Mind
Discussions to encourage people to tell their
stories and turn grief into joy. Sayles says it has
helped provide support for grieving mothers.
“I wrote this book out of pain,” says
Sayles. “I lived in pain for so long and
decided I wanted to turn this pain into a pos-
itive thing.”
Woody’s Illness
Sayles learned of her son’s leukemia after
an emergency trip to the doctor. He had
found a lump under his arm but exhibited
few other side effects.
The doctor performed a biopsy of the
lump and informed the family that Woody
had leukemia. According to the doctor, he
still attending Jefferson High School.
Advocating for Health
Two years after his death, Sayles moved
to San Diego where she discovered she had
a passion for writing.
She hopes that the painful experience she
details in her new book will help raise
awareness and educate people on the
specifics of leukemia. Sayles says a big
focus of her book is to provide readers with
useful information, such as the different cat-
egories of leukemia and symptoms to look
Denise Sayles
for.
There are four main categories of
leukemia, which are acute lymphoblastic
leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic
leukemia (CLL), acute myelogenous
leukemia (AML) and chronic myelogenous
leukemia (CML). The categories differ
based on blood flow.
Woody had ALL, which is the most com-
mon type for children. It also affects adults,
specifically those 65 and older. According
to LLS, the overall survival rate for ALL is
66.4 percent and 90.8 percent for children
under five.
CLL most often affects adults 55 and
older. It is incurable. According to the
National Cancer Institute, the five year sur-
vival rate is 75 percent.
AML is more common in adults than chil-
dren and occurs more often in men than
women. It has a five year survival rate of 40
percent.
CML occurs mostly in adults. It has a five
year survival rate of 90 percent.
In addition to these four main categories,
there are some rare types of Leukemia,
which include hairy cell leukemia (HCL), t-
cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL),
large granular lymphocytic leukemia and
adult t-cell leukemia.
Diagnosing Your Own
Sayles’ book also addresses how many
flu-like symptoms can be warning signs for
cancer.
She says it’s crucial to pay attention to a
child if he or she gets fever, fatigue and
weakness. Other symptoms include fre-
quent infections, losing weight, swollen
lymph nodes, easy bleeding and bone pain.
“Parents need to be aware of the symp-
toms,” says Sayles. “If a child has these
symptoms then rush him to the hospital
because they could be deadly.”
In addition to her book, she has also cre-
ated the Facebook group Open Mind
Discussions to encourage people to tell their
stories and turn grief into joy. Sayles says it
has helped provide support for grieving
mothers.
She hopes her efforts raise cancer aware-
ness, as well as keep Woody’s memory
alive.
“My son was a very cool kid,” says
Sayles. “I sat and cried but he never did. If
you’re 18 and over, donate your blood. It
can happen to anyone. It could be your
brother or sister.”
“Leukemia Took My Son” is available at
iUniverse, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
March 21, 2012
The Portland Skanner Page 5