With Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh staff lined up along the walls of floor 9, loud cheering and bells ringing is all that could be heard on July 15th. A brave, resilient, and strong spartan of our own walked down the hall with a smile on his face, headed back to his home here in Hempfield Area. A long, dreaded battle took place; however, it is a reminder that a Hempfield Area Spartan never fights alone.
Lucas James, a freshman here in Hempfield, started a dreadful back and forth battle with a form of cancer called ALL in 6th grade. Acute lymphoblastic B cell leukemia is what Megan (mom) and Don (dad) were told their son was battling. It all started with a recurring fever that Lucas would get every evening. When it continued, the pediatrician ordered blood work which led to the devastating diagnosis.
He quickly began chemo to treat the cancer. The entire Hempfield Area community rallied around him with support as he received strong doses of chemo through his port. Exactly two years went by of chemo, and the James family was told their son had beat cancer. But just 8 days later, before Lucas could ring the bell as closure for his victory, they received devastating news that the cancer had already returned.
This time, his medical team proposed the idea of stem cell transplant. A hero donor, who remained anonymous, donated blood and separated the parts of it Lucas needed. He did an intense week of chemo and radiation to kill his own bone marrow. Then over the course of a few hours, they inserted the donors’ cells through an IV into Lucas. The nurses said that on transplant day, some people can smell the bone marrow unfreezing throughout the entire floor. Lucas’s family along with many others report that it smells like spaghetti sauce.
After spending 5 weeks in the hospital for the transplant, Lucas was released back home. When asked what he did in his free time, he said “I played different games to entertain myself, built legos, and watched star wars, star wars, star wars, star wars.” Coming home to his dog was a big motivator for Lucas to stay strong throughout his journey, but it was also one of the hardest parts of being admitted. Music was a way for him to stay calm when entering stressful situations.
Mr. Gorgiani, a teacher at Wendover Middle School, organized selling bracelets for a fundraiser. These bracelets read “Spartans for Lucas,” which made him feel stronger as a reminder that he had many people rooting for him. Mrs. Mateo, another teacher here in the Hempfield Area School District, came to Lucas’s house to help him with all his school work when he first got sick. His family is very grateful for this because she helped him keep up with his work as much as she could, leaving him less behind.
Now cancer free due to the successful transplant, Lucas has many things he is excited to return to/start. He has been mostly cyber since 6th grade, but he is planning to return some time around January of 2025. He said he is excited to come back to school. Lucas said, “I managed to get through chemo and Wendover, but I still remember my way around Harrold so that will be good.” He plans to join the marching band as a trumpet player and continue participating in boy scouts.
