Janine Ackerman knows that God answers prayers. She found out
the hard way when she got down on her knees last
November.
Her daughter Kayla was born with a genetic trait called familial
polyposis or Gardner Syndrome. The trait is carried by Janine’s
family and what she didn’t know when she started having children is
that the chances of passing it on to her children are
50/50.
By the time Janine said her prayer, seven-year-old Kayla had
already been diagnosed with multiple brain tumors and faced the
latest of numerous surgeries.
Doctor’s diagnosed Kayla’s first brain tumor when she was 4 1/2
years old. The first tumor was the size of a grapefruit and the
following three tumors ranged from a golf ball-sized tumor to a
peach-sized tumor, Janine said.
“She is right now taking an experimental drug and so far it’s
working,” Janine said. “These are benign tumors, but they can
change at any time. And she’ll end up going through colon
surgery.”
Gardner syndrome results in the formation of multiple polyps
throughout the body, particularly in the digestive system, which
usually turn malignant over time.
“I told God if she was going to get cancer I wanted to be the
one to get it,” Janine said. “Not her.”
In April, Janine was diagnosed with colon and liver cancer. The
news was the latest blow to the Ackerman family. While Janine’s
father and his brother both had Gardner’s syndrome, the family did
not know the chances of passing it down the family line were so
high.
The family had just moved to Elizabeth when Kayla’s first
diagnosis came in. They had been in their home only six months and
Janine’s husband Todd took a job at Singing Hills Elementary
School.
It wasn’t long before the Singing Hills family mobilized with
fund-raisers to help the family meet its medical bills.
“They’ve supported us so much,” Janine said. “It’s just been
amazing.”
Between Kayla’s medical bills and Janine’s treatment, the
single-income family can’t even begin to fathom the financial
impact. While Kayla’s medical bills hover around $70,000, the
annual household income is less than $30,000, Janine
said.
“Todd takes side jobs whenever he can,” she said. “I’m not able
to work right now since I do chemo. It makes your money become
extremely tight.”
Janine doesn’t know yet what her medical bills are, but with two
hospital stays and three blood transfusions she has an idea of what
to expect.
“I haven’t called because I don’t’ really want to know how high
they are,” she said. “I’m sure they’re pretty high.”
After the latest news of Janine’s cancer circulated,
fund-raising activities began anew throughout Singing Hills and
beyond. A number of fund-raisers are planned throughout the winter,
in the hopes of providing some relief for the Ackerman
family.
Kayla continues her treatment with bi-monthly blood tests and
MRIs scheduled every few months. Janine began chemotherapy in late
May and will continue treatment until October. At that point the
doctors will decide whether or not the tumors have stopped growing
sufficiently to be removed
The support from their community eases some of the burden for
the Ackerman family, both financially and emotionally.
“It just makes it a little easier to deal with things knowing
there’s people out there that truly care,” she said. “It saved us
from losing our home.”
While the latest news was understandably devastating, Janine has
come to terms with the reality of her family’s needs and does not
allow despair to cloud her daily life.
Kayla is now in the second grade at Singing Hills and her
10-year-old brother Tyler is in the fifth grade. Tyler does not
show signs of the family’s trait and Kayla has received a clean
bill of health for the last nine months. If Kayla can make it one
year with clean tests, it will be a milestone event for the
stricken family.
“When Kayla was diagnosed I felt guilty because I feel I gave it
to her,” Janine said. “Now I feel this is just the way life is. We
just have to live one day at a time and enjoy what we
have.”
Contact Rhonda Moore at rmoore@ccnewspapers.net.