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The following narrative tells the arduous<br />
story of the Dale family’s journey with<br />
cancer. Jill Dale made regular journal<br />
entries about the journey on CaringBridge.<br />
org. This includes excerpts of Jill’s posts as<br />
compiled by Susan Marquez.<br />
Snips and snails and puppy dog tails,<br />
that’s what little boys are made of. Campbell<br />
Dale was a normal little boy in every way.<br />
Spirited. Curious. Exuberant. At least, until<br />
he began having issues with constipation one<br />
weekend. The series of events that followed<br />
became a journey of heartbreak tempered<br />
with faith and love.<br />
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed,<br />
for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you;<br />
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”<br />
– Isaiah 41:10<br />
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made<br />
perfect in weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9<br />
<strong>February</strong> 12, 2014 was a day the Dale<br />
family will never forget, for that was the day<br />
life as they knew it forever changed. “We had<br />
not noticed anything abnormal over the<br />
weekend,” his mom, Jill Dale, wrote on the<br />
overview of the family’s CaringBridge site.<br />
“Campbell had been constipated a little, but<br />
nothing unusual. On Monday, <strong>February</strong> 10,<br />
he went to school like normal.” Yet the<br />
four-year-old still complained about being<br />
constipated. An enema, a trip to the doctor,<br />
and a couple of rounds of Miralax later,<br />
Campbell’s temperature was climbing and<br />
his belly was swollen. His doctor sent them<br />
to a Radiology group to get an X-ray done.<br />
When that came back inconclusive, a CT<br />
scan revealed a mass in the boy’s abdomen.<br />
“We were immediately sent to Blair E.<br />
Batson Hospital for Children where we were<br />
admitted at 5:30pm. After running more<br />
tests on Thursday, we sat down with our<br />
doctors and were told our son had a mass in<br />
his belly that needed to be removed. It could be<br />
anything from lymphoma, to neuroblastoma,<br />
to a taratoma or rhabdomyosarcoma (at this<br />
time rhabdo was toward the bottom of the<br />
list).” On Friday, surgeons were able to remove<br />
a 4 1/2 to 5 inch mass from his abdomen.<br />
The mass was sent to a pathology lab and on<br />
<strong>February</strong> 19, the family learned that Campbell<br />
had been diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma,<br />
a rare form of cancer of the tissue. “They were<br />
able to remove all of his tumor, but of course,<br />
there were what they call studs left. We were<br />
scheduled immediately for a bone scan and<br />
PET scan for Monday, Feb. 24th. On Tuesday<br />
the 25th, a bone marrow aspiration was done<br />
along with the placement of a chemo port.<br />
The preliminary results from the bone scan<br />
and PET scan came back favorable meaning<br />
it had not spread to the bones or other organs.<br />
That Tuesday at 5:00, we were told that our<br />
son has Stage IV rhabdomyosarcoma and<br />
they had found a spot in his bone marrow.”<br />
Campbell’s parents, David and Jill, were<br />
told the road before them would be difficult<br />
and hard. “We didn’t want to know the success<br />
rate, that didn’t matter to us,” Jill wrote. “All<br />
that mattered was ‘Can we beat this?’” The<br />
chemo regimen would be aggressive, radiation<br />
would be needed and 54 weeks is what it will<br />
take. “As I laid my head on the table and cried<br />
more than I have in two weeks, I didn’t think<br />
I would be able to walk out of the room. So<br />
David and I looked at each other, signed the<br />
papers to begin treatment and told the doctor<br />
to do whatever needed to be done to save our<br />
son. The one thing that stood out in my mind<br />
was David telling the doctor we know the<br />
Great Physician (Jehovah Rapha) can heal<br />
Campbell, not doctors or medicine…HE<br />
provides the means to do it. So we called our<br />
family in to tell them. The road before us<br />
might be difficult, but we were determined<br />
not to lie down and give up. We were in the<br />
fight of our lives and we were confident that<br />
Campbell would beat this.”<br />
The family resolved to bathe themselves<br />
in scripture and pray continuously without<br />
ceasing.<br />
“But those who hope in the LORD will renew<br />
their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;<br />
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk<br />
and not be patient.” – Isaiah 40: 29-31<br />
Campbell’s first chemotherapy treatment<br />
began on Wednesday, <strong>February</strong> 26. All went<br />
well. He actually slept through the first<br />
treatment (he had been given some medicine<br />
to calm him after a rough morning so he slept<br />
all afternoon). The treatment started with<br />
two drugs, Irinotecan and Vincristinem. The<br />
Irinotecan was scheduled for five days straight.<br />
Campbell’s twin sister, Avery (aka ‘’Shu”)<br />
visited, and the children watched movies and<br />
ate Chick-fil-A together. At the time, Jill was<br />
reading a book, “The Red Sea Rules,” given<br />
to hear by a woman at church. “I have found<br />
so much wisdom and guidance in this book,”<br />
Jill wrote. “Meditating on the truths in it has<br />
brought so much peace: ‘So take a deep<br />
breath and recall this deeper secret of the<br />
Christian life: when you are in a difficult<br />
place, realize that the Lord either placed you<br />
there or allowed you to be there for reasons<br />
perhaps known for now only to Himself.<br />
The same God who led you in, will lead you<br />
out.’ So we trust in this and we know that<br />
HE will make a way. We don’t understand<br />
why we are enduring this trial and may never<br />
know while we are here on this earth, but we<br />
know that the same God who paved the road<br />
before us will walk beside us down this road<br />
every step of the way. Mine and David’s<br />
prayer throughout this entire journey is that<br />
God will be glorified in everything. Don’t<br />
worry about anything; instead pray about<br />
everything and don’t forget to thank God for<br />
His answers.”<br />
78 • <strong>February</strong>/<strong>March</strong> <strong>2016</strong>