Hometown Rankin - February & March 2016

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