Riding Cancer’s Roller Coaster

The new year opens for Ken and Sharon Hayes in a sterile world with a strange language they never wanted to know.

They’re learning to speak Cancer and probably will become experts this year as their young daughter, Brianna, begins treatments for leukemia.

Brianna’s illness is a chilling reminder that no one is exempt from tragedy. With a predator’s stealth, leukemia attacked the energetic little girl and left her parents and teenage sister gasping in its wake.

“She loves teenagers. She wants to be one when she grows up,” Sharon says, her smile fading as she watches Brianna’s sleeping face.

Wearing a floral gown and brilliant smile, Brianna, 4, was crowned in November as Coeur d’Alene’s Little Miss Snow Princess. A month later, she hardly had the energy to pull her blond curls beyond reach of her mother’s hairbrush.

A cold had dogged Brianna since September. Doctors in Coeur d’Alene treated her several times. She was tested for whooping cough.

On Dec. 9, her temperature hit 103 degrees. Brianna was so tired she couldn’t raise herself from her hands and knees.

Doctors in Spokane drew blood for some tests.

Sharon and Brianna returned home to Mullan from that visit to find that a Spokane doctor had issued a countywide alert for them. Brianna was so sick the doctors wanted her back immediately.

“When we arrived at the hospital, he said he wasn’t sure we’d (still) have a baby in the morning,” she says.

Almost a month later, Brianna’s chances are vastly better. Her particular cancer responds to treatment 75 percent of the time.

Brianna did so well at Deaconess Medical Center, she was released on Christmas Eve. She goes back three days a week for chemotherapy.

Her blond hair is falling out in brushfuls, “but that’s nothing,” Sharon says.

She is in awe of Brianna’s doctor, Frank Reynolds. “These kids are his life,” she says.

Brianna’s latest tests on Friday made Sharon giddy, even if she doesn’t quite understand the technicalities: “She’s doing so well.”

Sharon is starting into the new year at a high point on the roller coaster of hope.

“Thanks for all the prayers,” she says.

To help the Hayes family cover medical expenses, a fund has been opened at First Security banks. To contribute, send checks in care of the Brianna Hayes Medical Trust.

Eagle Eye

It’s eagle time - watch your small animals.

This year, don’t fight the traffic along Mineral Ridge. Take an eaglewatch cruise on the Spokane River Queen. Farragut State Park Ranger Wallace Keck will serve as tour guide through Blue Creek, Wolf Lodge and Beauty Bay.

For $10 a head, it’s worth it to let someone else drive. Call 765-2367 before the last tour Jan. 15.

Top Grade

Nursing home inspections usually make news only when problems are found.

The Shoshone Living Center in Kellogg would like to change that.

The center will be honored at 2 p.m. Thursday for acing a recent state inspection. That’s no small feat. It’s only happened three times statewide.

Happy New Year

Forget irrational resolutions for 1995. Instead, pledge to do some small things that’ll strengthen our community: Make friends with a family from California; recycle your clothes and household items at any charity’s thrift store; tell elected officials what’s on your mind instead of complaining that they’re out of touch.

What else? You tell me. Send your suggestions on what to do right to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; FAX to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.