ASK ANNIE: Please wish all moms a Happy Mother’s Day. | 2D Life The Paducah Sun | Sunday, May 11, 2014 | paducahsun.com Section D Mother’s Day: For some it’s an opportunity BY DEBRA-LYNN B. HOOK McClatchy-Tribune News Service middle of the night, rubbing the back of his head and yelling ‘Head hurt,’” Chad recalled. “He wasn’t getting any sleep. We weren’t getting any sleep.” They returned Caleb to Traeger on Oct. 7 and he immediately ordered blood work and a CT (computed tomography) scan of Caleb’s head. “Since the ear infection was gone, he wanted to know what was causing this,” Chad recalled. Traeger got the results that same day, and the Coombses returned to his office. “He said, ‘No matter what I tell you next, remember that Caleb’s going to be OK.’ I have lived the last six months by those words,” Lora said. “He said: ‘Caleb has a tumor on his brain. They are expecting you in Peoria (Children’s Hospital of Illinois at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center).’ “It was pure shock. We drove to Peoria in dead silence.” At Children’s Hospital, a pediatric hematologist/oncologist confirmed Traeger’s diagnosis of an anaplastic (cancerous) ependymoma. Caleb was at Children’s Hospital for 48 days. Chad took two weeks off work from Case New Holland in Goodfield. Lora took three months of family medical leave and 2½ months of personal leave from Country Financial in Bloomington. I don’t mess around with Mother’s Day. I’m not one to wave off my family’s attention like some mothers I know or dismiss Mother’s Day outright as some overblown commercial conspiracy. Rather, I see Mother’s Day as an opportunity. Mother’s Day is the one day of the year I can say: “I’m not cooking today. All day.” And get away with it. Mother’s Day is the one day I can say, “It’s time to move these 400 bricks to the back yard” or “I need hugs on the hour today.” And right away, people start loading up the wheelbarrow and throwing their arms around my neck. Without whinMother’s Day is ing. In some famithe one day of lies, the mother the year I can accepts the homemade card be demanding, and the fistful of even selfish. dandelions on Mother’s Day ... Whatever and calls it a day. I want, I’m In our family, Mother’s Day is queen for the a ritual lasting day — a reign from sunup to sundown. my family not Mother’s Day only expects. is the one day of the year I can be They want it. demanding, even Dare I say, they selfish. I can take a even like it. four-hour nap. Or require that we all go for a three-mile hike. I can ask for strawberries in bed. Or strawberry sauce atop my cheesecake. Whatever I want, I’m queen for the day — a reign my family not only expects. They want it. Dare I say, they even like it. We mothers we do a lot, you see, and our families know it. This is why my kind of Mother’s Day works. Mother’s Day is payback with defined boundaries. Our children know if they do our bidding this one day of the year, they’re off the hook the other 364. I actually do them a favor by not only accepting their homemade cards and backyard flowers in Mason jars, but breakfast in bed, lunch on the deck and dinner by candlelight. I happily collect a wind chime or a new flower pot from each child. I also most heartily welcome, most recently, hard manual labor. Mother’s Day yard work has become one of the great aha moments of my maturing tenure. One year, all three children helped paint the Adirondack chairs that had weathered beyond shabby chic. Another, they helped build a bricked-in flower garden. I’m not sure what we will do this year. I’m thinking rocks. Something involving boulders. Please see CANCER | 2D Please see MOTHER | 7D Associated Press Caleb Coombs, 3, builds a puzzle with his mom, Lora, at their home near Lexington, Ill. Caleb is recovering from a rare brain tumor called anaplastic ependymoma. Systematically addressing challenges, whether it’s solving a puzzle, re-coupling toy trains or improving in speech and physical therapy, is nothing new to Caleb. Solving puzzle of boy’s cancer Rare brain tumor a shock to his family BY PAUL SWIECH The (Bloomington) Pantagraph LEXINGTON, Ill. — Caleb Coombs methodically reached for puzzle pieces and put them in the correct spots. After quickly assembling the firetruck puzzle, he shoved it aside and moved to another one. “He’s really good at working puzzles,” Lora Coombs said of her 3-year-old son. Systematically addressing challenges — whether it’s solving a puzzle, re-coupling toy trains, or improving in speech and physical therapy — is nothing new to Caleb. Once you’ve survived a rare brain cancer and treatment, puzzles, train wrecks and relearning how to swallow and walk in a straight line are all in a day’s work. “To look at him now, it’s hard to tell what he’s been through in just six months,” his father, Chad Coombs, said April 9 in the family’s rural Lexington home as Caleb played with his trains. “Unless you’d see the button in his belly (covering the port where he takes nourishment) or the scar on the back of his head (from his brain surgery).’” What happened to Caleb was a diagnosis of anaplastic ependymoma, a brain tumor of which there are only 200 cases nationwide each year; a nine- hour surgery to remove the tumor; 30 treatments of proton beam radiation therapy; speech and physical therapy; and follow-up testing and monitoring that should continue — if everything goes according to plan — into adulthood. “Normally, he is sweet and funloving,” Lora said as Caleb smiled while assembling his second puzzle. “But he has a stubborn streak a mile long,” she continued as he shook off a feeding through his port. “But that’s OK. The doctors said the kids who are stubborn pull through this better than the kids who aren’t.” “He is doing wonderfully,” said his pediatrician, Dr. Aaron Traeger of Bloomington. But the Coombs family knows this puzzle began only six months ago and they’re now in “wait and watch” mode. Caleb was born on March 15, 2011. Late last September, Lora and Chad noticed that Caleb’s head was tilted to the left from time to time and that he sometimes didn’t walk in a straight line. “We would say ‘Caleb, you’re not a drunken sailor,’” his mother recalled. They took him to Traeger, who found Caleb had an ear infection and prescribed an antibiotic. But even after Caleb had been on the medicine for a week, his balance problems remained and now were joined by headaches. “He’d wake up screaming in the Multiple sclerosis patient wants to share his ‘miracle’ BY MAUREEN HOUSTON Belleville News-Democrat BELLEVILLE, Ill. — Harold Johnson has a carved cane his father bought him from Mexico and a walking stick that’s taller than he is. “I love for them to get dust,” said the 43-year-old Swansea man, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in April 2005. He used them for balance from time to time, but no longer needs sticks or his walker. The experimental drug Lemtrada has kept his symptoms at bay since 2009. No wonder he’s such a big proponent of the drug that’s now being reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Harold and wife Jessica live in a cream-sided home with their friendly dog Nippy, a miniature pinscher-Chihuahua mix that sometimes thinks it’s a bulldog. On a breezy, warm spring afternoon, Harold had just got- tissue or lesions in response to nerve damage. Messages don’t get through as easily. Symptoms may include problems with muscle control, balance, vision or speech. “Nobody in my family had MS, nobody I know,” said Harold, who has three older siblings. “It was a game changer in life. I’d been through a few things. I’m 43 years old. This was a major one. I began to appreciate my time here on this planet earth in ways I didn’t think I would appreciate.” ten home from his computer technology job at Southwestern Illinois College. Jessica, 32, was in the kitchen putting pats of butter between pork chops she was baking for dinner. Life is good “I come home and I can walk long distances,” said Harold. “I can ride my bike. Last summer, I’d ride my bike to SWIC and back. MS people have a problem with heat. I was able to ride during the hot summer.” Harold learned he had MS after getting a scan of his back and neck. He had been in a bad car accident in 1995 and was still experiencing pain. He was referred to Barry Singer, an MS neurologist then at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. “They did a brain scan and found 23 lesions in my head,” said Harold. He learned that MS, a chronic Clinical trial Associated Press Multiple sclerosis patient Harold Johnson gets tips from his wife, Jessica, on putting together a pork chop dish at their home in Swansea, Ill. The experimental drug Lemtrada has kept his symptoms at bay since 2009. The drug has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but is under review. disease, eats away at the myelin coating that allows nerve cells in the spinal cord, brain and eyes to quickly transmit messages. Sclerosis means scarring. People with MS develop scar Singer, now director of the MS Center for Innovations and Care at Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis, has been treating MS patients for 20 years. Of the 700,000 people in the United States with MS, the center sees Please see MIRACLE | 2D Life 2D • Sunday, May 11, 2014 • The Paducah Sun paducahsun.com Please wish all moms Happy Mother’s Day Dear Readers: Happy Mother’s Day. Please phone your mother, grandmother, motherin-law, stepmother or foster mother and wish them the best. And please don’t forget those for whom this day, for whatever reason, is filled with sadness. Give them a call and say you are thinking of them. Dear Annie: Every Mother’s Day, I think of how often the amazing love that can be conferred by stepmothers is ignored on this day. When I was very little, my biological mother passed away. A few years later, my father married a wonderful woman who helped raise me. People often asked me whether she was my real mom. I always answered “yes.” We shared real smiles, had real fights and have real memories. She also put forward an enormous effort to make sure I Ask Annie maintained the cherished relationship I had with my biological mother’s family. These women are there, attending our games and dance recitals. They are there when we need a shoulder to cry on. And they are there to pick us up when we fall. They may not have given birth to us, but they are real mothers. — A Real Daughter in Nebraska Dear Daughter: Your letter arrived a while ago, but we saved it so that we could print it on Mother’s Day. For all the stepmothers out there, this day is also for you. Dear Annie: Several years ago, you reprinted a Mother’s Day letter that appeared in the Ann Landers column. It started with something like “one-in-amillion Mom,” but I don’t remember much else. I only know that it reminded me a great deal of my own mother. Can you print it again? — Cassie in Kansas Dear Cassie: With pleasure. Here it is: To a one-in-a-million Mom, to you, dear lady, for all the dreams you dreamed for us. Not one of us became the ballerina or vocalist or pianist or doctor or lawyer you were hoping for. The boys didn’t become millionaires, and the girls didn’t learn to speak six languages. Instead we are the children who forgot to say “thank you” when it probably would have meant a lot to you. We are the ones who talked when we should have listened. We are the little tykes who woke you before dawn to serve you the breakfast-in-bed birthday special: burnt toast, weak tea, unscrambled eggs and half-raw bacon swimming in grease. We gathered around your bed and sang “Happy Birth- day, Dear Mommy.” You pretended to be thrilled and tried your darnedest to eat the mess we brought to your bed. Our childhood is over, and here are the “thank yous,” many years overdue. Thank you for being there when we needed you. Thanks for being our tower of strength when you needed support yourself. Thank you for believing in us when we had trouble believing in ourselves. Thank you for saying what we needed to hear and for knowing when silence meant more than words. Your wisdom seemed to come from a place that none of us could ever figure out. Thank you, Mom, for allowing us to dream our own dreams, even though your dreams were more glamorous. And thank you, too, for never letting on when we disappointed you. Most of all, Mom, thank you for giving us the room CANCER we needed to grow and the freedom to learn from our own mistakes. We hope we can do half as well with our kids. — Your Loving Children Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Leslie Heath Listing Specialist Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailbox@comcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. Dawn Boatman Buyer Specialist TEAM HEATH Leslie Heath 270-331-2506 Dawn Boatman 270-556-4294 www.leslieheath.com CONTINUED FROM 1D Caleb underwent 30 proton radiation treatments — from Dec. 23 through Feb. 4 — at CDH (Central DuPage Hospital) Proton Center in the Chicago area. Meanwhile, he had speech therapy to improve eating and swallowing and physical therapy to improve lower body movement. Since returning home, Caleb has continued therapy at Easter Seals in Bloomington and his improvements have been steady, his parents said. His balance appears back to normal and, while he doesn’t sprint yet, he can jog and jump. His swallowing and eating have improved and he now takes most of his nourishment by mouth rather than through the port in his stomach. Developmentally, he has nearly caught up to where he should be for a 3-year-old. “The literature says he has a 70 to 80 percent five-year survival rate,” Traeger said. “Will he go to college and lead a relatively normal life? We have no reason to believe otherwise.” MIRACLE CONTINUED FROM 1D 1,700 patients from the region that includes Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa and Kentucky. For the trials, Singer chose patients who weren’t responding well to other medications. Harold fit the bill. He received Lemtrada at Barnes Infusion Center in December 2008. “The stuff drips from a bag and goes into the body slowly over five days,” Harold said. “I would go home every night. It was a difficult time for me.” “Here’s the kicker,” Harold said. “Within three weeks of the first dose, I felt great. I felt I had a new connection with life in a way I haven’t felt since I was a kid. I felt like a baby growing up again. I guess MS was affecting me for a long time and I didn’t know.” He had a second infusion the following year. “After the first year’s dose, they did an MRI and I had zero active lesions,” said Harold. “That was absolutely amazing.” Was it like a miracle? “I think it absolutely was,” Jessica said. “He’s able to stand up on these little structures at the park with one foot. It’s amazing. Before the medicine, he had to use a walker and a cane. He didn’t have energy.” “It’s been a life changer,” said Harold. “I want the FDA to approve it as an option for people.” “This drug is one we desperately need for many of the patients with MS,” Singer said. “It’s a tough disease to have. Younger patients with a very aggressive disease, you want to shut it down so they can lead a full life with the least amount of disability.” Lemtrada has been app roved in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Brazil, but not the U.S. Moving On Up! $ Private Apartments • Full Kitchens • Emergency Alert Systems • Laundry Area • Transportation • Organized Activities • Gift Shop • Beauty Salon • Grocery Store W. B. Sanders 820 Washington St. Paducah, KY Jackson House 301 S. 9th St. Paducah, KY (270) 442-7591 Limited Availability CALL NOW! COUPON FOR IN-STORE OR ONLINE USE! Coupon Code: PADUCAH 5163 Hinkleville Road STORE HOURS: 9-8 MONDAY-SATURDAY • CLOSED SUNDAY $ Coupon Coupon e Item at Regular Pric e On Offer good for one item at regular price only. One coupon per customer per day. Must present coupon at time of purchase. Offer is not valid with any other coupon, discount or previous purchase. ® Excludes CRICUT products, Tim Holtz® Vagabond™ Machine, Silhouette CAMEO® Machine, candy, helium tanks, gift cards, custom orders, special orders, labor, rentals or class fees. A single cut of fabric or trim “by the yard” equals one item. Online fabric & trim discount is limited to 10 yards, single cut. $ Cash Value 1/10¢. $ paducahsun.com Comics The Paducah Sun • Sunday, May 11, 2014 • 3D Sunday Comics MAY 11, 2014 4D • Sunday, May 11, 2014 • The Paducah Sun Comics paducahsun.com paducahsun.com Comics The Paducah Sun • Sunday, May 11, 2014 • 5D 6D • Sunday, May 11, 2014 • The Paducah Sun Comics paducahsun.com Life paducahsun.com Engagements The Paducah Sun • Sunday, May 11, 2014 • 7D Anniversary MOTHER CONTINUED FROM 1D Wiggins-Middleton The great thing about Mother’s Day yard work is not only the end result, the satisfaction of completing a job I couldn’t have done without help. The great thing about Mother’s Day yard work is my entire family whistling while we work. Which is what I really want most of all at this stage of motherhood: The joyful, in-the-moment presence of my children, gathered together around a common and worthy theme. It’s a simple enough gift, really, though increasingly rare as time goes on. This year, one of the three of my children will be halfway around the world on Mother’s Day, finishing a semester abroad and preparing to work on an organic farm into the summer. The other has a permanent job in another city and Bean-Weber Chuck and Suzanne Bean of Kevil announce the engagement of their daughter, Leslie Ann Bean, to Douglas John Weber, son of Doug and Barbara Weber of Aurora, Wis. Miss Bean is the granddaughter of Sue Frazier of Kevil and the late Bill Frazier, and the late Arvil and Anita Bean. She is a 2004 graduate of Heath High School and a 2008 graduate of Murray State University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She is employed by the McCracken County School System as a fifth grade teacher at Heath Elementary. Mr. Weber is the grandson of John Norton of Eagle River, Wis., and the late Janet Norton, and Geraldene Weber of Aurora, Wis., and the late Robert Weber. He is a 2005 graduate of Florence County High School in Florence, Wis., a 2010 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a bachelor’s degree in paper science engineering and a 2014 graduate of Murray State University with a master’s degree in business administration. He is employed by New Page Corp. in Wickliffe. The wedding will be Saturday, May 31 at Spring Bayou Baptist Church in Kevil. Hayden-Quillen Jennifer Ann Hayden and Thomas Wayne Quillen Jr. will be united in marriage at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17 at the West Bardwell Hunting Club in Bardwell. All friends and relatives are invited. Ms. Hayden is the daughter of Ron and Vicki Hayden of Kevil and Sandy Hayden of Owensboro. She is the granddaughter of Ruby Winkel of Oak Ridge, Tenn., the late Robert Winkel, the late Ann Winkel, and June Hayden of Paducah and the late James Hayden. She is a 1999 graduate of Lone Oak High School and a 2011 graduate of Murray State University with a bachelor’s degree in economics. She is employed by Graceland Management Services in Cunningham. Mr. Quillen is the son of Tommy and Judy Quillen of Bardwell. He is the grandson of Billy Joe Payne of Bardwell and the late Nancy Payne, and Jenice Quillen of Arlington and the late Thomas Quillen. He is a 1992 graduate of Carlisle County High School and is employed by LT Black Construction in Bardwell. Fred and Marta Vowell Mr. and Mrs. Fred Vowell of Paducah celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on May 2. Mr. Vowell and the former Marta Clark Trimble were married May 2, 1964, at Aldersgate Methodist Church by the Rev. Merle Thomas. Their attendants were Clifford and Linda Pogue. Mr. and Mrs. Vowell are the retired owners of Paint- ers’ Supply and Madison Hall. Mrs. Vowell is the daughter of the late Cecil Lee Trimble and the late Pearlene Clark Trimble. Mr. Vowell is the son of the late Emmett Schiler Vowell and the late Dorothy Francis Vowell. They have two children: Amber Lea Vowell and Heather Vowell Pierce, both of Paducah; and five grandchildren. Join us for Wednesday night prayer meetings where we spend it praying. About Results? About Medical Bills? Worried? Tony and Carol Wiggins of Kevil announce the engagement of their daughter, Ami Renee Wiggins, to Jay Allen Middleton, son of Bob and Trina Middleton of Kevil. Miss Wiggins is the granddaughter of Judy Styers of Kevil and the late Bobby Styers, and Gary Wiggins of Kevil and the late Jane Wiggins. She is a 2011 graduate of Ballard Memorial High School and is a December candidate for graduation from Murray State University with a bachelor’s degree in secondary English education. Mr. Middleton is the grandson of Rodney and Mayetta Leigh of Wickliffe, and Lawrence and Clara Middleton of Kevil. He is a 2011 graduate of Ballard Memorial High School and a 2014 graduate of Murray State University with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture. Wedding vows will be exchanged at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 24 at First Baptist Church of La Center. All friends and relatives are invited. Only out-of-town invitations are being sent. can’t come home for the weekend. That leaves the day’s festivities to the 17-yearold high-school junior who may need extra reminding how ecstatic Mother’s Day leaves him. Lest anybody forget, there is always the father of these children, who insists Mother’s Day has nothing to do with him. “I can help orchestrate,” he says every year. “But Mother’s Day is about the children. They should be the ones gifting you.” He apparently missed the fine print on the family contract. My children might have made me a mother. But he’s the one who started it — if you know what I mean. Without the pollinator, there would be no bloom. Without the chicken, there would be no egg. Without the starter, no sourdough bread. I could go on. Meanwhile, get ready, you two: Rocks await. We have the Answer for both... Before you leave the office! COMPLETE DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING CENTER High-Field MRI, CT, Mammogram, X-Ray, Ultrasound, Bone Density Tell your doctor you want scheduled at Lundberg’s Bring your prayer request with you. 2421 Broadway, Paducah (270) 442-8272 Jeremiah 33:3 “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” Rickman Road Missionary Baptist Church Sunday School 10am Sunday Worship 11am and 6pm Wednesday Worship 7pm 3335 Rickman Rd. By the West Paducah Post Office (270)744-9298 Make your announcement as special as the occasion The Paducah Sun continues to offer free engagement, wedding and anniversary announcements, subject to our established guidelines and limitations. Announcements of engagements, weddings and anniversaries are printed on Sunday. Photos and written information for free announcements must be turned in to the Sun by NOON FRIDAY, NINE DAYS PRIOR TO THE PUBLICATION DATE. Photographs published with free announcements are subject to a $30 handling fee. We also offer the option of placing customized, paid announcements for these events. For options and pricing on customized engagement, wedding or anniversary packages, please contact Linda Cocke at 575-8678 or visit our website at paducahsun. com and click on Features. “A very special Thank You to Whaler's Catch Seafood Restaurant and ALL my loyal clients and friends. Effective May 1st, 2014, after 29 years, I am retiring only to begin a new adventure with my husband at our event center, Walker Hall Events & Catering.” - Linda Crowe-Curtis Walker Hall Events Center David and Linda Curtis 229 Madison Street, Paducah, KY 42001 270.575.4568 WalkerHallEvents.com 8D • Sunday, May 11, 2014 • The Paducah Sun paducahsun.com Happy Mother’s Day! 1ST TIME EVER NO INTEREST TIL 2020* OR 20% OFF ON ASHLEY DIRECT PRICE! Ashley King Storage Bed $844 Dresser & Mirror $798 Chest $378 The works Signature Design 14 PC Room Group Sofa Love Seat 3PC Table Set Rug 2 Lamps Throw 5 PC Accessory Set $999 14 PC Bedroom 3PC Queen Bed Dresser & Mirror Nite Stand 2 Lamps 4 Piece Comforter Set Queen Mattress & Box Spring $999 Ashley Table and 6 Chairs 7 PC Group $1498 Side Board $798 Signature Design Wall Recliner Pranit-Walnut $288 Ashley Durablend Leather Sofa with Nail Head Trim $798 Love Seat $768 Chair and Ottoman $788 Signature Design Dual Reclining Pad Over Chaise Sofa with Nail Head Trim in Oberson Gunsmoke $998 Dual Reclining Console Love Seat with Cup Holder $788 Signature Design Rocker Recliner in Mocha or Burgundy $388 Signature Design Swivel Glider Recliner Durablend Leather Red, Grey, or Brown $428 Signature Design Big Man’s Pad Over Chaise Rocker Recliner $498 Signature Design Mykla Shitake Sofa $698 Mykla Shitake Love Seat $668 Mykla Shitake Swivel Accent Chair $498 Signature Design Martinsburg Meadow Sofa $798 Martinsburg Meadow Chair $588 Martinsburg Meadow Ottoman $268 New Ashley 2014 Mattress Line Up Ashley Dual Reclining Pad Over Chaise Sofa Dual Reclining Console Love Seat with Cupholder & Wedge 3 PC Sectional $1998 Signature Design Durablend Leather Touch Screen POWER Triple Reclining Pad Over Chaise Sectional with Console & LIGHTED & COOLING Cup Holders $2998 Approx. $48/mo. Ashley Queen Mattress Set $388 Ashley Melbourne Queen Memory Foam Set $999 Ashley New Castle Burch Queen Memory Foam $1,299 Ashley Furniture HomeStore 453 So. 16th Street • Paducah 270-442-4465 Relax in Our Hospitality Area! * No Interest for 68 Months $2999 minimum purchase required. 4 years no interest $1999 minimum purchase required $169 processing fee. 2 years no interest $1499 minimum purchase required $99 processing fee. Store Hours: Monday-Saturday 9 AM - 6 PM