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JEREMIAH HUBING
Jeremiah Hubing
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Jeremiah Hubing of Stratford was a typical 8-year-old active
boy. Always inquisitive and very ‘hands on,’ it was no surprise when one day
in April of 2005 he came home after a long day at school and a night of
skating complaining of a pain in his rib.
His mom, Melissa assured him it was probably just a strain and would heal in a
few days. What they didn’t know was how inaccurate that response was.
But a week later, when Jeremiah was still complaining of pain in his side,
Melissa took him to Marshfield Clinic’s Pediatric Department where he was seen
by Karen Mitchell, Pediatric Nurse Practioner. While feeling his rib, Karen
felt an area that appeared to be cracked.
An x-ray found not just a crack, but a one-inch hole in one of Jeremiah’s
ribs. He was immediately referred to Michael McManus, MD, Marshfield Clinic
Pediatric Oncologist on staff at Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.
Jeremiah underwent a CT scan under the care of Dr. McManus and Child Life
Specialist, Hayley Lazarski. “Hayley had a great book that explained the
procedure he was about to undergo, and since I wasn’t able to be in the room,
she held his hand through the whole process,” said Melissa.
After the scan and a bone biopsy, Jeremiah’s pain was diagnosed as
Histiocytosis X, a rare blood disease that was eating away at his bones. The
disease, affecting only one in 200,000 people, is not yet fully treatable.
“Histiocytosis X is a strange medical entity. Some view it as a cancer, some
say it’s not,” said Dr. McManus. “What happens is certain cells called
histocites become abnormal and are not able to fight off infections. They then
become scavenger cells and eat parts of the body. In Jeremiah’s case, they
were eating his bones.”
Jeremiah had part of his rib removed. A few weeks later he underwent a
follow-up CT scan, which showed his rib was healing nicely. Much to everyone’s
dismay however, the scan also revealed that part of his vertebrae was being
destroyed. There were signs of the disease on his pelvis, too. Immediately he
was told not to participate in any physical activities, including football.
“This was devastating news to Jeremiah,” said Melissa.
Six months of chemotherapy followed.
“Jeremiah handled it well and fortunately didn’t have a lot of side effects,”
said Dr. McManus.
Soon after, Jeremiah and his mother were asked to talk about his rare disease
at the WYTE Children’s Miracle Network Radiothon. He mentioned that his
favorite football team was the Stratford Tigers. When Stratford Coach Cal
Tackes overheard this, Jeremiah was named a honorary team captain. And so
began a kind of therapeutic healing for Jeremiah.
“The senior football players went out of their way to be with him and boosted
his morale,” said Tackes. Jeremiah was very thankful and excited to be part of
the team.”
Through all of the treatments, Jeremiah has had a very positive attitude. "He
knows what he has to do is for his own good and has the maturity to accept
that,” said Brenda Garrigan, RN.
Today Jeremiah has been declared disease free by the doctors. He attends
Stratford Elementary School and enjoys Playstation, hunting and best of all,
can play football again. |
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