Family celebrates ‘Christmas miracle’
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POLSON – Nothing Santa brings in his sleigh this Christmas will compare to the gift 7-year-old Cole Whitworth of Polson has already received: his health. After 15 months and eight rounds of chemotherapy along with five rounds of radiation treatment, Whitworth and his mother Cecile LaFromboise traveled to Spokane Children’s Hospital Tuesday, Dec. 17, for a final MRI to declare his body free of cancer and removal of a central line port in his chest.
“He’s cancer free and they can’t find any evidence of disease,” LaFromboise said. “It’s like a Christmas miracle for our whole family. Last year, we were all just so sad. It was just a really hard time because of the unknowns. He had not started chemotherapy and we were just really scared, but it’s all behind us now.”
Cole’s family had just moved into a new house in Polson and was on vacation in Spokane last year when they noticed something wasn’t right with the boy. Cole had been falling and tripping before then, but on an outing to the hotel swimming pool, he fell again. “I caught him and he looked up and his face was kind of frozen,” LaFromboise said. “I thought he was having a stroke.”
Cole’s family took him by taxi to Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, where a CAT scan revealed he had a brain tumor. “It’s so funny how one minute your life is awesome and you’ve got your routine down and then the next minute, you’re upside down, ripped apart and devastated,” LaFromboise said.
Cole was in the best place for doctors to find his brain tumor. A neurologist who specialized in children was at the hospital when the family received the news.
“I remember my husband asking the doctor ‘Are you going to be able to save my little boy?’ It was the darkest hour,’” LaFromboise said.
A thousand questions flew through LaFromboise’s mind. She knew what a brain tumor was, but what did it mean that there was one in her young son’s head? How did they treat it? Could they cut it out? A surgeon told Cole’s family that because the cancer had not spread, the tumor might be viable for total removal in one cut. The physicians warned LaFromboise of the dangers of slicing into the brain. Cole might not be able to walk or speak the way he had before. He might not act the same. He might not be the same Cole. As floods of prayers came in from Polson, doctors performed surgery. The tumor was extracted completely without mishap and Cole was able to walk, talk and speak just like before. “He’s still Cole,” LaFromboise said. Then came months of chemotherapy and radiation. On Nov. 11, Cole underwent his last treatment and received a cancer-free report. He rang the ceremonial bell at Spokane Children’s Hospital to celebrate the news. “We are just so grateful for all the prayers and the fundraiser, just everything everyone did to help us,” LaFromboise said.
Cole’s treatments meant that his attendance at school was sporadic and supplemented by tutors. The experience was not only traumatic for Cole, but also his kindergarten friends. “They would run up to the teacher every day and ask ‘Where’s Cole?’ ‘Where’s Cole?” LaFromboise said.
The Cincinnati-based Monkey in My Chair program knew all too well what Cole’s friends were enduring. The non-profit supplies the classrooms of children suffering from cancer with child-sized stuffed monkeys that take the place of the sick child in the classroom. Cole’s classroom received one of the monkeys accompanied by a kit that explains what children with cancer go through during treatment. “That monkey goes everywhere with them,” LaFromboise said. “They take it to class, down the halls, to the cafeteria.” The monkey even stood in for Cole in his class photo this year. Cole also has a smaller version of the stuffed animal that he kept with him during treatment. As nice as it was for Cole and his class to have had the monkey as a link during treatment, he’s looking forward to sitting in his seat at Cherry Valley Elementary School soon.
While nothing is more precious than Cole’s good health, there’s one more happy experience he can look forward to. In the midst of treatment, the Make a Wish Foundation asked Cole if he had a wish that could be granted. His parents suggested Disneyland, but Cole had something different in mind. He wanted to meet singer Bruno Mars. The Make a Wish Foundation contacted Cole’s family Thursday evening and let him know that he will meet Bruno Mars this Valentine’s Day.
