Commentatorthe A publication of Douglas Southhall Freeman Vol 57, No.3 December 2010 High School, Henrico, Virginia 23229 Freshman overcomes sickle cell anemia treatments is “chemo brain.” Caroline Lewis & This chemo brain causes Nile to Scott Nystrom have short term memory loss. Staff Writers “Sometimes it is hard for me to pay attention. Not all the time but sometimes. I’ll study a lot and then take the test and look Only 1 person out of every at the paper and don’t remember 1,000 people in the United States any of it,” said Nile. has sickle cell anemia. Freshman To keep up with school he Nile Price is part of that 0.1 per- sometimes is started on home- cent. bound and a teacher will come After going through a series of to his house to help him. Ms. chemo treatments, followed by a Edwards, guidance counselor at bone marrow transplant, Nile is Freeman, arranged for a NHS free of sickle cell anemia and is student to tutor Nile. hoping to visit his donor. “I email him all the notes and After submitting Nile’s bone the students email all the notes marrow to the National Bone they took in class...we are try- Marrow Registry, it was matched ing to be supportive in every way with that of Laura Klubert’s, a possible. I let him make things 43 year old Caucasian woman up and redo things because of from Texas. missing class,” said Lara Curry, It has been about four months history teacher at Freeman. since Nile’s treatment, and Nile “All of the teachers have been has not met the woman who more than understanding and saved his life. accommodating. I should say, “We haven’t had the opportuni- everyone at Freeman has gone ty to meet her face to face yet but above and beyond for Nile. This we chat as though we’ve been is the first time we have ever got- the best of friends forever,” said ten such a response from school,’ Deborah Price, Nile’s mother. said Mrs. Price. Nile hopes to be able to visit Some of his class mates sent Laura in late November or early him cards and other things to en- December, but the costs of the tertain him, such as a sketchpad medical treatments and medi- and a mix cd. cines make the cross-country “He hates to miss school and PHOTO: J. CROWDER flight very difficult. was so worried about falling be- “…Sickle Cell disease…has not hind but when he saw during this allowed us to get away like other last hospital admission that ev- Nile Price works on his leadship homework in study hall. families because it requires lots eryone here is going to do what of coordinating just for a week- they can help, he was floored. end getaway. Sometimes we have We were both super surprised,” trait including his dad. Nile is a Nile’s donor, Laura Klubert, caused by it. Some of the pills made plans in advance only to said Mrs. Price. triplet but his two brothers only lives in Texas. She has two sons; make his skin extra sensitive to have them cancelled at the last have the sickle cell trait. How- one is deaf and blind and the light for the treatment. When he minute because Nile went into a What is Sickle Cell Anemia? ever his younger sister has the other is a marine pilot. Klubert comes out of the photophoresis crisis,” said Mrs. Price. Sickle cell anemia is a life disease. is white and therefore only had treatment, he has to wear special A fund has been set up by the threatening hereditary disease. Sickle cell patients experience a 5% chance of having a perfect sunglasses to guard his eyes from local television broadcasting Most people who inherit the dis- a crisis. Nile had his first “crisis” match with Price who is black. light. company, NBC 12, to help raise ease only live to their 40’s. at 12 months old. Last summer, his sickle cell dis- Throughout all the treatments, money for Nile’s trip. Also, the The sickle cell disease is a type A sickle cell crisis is when sick- ease worsened. He went to che- Nile has not changed his outlook Freeman staff has raised $322 to of anemia which means the blood le cells block small blood vessels motherapy for a week and then on life. assist Nile in his hope of meeting has a lower than average number that carry blood to your bones. after a week of rest, went back “It has not changed my out- Laura. of red blood cells. The job of red A crisis typically results in a trip in for another round of chemo. look on life. But there are cer- The fund is set up through blood cells in the body is to trans- to the hospital. The purpose of the chemo was tain things that you have to do to Wachovia. To donate money to port oxygen and remove carbon Red blood cells are created to kill the bad cells to wipe out keep out of the hospital but you help Nile’s cause, ask one of the dioxide. In this disorder, the in the bone marrow. One pos- the immune system so he could still got to enjoy life,” said Nile. Wachovia tellers for more infor- body sometimes creates “sickle sible cure for sickle cell anemia receive the transplant. One of Nile’s biggest supports mation. shaped” red blood cells. is a bone marrow transplant but Going into the treatment, Nile throughout the treatment was his How is the Freeman family These sickle cells only live it only works for a small number experienced multiple nightmares. mom. She has great confidence helping Nile? around 10 to 20 days. This is a people. Nile is one of those lucky He was afraid of losing a kidney in his future. This fall Nile was in the hos- lot shorter than the average red people. or other important organs. “I always tell my children to pital for about two weeks, and blood cell life of 120 days. This Nile’s Treatment The treatment went perfectly shoot for the moon and if they many of his teachers visited him. disparity in life span causes the Nile’s mom began looking for and Nile was cured of the sickle happen to miss, at least they will Although the Freeman fam- low number of red blood cells in treatment for his sickle cell dis- cell disease. After the disease, he be amongst the stars…He is the ily has been understanding and the body. ease when he was younger but had to stay at home for a couple happiest child I know and he has helpful to Nile’s medical issues, Sickle cell patients learn of their the doctors told her that it wasn’t of months to regain his strength. big dreams and embraces every some of his previous teachers disease around time of birth. severe enough yet. “I was basically a noodle,” said day with great expectations,” haven’t been. Once being diagnosed with sick- As Nile aged, he began experi- Nile. said Deborah Price. “In elementary and middle le cell anemia, the patient’s life is encing more frequent and severe Nile Now and his Future One of Nile’s dreams is to setup school we gave booklets about completely changed. crises and became a “frequent Nile is completely cured from a foundation to expand the Nel- sickle cell anemia to the teachers “Nile was two weeks old when flyer” at the hospital. He also sickle cell anemia but he now son clinic and 7th floor at MCV and they just put it in their desks I got a telephone call from the experienced acute chest which is battling the graph versus host where he was during his stay in and didn’t look at it. One teacher Maryland state health depart- is when the lungs fill with water disease. the hospital. Nile expressed con- wouldn’t let me leave 5 minutes ment…I cried deeply because I and causes extreme pain in the The goal is to have all the do- cern that there was not enough early so I could walk to my class- knew what this disease would chest. nor bone marrow cells take over space in the clinic for the patients es more easily. Kids were im- mean for his life,” said Deborah Doctors decided he was ready his “host” cells. While this pro- or for the parents who sleep over- mature and I got pushed into a Price. for the treatment. Nile and his cess takes place, the body reacts night there. locker. The commotion made me Because sickle cell anemia is a parents began looking for a do- strangely. Nile is appreciative of the help go into crisis,” said Nile. hereditary disease, usually more nor and entered him into the To fight this disease, Nile is MCV has given his family. Dur- The gym teachers also made than one person in a family has National Bone Marrow Registry. undergoing a treatment called ing some of his hospital stays, Nile run in the cold and hot, the disease. However, some fam- He found his donor, Laura Klu- photophoresis twice a week. He MCV gave his parents free food even though he is not supposed ily members will only have the bert, through the registry. is put in a room and has ultravio- coupons and waived the parking to be outside when it is below 40 sickle cell trait, which means For a donor to be able to donate lent light shining on him.