For one cancer patient, it was a prom night to remember - USA Today

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.

 HOPING FOR FULL RECOVERY AFTER FIFTH ROUND OF CHEMO Ashley Riemer, 17, is still undergoing treatment so her prognosis is unclear, say her parents and doctors, but they are hoping for a full recovery after Ashley finishes her fifth and last round of chemotherapy. Jeffrey Rubnitz, a pediatric oncologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, says acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer of the blood, is not common in children and affects only about 500 a year. He says four to five courses of chemotherapy is one of two common treatment approaches. Early symptoms of AML, Rubnitz says, include fatigue, pale skin, bruising and bleeding, headache resulting from anemia, and a prolonged high fever, which is what Ashley had. She also had a lump an enlarged lymph node on her neck, which she at first thought was a muscle knot, she says. The cure rate for myeloid leukemia is 50% to 60%, says Richard Aplenc, an assistant professor of pediatrics and a specialist in AML and leukemia at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. That's a "conservative estimate," he says. Rubnitz says 90% of relapses occur within two years. If the cancer returns, it's tougher to fight. "Only about 20% of relapse patients survive," he says. Aplenc says that beyond the physical issues, AML also can take an emotional toll on teens. "The kids are out of school for a six- to nine-month block of time," Aplenc says. "Some of them get very sick, and that can be traumatic. "In my personal experience, what really matters is the strength and functionality of the family. It means the family is able to see the kid in an age-appropriate way and provide guidance and comfort for their child."

There was a giddy, Oscar-night feel in the chilly February air as Ashley Riemer â€" resplendent in a one-shoulder turquoise gown, strappy silver sandals and painted fingers and toes â€" stepped from a shiny, chauffeured white Lincoln and was escorted up red-carpeted steps by her stepfather, U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Troy Dennison, decked out in full military dress, and her mom, Tammy.

Ashley's smile was ear-to-ear and her eyes glistened with unshed tears as cameras clicked and about 60 of her friends from Mount Vernon High School and the family's Rose Hill Baptist Church, and her nurses and doctors from Walter Reed â€" all dolled up in their senior prom best â€" cheered, whistled and called out "We love you, Ashley" as she entered the Old Red Cross Building on the military medical campus.

A senior year on hold

Ashley, who has leukemia, has been unable to attend school since September. She has spent most of that time living at Walter Reed, undergoing chemotherapy, fighting infections and taking pain medication for drug side effects. Her illness put many normal passages of a senior year on hold â€" football games, dances, nights out with friends. When it became clear she was too sick to attend a regular senior prom, those who knew her decided to bring the prom to her.

"I don't think I've missed out on anything," Ashley said a few days before her Walter Reed prom. "I'm more of a quality, not quantity, type person."

The notion of Ashley's "prom" was first hatched by Army Col. Ritza Reese, section chief of medical pediatric psychiatry and oncology nursing at Walter Reed, who met Ashley when she entered the hospital to be treated for acute myeloid leukemia the first week of her senior year of high school.

"I came up with the idea in December. I had heard about something similar done at another hospital and thought, 'Let's bring the prom to Ashley,' " Reese says.

Reese mentioned her thoughts to Army Capt. Jody Brown, another one of Ashley's nurses, and her social worker, Stacee Springer, and from there, plans snowballed from what was originally going to be a little dance with a jukebox and snacks to a full-out formal party with a live DJ and catered food, says Tammy Dennison.

The prom is a first for Walter Reed.

"We weren't sure at first if we'd get this done," says Reese, who knows from being stationed around the world, including war zones, that a lot of military protocol is involved with arranging an event like this.

"Our mission is to get her away from her cancer. This prom is about being a woman," Springer says.

Springer says the Dennisons have tried to keep life as normal as possible for Ashley while juggling overnights at the hospital and difficult twists and turns of the treatment. She has struggled with numerous bone marrow biopsies, 18 spinal taps, an allergic reaction to one medication, a stomach infection and a serious fungal infection in her sinuses as a result of her chemo-weakened immune system.

"This family is very courageous, and they're very focused on helping Ashley have as normal a life as possible. Not every family does it so courageously," Springer says.

With the help of the non-profit Santa's Foundation, which has coordinated charitable events for children with parents in the Armed Forces, and some local vendors, the prom grew into a glittering party, Reese says. A colorful balloon bouquet clutched in her arms, Ashley and her parents were met by three silly-faced clowns as they entered the dance hall's foyer and took in the twinkling lights and shimmering star-shaped balloons. Tables were festooned with sapphire blue tablecloths and crystal Champagne flutes for non-alcoholic bubbly, and music vibrated around them.

A magician prepared for the entertainment segment of the evening, and buffet tables were piled with donated food from Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, Ben & Jerry's and Baskin-Robbins, Reese says.

Hugs, kisses and support

An elegant car transported Ashley and her family to the event. She had dresses donated by Bloomingdale's and Versace (and wore two different ones â€" that night). A donated Tiffany & Co. necklace â€" two platinum X's hugging a diamond O, as in "hugs and kisses" â€" winked from around her neck. An Estée Lauder makeup artist gave Ashley her model look, creating eyebrows and the illusion of lashes where those lost to chemotherapy had once been. To cover her head, she wore a sleek, short-cropped, brunet wig at the start of the evening and a longer one later, both styled by a Paul Mitchell expert.

A few days before the prom, Ashley's mother flashed an old driver's license showing her daughter with a mass of long, blond curls, which Ashley says began falling out after chemotherapy. The rest she shaved off herself.

"My uncles shaved their heads, too," she says.

Despite the typical prom atmosphere â€" replete with giggling girlfriends, nicely dressed yet fidgety young men and plenty of text messages and cellphone calls on the drive to the event, says her mother â€" it was hard not to notice the white bandage and tubes peeping out from the neckline of Ashley's evening gown.

It's called a Broviac, a central line where medication can be given, says Kara Hack, a pediatric oncology fellow at Walter Reed, who gave Ashley a bear hug when she arrived at the prom. Ashley danced so much that by night's end, the Broviac needed to be rebandaged.

"This is so fantastic," says Hack, Ashley's primary oncologist. "Ashley's missed a lot this year, her senior year of high school. She's been through a lot."

Some of Ashley's other physicians were there, too. Ryan Mascio, a second-year medical resident, said he came to celebrate with Ashley because being a physician is about more than diagnosing and dosing.

"It's not just the medicine for me. It's about making her happy and seeing she has as normal a life as possible," Mascio says.

Third-year pediatric hematology/oncology fellow Jacob Wessler was snapping prom pictures. "These kids with cancer grow up fast and lose some of that innocence," Wessler says. "How do you go back to school? How do you relate to friends? This prom is a way to give back some of that normalcy."

Ashley's friends were delighted for their pal, who snacked on an ice cream sundae when she wasn't visiting with guests and dancing. They say it has been a hard school year, but Ashley's not a complainer.

Erica Frank, 18, a senior at Mount Vernon High who wore a black strapless gown that showed off a tattoo on her shoulder, played on the volleyball team with Ashley.

"When Ashley told me about her cancer, it stunned me. We played sports together, saw the Twilight movie together, went to parties," Erica says. "She's been really positive throughout this. She's one of the strongest people I know."

Ashley's close friend from church, Meagan Upshaw, 19, the pastor's granddaughter, has known her for about five years and has kept in touch since her diagnosis by calling once a week and visiting when she can. She was at the prom, dressed in a silky black-and-white-striped cocktail dress, watching the goings-on quietly.

"It's really hard to watch a good friend go through this," Meagan says. "I have to be strong for her, but when I'm by myself sometimes and I really start thinking about it, I'll start crying. I've known her since she was 13." She says Ashley's faith has deepened over the months.

Getting to know your friends

In an interview a few days before the prom, Ashley echoed words other cancer patients have used. "You realize who your real friends are. I've grown away from some friends and others have stuck by," she says.

Her parents say they have felt a little overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and gifts.

"Everyone is here from every slice of her life â€" her family, her school friends, her church friends," says stepdad Dennison, whom Ashley refers to as "my rock" and says has carried her through some of her roughest days with his humor.

She'll need his humor â€" and the warm memories of Saturday night â€" in the months ahead as she faces yet more chemotherapy.

Dennison gestured to his wife and daughter as they smiled and laughed with friends.

"When it comes down to what she remembers about her cancer treatment, I hope it won't be all the pain and suffering she's been through," he says, "but that she'll remember this as the highlight."

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.