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Beavercreek youngster has lots of help fighting leukemia

Basketball players, coaches at Wright State join local family in raising funds to find a cure for girl’s disease.

Wright State basketball coach Brad Brownell (far left) and his team helped raise money for 7-year-old Ally Barnett (in pink hooded sweatshirt) during Friday's Light the Night event. Barnett has been diagnosed with leukemia.

Contributed photo Wright State basketball coach Brad Brownell (far left) and his team helped raise money for 7-year-old Ally Barnett (in pink hooded sweatshirt) during Friday's Light the Night event. Barnett has been diagnosed with leukemia.

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 12:02 AM Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Early this summer, Ally Barnett was tired — more tired than a 7-year-old girl who loved to swim and play soccer should be.

Jerad and Janel Barnett took their eldest of three children to their pediatrician. He sent them to Children’s Hospital, where they were told to wait after a sample of Ally’s blood was taken.

The date was May 27, and it started what is expected to be 2 1/2 years of treatment to rid Ally of ALL — acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

“It was a tough time,” Jerad said. “It was tougher in June and July. It was pretty awful then. August was pretty good. The odds are great for recovery, if not perfect, despite the fact ALL is an aggressive disease. It is often decided to treat it aggressively.”

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a disease of the white blood cells, the ones that fight infection. It is the most common cancer in children, according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

One in every 29,000 children in this country 15 or younger has been diagnosed with ALL.

It also is one of the most curable cancers, rising from a scant 5 percent survival rate (five years or more) in the 1960s to better than 85 percent today. But it has to be treated, and for a long time.

The day after Ally was diagnosed, she started chemotherapy, and has gone for that treatment every Friday since.

Despite the high rate of successful treatment, a diagnosis of ALL is not what a family wants to hear, especially in the wake of other tragedy.

Ally’s grandmother — Janel’s mother, Marcie Mills — passed away in March after a 15-month battle with bladder cancer.

Bob Mills, Marcie’s husband, is a local developer and big benefactor to Wright State causes, especially basketball.

His family’s name is on the face of the Mills-Morgan Center and Setzer Pavilion on the WSU campus. His portrait with Marcie hangs in the main entry way.

What they’re going through is enough to create despair in most families. But Janel instead started a blog explaining what Ally was going through, and last week led a march on the LLS Light the Night fundraiser.

Brad Brownell, WSU’s basketball coach and a friend of the family, assembled most of his team for the march. Ally’s Army raised nearly $40,000.

“It was the top team in southern Ohio,” a local LLS spokesperson said. “They had hoped to raise $10,000, and at this moment, are over $39,000 with more coming in.”

The national campaign is only about half over, but last year the top 40 teams raised more than $35,000, about half of them friends and family teams, such as Ally’s.

Meanwhile, Ally — whose turns 8 on Saturday — goes to school (Valley Elementary in Beavercreek) “about 75 to 80 percent of the time.” The rest of the time she spends in treatment.

“We wanted to make it as normal for her as possible,” Jerad said. “She can be here (at Children’s) six to eight hours for treatment, and sometimes stays the weekend. She has had 15 blood transfusions.

“It’s day-by-day, minute-by-minute.”

That’s the bad news. The good news?

“Odds are, she’s going to get better,” Jerad said.

Contact this reporter at  (937) 225-2157 or mkatz @DaytonDailyNews.com.

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