Atlanta's little Jacks bring two families together

<p>With their own child in the hospital with a severe head injury, Tamara and Jackie Stapleton take a few hours to rock 5-week-old Kate Williamson so her parents can help her 3-year-old brother, Jack, get over another round of chemotherapy.</p><p>Another time, a floor below at the hospital, Jennifer Williamson and Stephanie Gallagher bring coffee to the Stapletons as they are busy tending to their 4-year-old son, also named Jack, whose treatments continue for his head injury.</p><p>These two families _ once only acquaintances at the same church _ have grown close as they watch the life-changing struggles of their brave little Jacks, two young friends who share a love for their moms and trains, trucks and dinosaurs.</p><p>Each boy's hospital room has included a picture of the other Jack, as well as toys, drawings and letters of support from family, friends, church members and Sunday School classmates. The two boys also take moments to see each other _ Jack Stapleton sometimes rides a tricycle on a hospital floor and stops by to see Jack Williamson fingerpainting from within the glass-enclosed safety of an isolation playroom.</p><p>The moms also share their interests _ mainly the love of their boys _ late at night in the hospital rooms when the boys are fast asleep. They encourage each other via computers and cell phones.</p><p>"In the middle of the night _ we're up all night with sick babies _ we e-mail each other," Tamara Stapleton said.</p><p>The support between the two families has inspired the health workers who care for the two Jacks.</p><p>The families "have one of the most tremendous relationships I've ever seen," said Kimberly Corneal, an emergency medicine resident for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. "Having someone else who has an amazing story do something against all odds gives them a lot of inspiration."</p><p>Jack Williamson was diagnosed with cancer in March, when doctors told his parents that he only has a 30 percent chance to live to see his eighth birthday.</p><p>The Stapletons, along with other members of Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Atlanta, chipped in to help Jack and his family. The Stapletons even set up a Web site for the Williamson family so they could easily update relatives and friends on Jack's status.</p><p>Then in May, Jack Stapleton ended up in the hospital following a boating accident on Lake Jackson, 40 miles southeast of Atlanta. He suffered a massive brain injury after he fell out of the boat he was riding in and was struck by the watercraft.</p><p>Doctors did not think the 4-year-old would survive with a quarter of his brain irreparably damaged. The Stapletons now were on the receiving end of support.</p><p>"It was like it all happened for a reason, to prepare us for what was to come two months later," Tamara Stapleton said of their days helping Jack Williamson and his family.</p><p>Over time, the children have improved. Jack Williamson has benefited from a course of surgery to remove the tumors and rounds of chemotherapy to eliminate the cancer. Because the chemotherapy is so powerful, doctors must rebuild the boy's immune system by transplanting his own blood stem cells to restore his white blood cells and plasma.</p><p>He was moved Tuesday to a nearby hotel as step toward eventually returning home. If he becomes sick, he can quickly be rushed back to the hospital. But if everything is OK over the next week, he will get to go home. He'll have to return to the hospital for another blood stem cell transplant at the end of September.</p><p>Although the part of his brain that controls language was damaged, Jack Stapleton has started to talk again. He also regained the use of some of his right leg.</p><p>"He's regaining his personality, a very good sign," said Dr. Timothy Mapstone, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Emory University. "He interacts more, is playful and is cracking jokes. He gets mad. Those are all good things. It means the higher functions of his brain are recovering nicely."</p><p>During the months when both Jacks were in the hospital, the families maintained a daily routine. Tamara Stapleton dropped off coffee for her friends each morning, just leaving it outside the germ-free room that Jack Williamson was in.</p><p>"I knock and run because I'm afraid I'll give them a cold germ," Tamara Stapleton said.</p><p>In return, Gallagher brings the Stapletons lunch.</p><p>"I don't even ask _ I'll just do it," she said.</p><p>Even if they weren't same-sex couples, the experience would be the same, Gallagher said.</p><p>"A parent's love for our kids comes first over anything else. I think through this experience, we'll always be very close and tight because we're fighting for our kids' lives together," Gallagher said. "That need to relate to each other is very important and it relieves a lot of stress _ we have some lighter moments with each other, which is a cherished moment _ to have that lightheartedness in the midst of this situation."</p><p>Both families look forward to the time when they will be able to return home. They'll leave the hospital behind but will keep the friendships forged there.</p><p>"We'll be inseparable," said Tamara Stapleton. "There will always be a bond between us moms and our kids."</p><p>___</p><p>On The Net:</p><p>HASH(0x28639e8)</p><p>HASH(0x2863a90)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/8/162171