| Meet Diane Delaney |
Diane Delaney
 Diane Delaney is
eleven years old
and is in the fifth grade at Woodburn
Elementary School. Diane lives with
her parents, Laura and Dennis, and
her older brother, Doug, who is 15.
Diane likes school very much. She
most enjoys doing school work
when she can link it to her true
passion–animals. If she’s assigned to do a book
report, she might write about
Charlotte’s Web, and if she’s asked
to do an art project, you can bet she’ll use an animal as her model!
She has two pets of her very own, a dog named Ruby and a hamster named
Spot. Also, she has taken riding lessons at the local equestrian center
since she was very young. Diane is currently being treated for acute
lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer. Diane
began her chemotherapy treatments immediately after diagnosis and had
her external catheter put in shortly thereafter. About a month after
her first treatment, Diane’s cancer went into remission because of the
chemotherapy she received. She is now able to return to school.
However, she will continue to have treatments for about two years to
make sure that the leukemia doesn’t come back. Sometimes, these
treatments will mean that she will have to miss school because of side
effects. Diane has been receiving and will continue to receive
additional instruction from a tutor to help her keep up with the other
students in her class. She is quick to explain, though, “I don’t want
to be treated any differently just ‘cause I have leukemia.” |
