Medical professionals help family during tough times
At times, Marcia Duncan struggles to fight back tears inside 21st Century Oncology, where her son, 17-year-old Basil Dallas, receives radiation treatments for a tumor discovered this summer.
The past few months, Duncan has been without work and, until recently, the family was homeless while Dallas dealt with the unexpected diagnosis.
"I try not to cry because I don't want to stress my kids out," she says, referring to Dallas and his 15-year-old brother.
But right beside her isn't just Dallas' nurse but someone who has turned into a true support system for the family — office nurse Cynthia Robinson.
"We will figure it out," Robinson says while she takes Duncan's hand.
It was Robinson who rallied the doctors and staff to make sure the family had a place to stay while Dallas continued his treatments.
"She is a blessing from God," Duncan says. "God sent her to us."
Duncan says she would have truly been lost without Robinson and the staff.
"We all have a journey we are on," Robinson says. "We don't know why we go down certain roads or where they will lead us."
But Duncan believes her road led her to Las Vegas, 21st Century Oncology and its staff, including Robinson.
Dallas was born in North Carolina but grew up in Florida.
Because of the high cost of living and difficulties with employment, living in Florida grew tiresome for the family.
Duncan looked to other destinations such as Las Vegas — where she has family — in search of opportunity. In the past, she has worked in patient care services at medical facilities, but she is open to other job opportunities.
"I heard it was less expensive to live," she says of Las Vegas.
Early this summer, they uprooted their lives and moved from humid Florida to the dry, hot desert in search of a fresh start.
It turned out it wasn't as easy as hoped.
Duncan filled out application after application and went to countless interviews trying to find employment.
They were living with family at the time, but after a relationship turned sour, she says she was no longer welcome.
All the while, Dallas started getting serious headaches.
Because of the change in climates, both Dallas and Duncan assumed it was just adjusting to the heat.
He ignored them until his symptoms grew worse.
"One day when I got home, I threw up twice," he says. "I don't usually throw up. The headaches were starting to keep me up at night, too."
Finally, he asked his mother to take him to the hospital.
Dallas, who is claustrophobic, was given a drug to make him asleep while an MRI was administered.
That is when they found a tumor.
"It was a benign tumor about two inches," says Dr. Paul Treadwell, Dallas' oncologist.
Dallas was immediately moved into surgery.
"It was really hard to hear the news," Duncan says.
Treadwell says in addition to surgery, radiation treatment was recommended.
"The tumor wasn't removed in total," he adds.
Radiation focuses on a specific area of treatment, and doses are given to the patient in increments over multiple weeks. Dallas would have to go to 21st Century Oncology every day for six weeks after his release from the hospital.
They already were facing obstacles trying to find employment and a place to live. Every time a job lead would surface, it turned out to be a dead end. Now, they were going to have to add daily radiation treatments to the regime.
The good news was Dallas recovered quickly.
"I was up walking around the next day after surgery," he says.
Other than getting strep throat, he hasn't been back to the emergency room.
Duncan continued to interview for jobs, sometimes putting in applications before and after taking Dallas in for treatments.
While he was in the hospital, the family, faced with nowhere else to go, had to spend the night in his room.
After leaving the hospital, they managed to get into a weekly motel across town while Duncan searched for housing. Duncan says emergency shelters were either overcrowded or weren't able to accept the family because of Dallas' age.
With nowhere to turn, one day at radiation treatment she began to tell her story to the nurse.
"I went to Dr. Treadwell and told him the situation," Robinson says.
They agreed they needed to do something to help the family.
"I hope any other physician would have done the same thing," Treadwell says.
He adds that Robinson got the ball rolling on donations.
"It was a group effort," Robinson says. "I went around the office collecting money. Not one person said no. We couldn't see them not having a place to stay."
The staff collected $600 to get the family into an extended stay hotel closer to the hospital where Dallas receives daily treatments.
Before, Dallas and family would have to take the bus across town to make it to treatments. The hospital staff also arranged for them to be picked up and taken to treatments.
But the staff knew more could be done.
In addition to all they do for patients, 21st Century Oncology has a nonprofit known as Cancer Assistance, Research & Education.
Whether it is hiring a baby-sitter for a single mother who needs to go to chemotherapy or paying for specialists who treat rare forms of cancer, the organization provides financial aid for expenses related to cancer treatment.
In this case, it made it possible for the family to have a place to stay and provide them with aid for food while Dallas recovers.
Dallas continues radiation treatments for another week.
"Then, we will run some tests to see where he is at," Treadwell says. "We follow up to make sure it doesn't come back. If it does, we will have to do more surgery."
Dallas says he feels better and is ready to get back to his normal life and plans to attend Valley High School this fall.
"I'm ready to play basketball again," he says. "I really appreciate what everyone has done for us. It has really opened my eyes to how people can care for other people."
Contact reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5201. Find him on Twitter: @mjlyle.
