Community rallies around Wheaton boy fighting leukemia

For more than half his life, 11-year-old Isaac Wright battled leukemia like a brave little soldier.

Two weeks ago, tired of being poked and prodded, feeling weak and nauseated, Isaac was forced to gulp down a lemon-lime medication for a CT scan doctors needed to diagnose his abdominal pain.

The Wheaton boy again managed to endure.

"I prayed to God that he would help me," Isaac told his father after climbing back into his hospital bed, "and he did."

Their son's courage not only sustains Mark and Deborah Wright as they face every parent's worst nightmare, it has inspired an outpouring of humanity and a public fundraising campaign called "Hope for Isaac."

Volunteers are trying to raise $85,000 toward a double-cord blood transplant that carries potential risks but offers Isaac his best chance of survival.

An earlier transplant Feb. 13 in which his older brother, Nathaniel, 13, donated his bone marrow did not work.

Isaac has been hospitalized since Sept. 30 receiving various drugs to fight potentially deadly infections since his immune system was greatly compromised from the chemotherapy he received seven weeks earlier. The child cannot have the transplant if he is not in remission.

His parents draw upon their faith as they prepare both their sons for the worst while praying for a miracle.

A six-year struggle

Isaac's medical ordeal began at age 5, after a blood test for his kindergarten physical showed an anomaly.

Doctors diagnosed him with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a fast-growing cancer of the white blood cells, likely caused by an earlier respiratory virus.

For Deborah Wright, the hardest part is being powerless as her inquisitive blue-eyed boy is ravaged by a disease so cruel it makes him too weak to get out of bed.

Her son's bravery is both inspiring and heartbreaking.

"Isaac is in bed being strong and trying to survive," she said, "but he's just a kid who really, really wants to be doing the same things that every other sixth-grader wants to do - be in band, ride his bike, swim, play soccer, hang out with his brother and friends ...

"He can't do what his heart and mind would like him to be able to do, and that is heart-wrenching."

Isaac is rarely without one of his parents while at Advocate Hope Children's Hospital in south suburban Oak Lawn.

Mark Wright is self-employed, so he stays with Isaac all day and sleeps overnight in the hospital. Deborah makes the nearly one-hour drive after work each day, often with Nathaniel, to be with Isaac, and returns to Wheaton at night.

Her job as an English language teacher for Marquardt District 15 in Glendale Heights has provided the insurance for Isaac's medical care. The couple is near the $2 million cap, though, and soon must switch to a state insurance program.

At the hospital, Isaac is enduring many different drugs, bone-marrow aspirations, blood transfusions and biopsies.

To keep people posted on his health, his mother often provides updates in an online blog on Isaac's Web site at cotaforisaacw.com.

Communities respond

Deborah Wright cites the couple's love for Isaac and faith in God as sources of strength.

But she also said her family wouldn't have survived these past six difficult years without the many ways, both big and small, it has been embraced by people in Wheaton, Glen Ellyn and neighboring towns.

The family's lawn gets mowed, leaves raked, meals cooked, house cleaned, dog walked and even Nathaniel's pet lizard has been looked after when needed.

One particularly difficult Christmas, friends showed up with a tree and presents.

Many gathered in February outside the Wright home for a candlelight vigil to pray before Isaac's transplant. Last July, after the family learned the transplant didn't work, the parents agreed to get Isaac and Nathaniel the dog they always wanted. Staff at Central DuPage Hospital raised money and helped the family adopt Midnight from a Naperville shelter.

Wheaton Montessori School provided a scholarship for Isaac's education and donated a laptop to the family. A new GPS system showed up on Deborah's desk after she expressed frustration to co-workers about trying to steer clear of construction around the Oak Lawn hospital.

Most significant though, the Wrights partnered with the Children's Organ Transplant Association to set up a charitable fund for Isaac. Their neighbor, Rob O'Dell, a financial planner, volunteered to serve as campaign chairman. Alan Bolds, a longtime Wheaton activist, is in charge of public relations.

Volunteers meet in downtown Wheaton to come up with ideas. So far, a half-dozen events are planned. In fact, a Glen Ellyn church has a fundraiser today.

"The Wrights are such a great family," O'Dell said. "It's been phenomenal to see people come out of the woodwork to help in this fundraising effort. However, we definitely need more arms and legs to help us."

Most recently, children collected coins while trick-or-treating. Merchants are pitching in with special donation days. Wheaton officials donated all the change from public fountains after local Cub Scouts scrubbed the coins clean. A Star Wars bowling fundraiser is planned Dec. 13 and a silent auction one month later.

On Isaac's good days, friends have visited him in the hospital. Otherwise, his family tries to cheer him on with his favorite fantasy books, comics, puzzles, video games and Legos.

They also read the Bible and talk about life and death. They don't dwell on it, though.

The hope is that Isaac's leukemia will go into remission so he can receive the transplant next year at Duke Children's Hospital in North Carolina.

For now, Isaac is medically stable.

"There's tons of tears and sadness and fear," Deborah said. "I don't even have words to describe how horribly sad it is to see your child in this gut-wrenching situation. We are amazed by the bravery and strength that Isaac musters just to get through every day."

She added: "The medical odds aren't for him and we could have just given up, but Isaac has a very strong will to live. He has always wanted to fight."