Thankful people: Cancer patient will spend holiday with family

Lorelai Clubb, a 12-year-old girl from Cape Girardeau, was diagnosed in April with acute myeloid leukemia, a form of cancer in the blood cells.

J.P. Clubb, Lorelai's father, said the first time she was able to return home after initially being diagnosed was in June for about 10 days. The first thing she did was go into her room and roll around on her bed.

From Aug. 9 to Sept. 10, Lorelai spent her days in an isolated room with few -- but frequent -- visitors at the St. Louis Children's Hospital. Her isolation was crucial to keep the amount of germs and the possibility of infection as low as possible.

On Aug. 18, she received a bone-marrow transplant, giving her the opportunity to develop a new immune system and hope of ridding her body of the cancer.

Since her release from the hospital in September, Lorelai has stayed with her grandparents to remain close to the hospital in case of an emergency.

Lorelai Clubb

Monday was Lorelai's 100th day after her bone-marrow transplant, a milestone that had been greatly anticipated by all those close to her.

And with that checkup came the clearance to head home, just in time for Thanksgiving.

"We think right now there's probably about almost a hundred percent chance that she'll be able to come home and be with her family for Thanksgiving, and that's all that we care about," J.P. said. "I don't care if we all eat Rice Krispies -- having her home will be the wonderful thing, and we'll be so thankful for that."

J.P. said he is thankful for the support from the community throughout Lorelai's hospitalization.

"From the moment that she went up to the hospital and was diagnosed, all of our family have been phenomenal," J.P. said. "But everybody, especially the community, and specifically I'm thinking of mainly the school community, you know, her former teachers at Alma Schrader, her current teachers and the administration at Central Middle School ... they've all been so supportive."

Lorelai Clubb, a 12-year-old girl from Cape Girardeau, was diagnosed in April with acute myeloid leukemia. (Submitted)

During the time she was getting her bone-marrow transplant, Lorelai worked on a parody music video of singer Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off."

J.P. said the video made Lorelai famous throughout the hospital, and she was featured on two St. Louis television stations and in People Magazine.

"But that music therapy, that ended up being just phenomenal. And then when it turned out so well and she got so much positive feedback from it, she would just light up, and it was the kind of thing where I could tell -- which is good because I don't want her to have a big head because she's got a nice good streak of humble in her -- but she was really proud of the video," J.P. said.

Even the smallest comments through Facebook, CaringBridge.org and email make a huge difference in mood and morale for Lorelai and her family.

"Those things mean so much and give us -- when we're running low, tired and worn out -- those things give us a huge boost, they do, they give it to me, they give it to Lorelai's mom, and they help us be good parents and keep things as normal as possible for our other children. We just appreciate all that. I can't even describe how much I appreciate all that stuff; it's just amazing," J.P. said.

Lorelai Clubb said she especially missed her bed while being treated for her disease. (Submitted)

He said usually at this point in the year, his children are beginning to ask about Christmas and letting him know what kind of gifts they want. This year has been different.

"None of them have said that; all they've said is, 'When's Lorelai coming home? Can we have Lorelai home? Can we have Lorelai home?'" J.P. said. "And so by having Lorelai home, that's the biggest present any of us could want ever, and that'll do us for the rest of our lives. ... We're just really looking forward to that, I can't even tell you."

As anyone could imagine, Lorelai also was eager to be home and back in her own bed again.

"She's ecstatic. I've asked her, 'What's the first thing you want to do when you get home? What are you looking forward to most about getting home? What's the first thing you want to do?' And she said, 'I want to go into my room, and I want to lay in my bed.' That's it -- that's the first thing. ... It's a very simple thing," J.P. said.

Lorelai was able to come home to Cape Girardeau with her family Monday afternoon.

Lorelai Clubb is shown before her diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia. (Submitted)

"Tonight, we sat and ate together and talked and we were all overwhelmed by the comfort in familiarity and the joy of reunion. We blinked and forgot for a second that our beautiful Lorelai has been gone for most of the past eight months," J.P. wrote in a post on CaringBridge.org. "It would be easy to feel cheated out of the time, but that would be pointless. Our girl is home! And every day that has passed since her diagnosis on April 20 has made us stronger, more resilient, braver."

Lorelai will go back for regular clinic visits until her next major checkup at the "plus six months" mark in February. If she is cleared at that point, the port in her chest will be removed, and she will be released to go back to school.