Junior-high girl shakes off cancer, returns to school

She’s back.

Although it’s been nearly a year since Lorelai Clubb walked the halls at Central Junior High in Cape Girardeau, Tuesday was her first day at school after months of battling leukemia.

Compared to dreary hospital rooms and the rigors of chemotherapy, school is practically paradise to the 12-year-old seventh-grader.

“The highlight of my day was when I got to school and people saw me and said, ‘Hey, Lorelai, what’s up?’” she said.

Clubb was diagnosed in April with acute myeloid leukemia, after fatigue and extensive bruising on her legs telegraphed something was wrong.

Lorelai Clubb talks with a classmate during a visual arts class Tuesday at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School.Glenn Landberg

By Aug. 18, she had received a bone-marrow stem-cell transplant after several aggressive rounds of chemo, said her father, JP Clubb.

An infection in May caused complications with her compromised immune system, and by the time the chemo was over, Lorelai experienced what the elder Clubb called horrific mouth and throat sores that made it difficult for her to swallow her saliva, let alone anything else.

It was during that period she and members of the public-relations staff at St. Louis Children’s Hospital made a music video based on pop diva Taylor Swift’s song “Shake It Off.”

As many friends and family members know, Lorelai is a Swift fan, and the video captured the attention of People magazine after being shared all over social media.

Swift wasn’t able to visit the hospital during Lorelai’s time there, but producing the video was one in a series of experiences Lorelai said she wouldn’t change for anything. Not only did she learn a lot during her illness, but she became closer with her family.

“If I could go back in time ... I wouldn’t undo it,” she said. “I would just wish it wouldn’t happen again.”

So far, it looks as if her wish is holding steady.

Although she still has a tube in her chest for medication, it’s expected to come out Thursday.

During her six-month post-transplant exam earlier this month, doctors confirmed Lorelai’s new stem cells have incorporated into her system, and her body isn’t rejecting them.

“Her recovery since the transplant has been extremely positive. She’s met every benchmark,” JP Clubb said.

For the past couple of months, Lorelai had to avoid the sun and wear a mask around crowds of people or anyone with an illness.

If all continues to go well, she’ll be required to travel to St. Louis only for monthly checkups. At the one-year mark, she will undergo a biopsy to make sure her blood is still cancer-free.

“Now, she just has to do common-sense things that we all do,” her father said. “If someone’s sick, she has to stay away from them.”

Lorelai also would have returned to school Monday, except it was closed in observance of Presidents Day. She said she was pumped about her science class and bursting to be back in the stage choir.

“I’m feeling good,” she said.

She also is grateful for the support she received from friends, family members and teachers throughout her ordeal.

When fellow students come up to her and say she was lucky to be out of school, she doesn’t see it that way, because of the alternative.

“I’m just hoping that I can be treated like everybody else and be normal,” she said.

ljones@semissourian.com

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