POPE WILL BLESS CAPE GIRL

Cheryl and Erin Oberhaus have some of the best seats in town today to see Pope John Paul II.

The pope arrives in St. Louis this afternoon and will celebrate Mass on Wednesday morning.

The Cape Girardeau mother and daughter will be seated in the front row at the Kiel Center where the pope is scheduled to speak tonight at a youth rally.

During the rally, Erin, 15, will stand on stage with the 78-year-old pontiff to receive a blessing. In just a few days she will undergo another round of chemotherapy treatment at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.

Erin was diagnosed with lupus two years ago and receives periodic chemotherapy treatments to help control the disease.

Erin never thought that her routine treatments would get her such special recognition. She and her mother learned last week that they had been selected by the hospital staff to meet the pope.

"When I found out I went berserk," said Erin.

The reality of the event hasn't registered as much as the excitement.

Erin already has earned some fame from her upcoming blessing: She has been featured on two separate news stations in St. Louis where she lives during the week with her father and stepmother.

The excitement is welcome after the battle with her illness.

For two years Erin has been receiving chemotherapy treatments to help control the outbreak of lupus, an auto-immune disease that creates a mix-up in the body's immune system. Instead of attacking foreign objects, Erin's body attacks itself, mistakenly believing that her organs are foreign objects.

Erin's first symptoms of lupus weren't strong: Her eyes and ankles swelled, but the swelling would disappear in an hour or two. Her mother thought it likely was an allergy.

But when Erin's entire face became swollen so severely that she couldn't open her eyes, Cheryl knew something was wrong. Emergency room doctors didn't know what was to blame. They sent Erin to Cardinal Glennon where doctors diagnosed her with kidney problems related to lupus.

During the early months of her disease, Erin underwent chemotherapy treatments once a month. Her long, blonde hair fell out, and classmates made fun of her for it.

It wasn't an easy adjustment to make for an eighth-grader. But Erin survived that trauma. "It used to be that I'd be sick for three or four days after, but now I'm bouncing back."

The chemotherapy treatments no longer make her nauseated. She only stays in the hospital overnight while IVs circulate the medicines through her body.

Erin knows realistically that receiving a blessing from the pope isn't the same as a cure. But her faith tells her to believe.

"This is going to be a boost of confidence," she said. "Even if it doesn't do anything physically, it will do something mentally."

When Erin is at her best mentally, her physical pain lessens.

Erin doesn't know exactly what to expect from the pope. She was told that she and five other children from the hospital will be recognized, but they shouldn't expect individual blessings.

"But we were told that the pope has a mind of his own, and it's totally up to him," her mother said.

Seeing the pope is momentous because the Oberhauses are Catholics but also because he is a leader admired around the world.

When Erin had to choose one other person to attend the rally with her, the selection was simple. "I chose my mom because she's so into her faith," Erin explained. "This would mean a lot to her."

Having a child chosen for the blessing was an honor in itself, Cheryl Oberhaus said. "These kids have endured so much more than we have as adults," she said. "They have been faced with their own mortality at an early age. They need everything good that can happen."