Contributed photo
FATHER-DAUGHTERS — Kirk Ward of Houlton poses with his daughters McKenna, left, and Felicity. McKenna was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer four years ago, but is now in remission.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — Every father dreams of taking his daughter to a father-daughter dance or watching their little princess glide across the stage at a dance recital.
So imagine the feeling that Kirk Ward felt back on April 28, 2009, when doctors told them the words no parent wants to hear, “Your child has cancer.”
Makenna, the daughter of Kirk and Amy Ward of Houlton, was just 22 months old when her parents heard those grim words. Now, four years later, the Wards are cautiously optimistic that through the power of prayer, their little girl is in remission and will be for many years to come.
As an infant and toddler, Makenna seemed like the picture of health, with one small exception. She routinely would fall asleep, sometimes right on the floor in the middle of playing. Then the family noticed a redness around one of Makenna’s eyes.
“At first we thought she had an eye infection like pink eye,” Kirk said. “We didn’t really know what was going on. But then we noticed some swelling occurred and we started to get nervous.”
She was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in March, 2009. Neuroblastoma is a form of cancer that occurs in infants and young children and accounts for about 6 percent of all cancers in children. According to www.mayoclinic.com, neuroblastoma most commonly arises in and around the adrenal gland.
The Wards knew another family from the area who lost a child (Carter Cummings) to neuroblastoma, two years after being diagnosed in 2008.
McKenna was taken to Bangor for tests, where a large tumor, about the size of a grapefruit, was found in her abdomen.
“Up to that point, she was just your average 2-year-old,” Kirk said. “She would take naps right in the middle of the floor, which we thought was weird, but she would pop right up and go. It wasn’t until the swelling showed up that we knew something wasn’t right.”
A week after finding the tumor, McKenna began the first of several rounds of chemotherapy to aggressively attack the cancer.
For the next several months, the Wards spent time between Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and Tufts Medical Center in Boston as their daughter received radiation treatments. She also underwent surgeries to harvest bone marrow and red blood cells for recovery after the treatments.
Doctors were able to remove the cancerous tumor after a 12-hour surgery. After several rounds of treatments, McKenna had her final round of chemo in July 2010 and her prognosis looked good. For two years, scans were performed and McKenna was in remission.
Throughout this ordeal, the Wards have received a tremendous amount of support from the community, Kirk said.
“There has been a lot of prayer warriors out there for us, and we are forever thankful for them,” he added.
In March of 2012, almost two years to the date of her first diagnosis, she suffered a relapse when a lump in her jaw was discovered. Radiation treatments resumed over the next three months. The Wards made plans to go to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston for the first phase of exploratory treatments.
However, once the family arrived in Boston, they received some startling news.
“The doctor came out and said ‘Mr. and Mrs. Ward, have you seen McKenna’ scans?’” Kirk said. “We hadn’t had a chance to look at them because we had been on the road.”
The doctor gave the Wards news they never dreamed was possible.
“She told us ‘We don’t see anything,’” Kirk said.
Three weeks earlier, McKenna had been showing significant signs of disease throughout her tiny body. But when the doctors looked at her most recent scan, nothing showed up.
“We were ready for at least a solid month in Boston for treatments, but they told us there was no need for it and to turn around and come home,” Kirk said.
McKenna is now her 13th month of 18 months of “maintenance chemo,” with regular scans. To this point, no signs of disease have returned.
In the fall of 2012, Kirk and Amy saw their daughter achieve another milestone when McKenna enrolled in pre-school at Houlton Elementary School. The milestones have continued to pile up after that, with Kirk able to attend the Father-Daughter dance with McKenna in February at the Gentle Memorial Building in Houlton.
“She will have health concerns for the rest of her life, but she is still with us,” Kirk said. “She is a trooper. She understands what cancer is, but never complains about anything. She is County strong.”
Despite the clean bill of health, Kirk said her daughter still has fears. One of the more difficult conversations came on one of their many trips from Houlton to Bangor when McKenna asked her father “Daddy, am I going to die?”
“I told her, no, Jesus healed you,” Kirk said. “You are fine. We’re going to hold hands and grow up together and one day, Daddy is going to walk you down the aisle when you get married.”
The Wards have two other children, Felicity, 9, and Blake, 3.
Road Race
On July 3, six days after her 6th birthday, the Ward family will host “Miracle Mile: Makenna and Maggie’s Race for Research.” All proceeds from the race will go to two worthwhile organizations working to find cures for childrens’ cancers — “Curesearch” and the “Diamond Blackfan Anemia Foundation.”
“My reason for this event and inspiration is not only my own daughter’s fight with cancer, but the thousands of kids who are diagnosed yearly,” Kirk said.
Joining the Wards for the event will be Lauren and Andy Rudnicki of Levant, with their daughter Maggie. The Wards met the Rudnicki family in Bangor when both families were getting treatment for their daughters at the same time.
“My wife became very close with Maggie’s mom and McKenna found a new friend who was going through something similar,” Ward said. “When McKenna was receiving chemo, Maggie was getting a blood transfusion. They were there together and became buddies.”
The Rudnicki’s daughter was diagnosed with Diamond Blackfan Anemia, a rare blood disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce red blood cells. People with DBA are severely anemic and require constant blood transfusions.
The race begins at the intersection of Cary and Military streets and will continue down Main Street, ending at the Temple Theatre. The cost to register is $10 per person, and for an additional $5 participants can purchase a race t-shirt. There are 50 T-shirts available, but more can be ordered if the interest is strong enough.
“It’s a one-mile race, downhill,” joked Ward. “We chose it this way so anyone can do this race. We hope to see people pushing strollers and families out running or walking.”
Any business or individual interested in making a donation to the event, checks can be made payable to Miracle Mile, c/o County Physical Therapy, 4 North St., Houlton, ME, 04730. For more information, contact Kirk at 538-1494 or e-mail ward_kirk@yahoo.com.
