By Craig J. Thrall

Carly Scherer is a normal 9-year-old child. She likes playing with her friends, watching TV and enjoys school and cats. Her parents are caring and loving. But what makes Carly a little different than other kids her age, a little less "normal," is that when she was 2 years old, Carly was diagnosed with leukemia.

Carly’s mother Kathy has worked as a nurse at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo for 18 years and is a Public Employees Federation (PEF) member. Over the years she has seen unfortunate situations that families experienced due to various cancers, diseases and sicknesses. She sympathized with the families.

Each Thanksgiving Kathy and her husband Joseph would volunteer to cook special holiday meals for the families at Roswell Park who stayed at the hospital. These were families that weren’t home sitting in their living rooms watching the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions play football, weren’t eating shrimp with cocktail sauce, playing cards with the nephews and nieces, and weren’t eating a second piece of grandma’s apple pie in the evening after they still "had a little room left" in their stomach. These were families that stayed at the hospital virtually around-the-clock to be with and support friends or loved ones. Kathy and Joseph volunteered for these people on Thanksgiving because they felt good about helping people.

Thanksgiving 1992 would be different for the Scherer's because the day before, they got the diagnosis that Carly had leukemia. "When volunteering for those people at Roswell on Thanksgiving, I remember feeling sorry for them," reflected Kathy Scherer. "Now we were the ones that needed the help and support of others. There is no immunity to this happening to anyone."

Many of us have heard of the disease that effected the Scherer's, but what is leukemia? There are many types of leukemia, but in simple terms it is when white blood cells in bone marrow don’t fully develop. White blood cells are the "attackers" in the blood. When there is something in the blood that shouldn’t be there, such as an infection, the white blood cells take care of it. With leukemia, the white blood cells can’t do the job properly and the dysfunctional undeveloped cells keep producing extra white blood cells, effectively crowding out needed blood-clotting platelets.

In Carly’s case, she was treated with high doses of Vitamin A, chemotherapy and eventually required two bone marrow transplants. Bone marrow transplants basically clean out the "bad" white blood cells and replace it with the new, healthy marrow. This second bone marrow transplant seems to be the one that has gotten Carly back on track to being a "normal" kid again. Thanks to the marrow transplant from federal employee Nick Economeu, Carly is in remission from the disease. "All we can hope for now is that Carly will be in a lifetime or chronic remission," said Kathy. "There never really is a fool-proof cure. It just doesn’t go away."

SEFA MAKES A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE

Kathy and her husband have been long-time supporters of the State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA). Since Carly’s diagnosis, the Scherer family has been helped by many SEFA supported agencies and organizations, such as the leukemia Society of America, the American Cancer Society, the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Camp Good Days and Special Times, Ronald McDonald House and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. "These organizations have given us so much that we feel it’s only right to give back," said Kathy. "You never know when your turn will come. The summer camp at Camp Good Days provides kids like Carly a chance to have fun with kids in similar situations and gives parents a sense that you are not alone."

The Ronald McDonald House provides a home for families of seriously ill children being treated at hospitals. Kathy and Joseph were able to stay close to Carly during her two bone marrow transplants at Ronald McDonald Houses in Rochester for two months and in Baltimore for three months, free from daily hotel expenses.

What about Carly? What does she think about this whole leukemia thing? To her, having the disease, treating it and dealing with it on a regular basis is just a "normal" part of her life. Diagnosed at the age of 2, Carly really doesn’t know of any other way. This makes her take her condition in stride. She has a positive outlook on life, doesn’t view herself as different and holds her head high about who she is and where she’s been. She sets an example for other kids in her school and talks to them about leukemia and her condition. "What’s inspiring, is knowing that Carly is a positive example of someone that was written off as not having a future chance, and against all odds she is now thriving," said Kathy Scherer.

With the help of the SEFA-supported agencies and organizations, families like the Scherer's can get through the tough times with the support they need and move on to happier times and brighter futures. The help Carly and her family received from organizations supported by SEFA has made her one, beautiful, healthy, "normal" kid. She is proof that lives do change when a community cares.

QUICK TAKES ON CARLY:

• Interests / Enjoys: Painting, Barbie Dolls, playing school, riding bikes and playing with her cat "Magic"
• Favorite color: Red

• Career aspirations: Teacher