BMincMttr Farming, Saturday, August 19,1989
BY LOU ANN GOOD
BELLEVILLE (Mifflin Co.)
On a Monday morning in Decem
ber 1982, Wanda Yoder answered
her telephone. The caller was the
school nurse who requested that
Wanda pick up her eight-year-old
son who was feeling nauseous.
By the time Wanda arrived at
the school, Craig felt better.
Wanda and her husband J.
Loren never suspected that this
phantom symptom was the onset
of every parent’s nightmare.
Neither did the doctors. But
when the nausea returned again
and again, upper gastro-intestinal
tests were ordered. Test results
showed nothing, but the vomiting
increased.
Then severe headaches hounded
Craig. “We though perhaps eye
strain was causing the headaches,”
Wanda said, “but eye tests reveal
ed nothing amiss.”
One doctor surmised that the
nausea was Craig’s emotional
response from being separated
from his mother while in school.
The Yoders knew better.
In May, five months after the
first symptom, the Yoders made an
appointment at Geisinger Medical
Center.
Illness diagnosed
As soon as the doctor examined
Craig’s eyes and noticed the pres
sure build-up, he diagnosed the
eight-year-old as having a brain
tumor.
Surgery was scheduled. Doctors
prepared the Yoders for the worst
They warned that Craig may lose
his memory and other functions,
that the operation might not be
successful.
Loren recalled, “I thought this is
something that happens to other
people—not us.” He paused, “It’s
hard when it comes home.”
Wanda said, “Although I knew
Craig’s illness was serious, the
severity of his situation didn’t hit
Despite the turmoil of d
ing duties demanded Li
Yoders Triumph Over Illness
That Threatened Son’s Life
The J. Loren Yoder family enjoy their Belleville farm, which earned a Dairy of Dis
tinction award last year. The family (from left), Jaylene, 18; Loren, Marcia, 16; Craig,
14; and Wanda, lead dairy princess and beef promotional activities In Mifflin and sur
rounding counties.
The Yoder family pulled together to get through the crisis when Craig was diag
nosed with a brain tumor. '
me until later.”
Although surgery had been farm, which was an hour and a half
scheduled for two days later, doc- drive away, to line up help for their
tors moved it up to the following 50 milking cows.
Loren could not be there during
But cows don’t wait for milking, °P era *** n > but six-hour wait
and had to during the operation was made
easier for Wanda by extended fam
ily members who joined her in the
waiting room.
When Craig was wheeled out of
the operating room, his head was
swathed in bandages. Wires and
needles seem to be hooked every
where. He groggily opened his
eyes and recognized family mem
bers and murmured his aunt’s
name—an aunt with'whom he sel
dom visited since she lived at a
distance.
The Yoders were estatic. Craig
had not lost his memory.
But the family found their fight
with death was far from over.
Malignant Tumor
The tumor, the size of an egg,
had been attached to the brain
stem. Lab tests revealed it was
malignant
Meanwhile, there were farm
duties to attend to. Loren said,
“Wanda stayed at the hospital
around the clock. I think that made
it harder on her. Because I had to
take care of the farm, I could gel
away from the stress and gel
involved in my woik.”
From the beginning, the Yoders
were honest with their daughters.
They explained that Craig’s illness
was basically a life and death
issue.
Jaylene, then 12, daily helped
her dad with the daily milking and
the field work.
Loren said, “I couldn’t have
done it without her help. During
this time, I learned to appreciate
our family in a way I never had
before. With Wanda staying at the
hospital for two weeks, I realized
allng with his son’s Illness, farm
ren’s attention.
how important she was to me. And
the children —they were so
wonderful—each one.”
Marcia, 10, made daily hospital
visits with relatives. "Wanda said,
“Marcia’s upbeat personality real
ly helped Craig’s recovery."
It was Marcia who first got
Craig to smile after the surgery. It
was Marcia who got him to say his
ABC’s and who patiently worked
with him to regain his balance.
After a week in intensive care
and a week in a semi-private room,
Craig was released without any
medication, but scheduled to
return for radiology.
Coming home
The morning of Craig’s release,
Loren and Jaylene racked hay at 6
a.m. They picked up Craig and
Wanda at the hospital. When they
returned home, they were sur
prised to see neighbors and friends
baling their hay.
“I’ll never forget the picture. It
was wonderful,” Wanda said.
At home, it was difficult for the
Yoders to treat Craig like a normal
child. Wanda said, “When he
jumped on his bike the first time, 1
wanted to stop him. His balance
still was a bit shaky. I couldn’t
watch. I needed to turn the othei
way.”
Loren said, “It was the same
way when he got on a tractor. 1
couldn’t watch him. I wanted tc
stop him, protect him.”
Vumesfead
Then it was time for the radia
tion treatments to begin. Every
morning Wanda and Marcia left ai
6 a.m. to take Craig for his radia
tion treatments. The series lasted
five days a week for eight weeks.
Friends and family rallied
around them. Loren said, “Some
people didn’t say much, but they’d
slip a $2O bill in my hand and say,
“Here’s some money to buy gas or
lunch for the family. It meant a lot
to know people were praying for
us.”
He added, “Some people—no
doubt it was their way of showing
their concern—gave us advice
about trying this or that doctor or
what to eat or not to eat.”
The Yoders decided it was most
important to stick to one course of
treatment They found the doctors
at Geisinger extremely sympathe
tic and helpful. Wanda said, “You
could call them any time of the day
or night.”
Loren said, “I learned that farm
ers aren’t the only ones who keep
long hours; many doctors work
even longer hours. And farmers
aren’t the only ones with stress.
Doctors work under extreme pres
sure with so many life and death
situations.”
Low point
■ Despite supportive friends and
doctors, both patents agreed that it
was the lowest point in their son’s
battle with the cancerous tumor.
Doctors had warned the Yoders
of the side effects Craig would face
from taking radiation treatments,
but the warnings were minor com
pared to seeing the awful side
effects first hand.
Wahda recalled, “At first, I tried
bargaining with God. I’d beg, ‘Oh
God. just don't let him get sick on
the stomach.’” But Craig got sick.
Wanda begged, “Don’t let him
lose his hair.” But he lost all his
thick blond hair. -I
Wanda kept up her frenzied beg
ging for days until, she said, “One
day, I just got down on/my knees
and said, “OK, God, Craig is
yours. No matter what happens,
we'll get through it If it is your
time to take Craig home, then I
accept it”
Immediately, things got better
for the Yoders. Craig stopped get
ting ill from the radiation.
But to Wanda, the most amazing
thing was that a new calmness
entered her. “I learned my lesson,”
she said. “Things I thought were so
important drifted into the back
ground. I learned to live one day at
a time. Each day, I appreciated the
sun rise and the birds singing.
Everything that God created was
so wonderful, and I enjoyed it and
felt so thankful for each day.
“It’s hard to explain,” Wanda
added, “even though I was still
scaled, I felt God’s strength to deal
with each day.”
Doctors had tried chemotherapy
while Craig was receiving radia
ion, but Craig became too violent
ly ill for them to continue both.
Wanda dreaded the chemother
apy that was slated to begin after
the radiation stopped. The doctors
(Turn to Pago B 4)