Ronald McDonald House of Dallas

05.08.10
A Long Journey of Hope

In many ways, Jeramy Thomas is a typical high school senior. He has two older brothers. He spends a lot of time facebooking and texting his friends. He has a strong Christian faith and loves praise music. He has a large social circle. And he enjoys sitting down to the dinner table with his family every night for a meal.

But Jeramy has also been dealing with serious illness most of his life. After years of battling Crohn’s Disease with IV therapies and daily injections, Jeramy and his family recently learned that he now has a rare form of Lymphoma called Gamma Delta T-Cell Lymphoma. His treatment began with months of weekly chemotherapy at a hospital 7 hours from his home in Louisiana. Amy Thomas, Jeramy’s mom, would drive him to Dallas for his 7-hour treatments and they would return the next day completely exhausted.

At the end of chemotherapy Jeramy’s tests revealed the cancer was still there and he was aggressively prepared for a bone marrow transplant. A search for a match had revealed that his father Pat was a 100% match. To find such a perfect match was a 200,000 to 1 chance. This was practically a miracle and it gave the family hope and strength to continue on with the next grueling phase of Jeramy’s treatment. Amy and Jeramy moved into the Ronald McDonald House and were joined by both of Jeramy’s grandmothers from Florida. “We needed each other to fill in the gaps, provide support, and give each other time for rest. We couldn’t do it without each other. And we couldn’t be together if it weren’t for the Ronald McDonald House.”

To begin preparing for his transplant, Jeramy needed total body radiation twice a day for 4 days to completely kill his immune system. After that he would receive 4 days of chemo so strong he couldn’t be touched. For the first time through this entire ordeal Jeramy showed the signs of the kind of wear and tear this kind of treatment can cause. He was so sick after the first treatment on the first day, Amy had no idea how they would continue on. But Jeramy used the power of music to call on his strong will and faith and he not only endured the second treatment but returned to the House ready to help volunteers bake cookies. From that point forward, he didn’t go through any of his treatments without his music.

In between appointments and treatments Amy says they have encountered a sense of normalcy at the Ronald McDonald House. “It really is like a home. Regardless of what’s going on in your life, you have to eat, you have to do laundry. As a mother, it’s my job to figure out how I’m going make that happen. At the Ronald McDonald House those things are taken care of. I love that I don’t have to eat fast food for every meal!”

On March 18, 2010 Jeramy’s dad wheeled out of recovery to watch his son receive his bone marrow. It was an emotional moment followed by weeks and weeks of waiting and watching Jeramy endure some very difficult challenges. When asked how the family copes, Amy says “Being surrounded by others who share similar experiences has kept me from feeling sorry for myself. We help each other out with laundry and rides to the hospital. We sometimes find a quiet place to gather and pray for each other. During this time of waiting, they’ve been able to make a scrapbook of their journey in the craft room -- a scrapbook they will no doubt cherish for many years to come. “When we are finally through this we’ll be able to look back and remember the caring people and place who took such good care of us.”

Two months after Jeramy's transplant, he was able to travel home and walk across the stage to receive his high school diploma. It was only for one day but it was a huge accomplishment and major source of celebration. And finally on June 10, 2010 they finally got to go home. Jeramy continues to gain strength and is now ready for a new start.

The Thomas family, including both grandmothers, has been so touched by their time here that they have their own plans to volunteer at their local RMH when they get back home. “As long and hard as this journey has been we keep receiving glimpses of hope along the way that fuel us and keep us going.”