Monday's Internet Edition, May 12, 2008.
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“It started off just a little bit,” Angela Rader said. “We thought he just had been picking his nose too much.”
But the nosebleeds soon came heavier and more often. This led them to send Paul to the doctor. Soon they found out that he had a malignant tumor, about the size of a golf ball, in his naval passage at the base of his brain.
On his fourth birthday, a day most children have cake and ice cream and collect presents from their family and friends, Paul underwent his first chemotherapy treatment at Brenner Children’s Hospital.
“Through that whole time, he never complained,” Angela Rader said proudly. “He never asked, ‘Why me?’”
Paul’s stoicism was rewarded. By April 2002, the doctors saw that the tumor had disappeared. Still, as a precautionary measure, Paul’s chemotherapy and radiation treatments continued for the rest of the year.
Because of such extreme methods used to treat a person at such a tender age, Paul has to take growth hormones to counteract the negative effect the radiation has had on his brain. He will continue to receive these hormones until he is about 21 years old.
While the cancer has not returned, Paul has had other physical problems related to the treatment of it.
Last month, a tumor was discovered on the right side of his brain. The doctors told his parents that they believed that the tumor was benign and that they would wait until June before conducting an MRI. But then other complications occurred.
“Paul started having these headaches,” Angela Rader said. “Then one night he threw up. After that he became very lethargic. He’d come home from school and want to go straight to sleep.”
This led to Paul undergoing a CAT scan, which revealed that the newly discovered tumor had been bleeding. He underwent an open-skull operation on May 3. The Raders learned that Paul’s tumor, which was removed during the surgery, was indeed benign. It had been caused by the extensive radiation he had undergone in 2001.
Paul, now 9, missed the end of school due to his latest round of medical problems. He is, however, preparing to enter the fourth grade at Liberty Drive Elementary School this fall.
“Paul’s been doing really well since the surgery,” Angela Rader said. “We’ve had a huge support system from the family, the staff at the hospital, our friends from church and people all over Thomasville.”
Angela Rader was an assistant teacher at Thomasville Primary School until her son was diagnosed with the rare form of cancer called rhabdomysarcoma.
She has since become a nursing assistant and was working part time at Thomasville Medical Center before Paul’s latest setback. She is also studying to become a nurse. Eric Rader is a teacher and athletics director at Thomasville Middle School. He coaches the girls basketball team at Thomasville High. Besides Paul, they have a daughter Aryn, 12, and another son Rece, 5.
“Eric and I really want to thank the people of Thomasville for all the support they have given us during Paul’s latest ordeal,” Angela said. “We had an outpouring of concern and prayers for Paul from people all over town.
We consider it a blessing that we moved to Thomasville from Virginia several years ago. The medical facilities around here are really wonderful. I don’t think there’s a better hospital than the one at Wake Forest.”
Paul has always been an athletic type. He was a soccer player when he was diagnosed with cancer. He first had headaches while playing AAU basketball.
This summer he plans to help his mother plant tomatoes, play video games, go to the beach and visit Stone Mountain. His teacher, Craig Beasley, plans to tutor him some this summer to make up for the school he missed during the operation.
The Raders have set up a website for those concerned about their son. It is www.caringbridge.org/visit/paulrader.
The Raders has actively raised money for Relay For Life in the past although their activities were curtailed somewhat this year due to Paul’s surgery.
“I know that Relay For Life benefits a lot of people,” Angela Rader said. “Some people don’t know how much Relay For Life may be benefiting them in the future.”
Staff Writer Kevin Reid can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 230, or at reid@tvilletimes.com.