Jack Strickland is a retired AP writer who is active in the war against cancer. He, himself, is a survivor.
As a reporter he covered many of the major stories in Florida.
He lives in Gainesville where he is an advocate for cancer patients of all ages. Jack finds special joy in getting
sports stars and teams involved in the care young cancer victims. He claims that the athletes benefit from the involvement
as much as the patients. He says he managed to miss many tackles as a football player long ago, and learned that defeat can be
temporary and serve as the foundation for success.
• Colorful, big-hearted basketball star Dwayne Schintzius was too young to die - Big man Dwayne Schintzius left the mark of his oversize talent and larger -than- life personality on UF basketball history...
• Nothing as beautiful as a Jewish wedding - Vivi and Dave gave their vows as prosaic columnist kept a close watch on shaky dad ...
• God must have some special purpose for you, the doctors marveled - Modern medicine couldn't explain this victory over terminal Merkle Cell Carcinoma...
• Doors have not clanked shut on privatization; Glades may be next - Governor, power brokers may take a "one by one" approach. Meanwhile, an assortment of officials have gone to jail. ...
• Gator gymnastics team cheers cancer patients at Hope Lodge, will ‘pink-out’ for cancer tonight - Lending courage to all, the coach and team are champs in sports and champs in life, with fund-raiser tonight. ...
• Cinderella will wait for her brave young prince to return from war in Afghanistan - Dreams put on hold as young couple lives a Cinderella fairy tale ...
• How I got an education during night in emergency room - Special bonds made; families in distress often suffer outside and alone ...
• The children with cancer are so innocent and so helpless - A view from inside the hospital shows that life on the edge creates new heroes ...
• I learned a lifelong Bible lesson of charity on a city bus - People often surprise you when you least expect or deserve it. ...
• How UF’s Don Gaffney broke quarterback color barrier, Auburn jinx – as Auburn comes to play again - First black quarterback in SEC met his big test on the field in 1973 when he started Auburn game, but his "best performance" may have been a speech. ...
• Ray Shaw’s life was a living textbook on how to help others in need - Ray Shaw seemed surprised when they named him an "earth angel" but his life served to teach others how to help people in need. ...
• Cancer victim’s courage inspires special sunset ceremony on Florida beach - In warm memory, daughter, son-in-law renew wedding vows on the beach where ashes of parents were scattered. ...
• They left hospital for the last time, in a red sports car - A sweet romantic interlude, a Corvette, and the battle against cancer are described by columnist Jack Strickland who watches a couple leave Shands Hospital. ...
• Explosive Gator stars Grossman, Gaffney reunite; they could march Redskins back to Super Bowl - Fun-and-gun offense Gator greats Jabar Gaffney and Rex Grossman are together again. The Washington Redskins have signed the dynamic duo. A decade ago the quarterback and wide receiver captured the imagination of the entire nation....
• “Bouncing Betty” and a story of wounded Vietnam vet’s life-changing friendship - Legs mangled, veteran Bill showed compassion and found help for debilitating pain from a landmine in Viet Nam. ...
• End of world is around corner, authorities predict - While the demise of Earth is predicted, many people seem to be skeptical. ...
• Gore tells victim’s parents he has become different person; his death takes 19 minutes at Raiford - Remorseful killer David Alan Gore, strapped to gurney, was dead in 19 minutes after lethal injection. ...
• Bragging about what you’ve done can get you to the death chamber quite a bit faster - Prisoner set for execution April 12 could have learned a lot from Charles Profitt....
• FAMU professors patent new medication for schizophrenia - African-Americans suffer three times rate of schizophrenia says recent research ...
• Murder comes without any warning as rage can build in state’s prisons - Any prisoner can become dangerous and there are ways to make deadly weapons and time to do it. ...
• Many innocent may languish in prison on corrupt testimony, legislative payment shows - Dillon case, Pitts and Lee demonstrate that justice is sometimes difficult to come by in Florida...
• Clues to a murder: forensic botanist finds the little things in death - David Hall helps law enforcement trap the bad guys with botanical clues...
• Honduras jail fire recalls horrific Florida prison blaze where 38 perished amid lingering questions - A scene of racial fights, the Florida road prison in Jay exploded into fire in 1967, leaving truth yet to be fully told. ...
• Waterhouse executed proclaiming innocence - Convicted murderer Robert Waterhouse, 65, died by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison in Starke, with unsettling words....
• Florida Senate kisses an emotional goodbye to prison privatization - Public prisons get a valentine as senate proposal fails in a 19-21 vote; meanwhile, execution slated today...
• Group alleges more financial links to privatization; vote could be today - A watchdog group alleges that privatization backers have financial links the effort ...
• Florida A&M Rattlers have played in 25 of the 46 Super Bowls - Dallas star Bob Hayes won a Super Bowl ring and an Olympic gold medal. ...
• Freedom rider rabbi remembers his arrest in Tallahassee airport 50 years ago - Ministers eventually served sentence, worked as road crew before release from jail ...
• Second Harvest signature soups will help fight child hunger on Wednesday at Capitol - One in six people locally struggle for enough to eat ...
• Cancer patient slips away from hospital to give stranded bus riders a last Christmas gift - In his battle with cancer, he relied on city buses . . . and now he had a plan to help people who didn't know the buses were down for the day. ...
Cancer can be a lonely battle for children when family members and caregivers fall by the wayside
July 18, 2011Gainesville, Fla.
It tears your heart out to see children caught up in the fight against cancer. They are so innocent and so helpless.
It is common for mothers to bring their children with them when they get their cancer treatments. As battles with cancer drag on, family members and care-givers tend to tire of the process and fall by the wayside. Frequently, the mother and Cancer patient, is the only one who can care for her children.
If the kids are not school age, her financial situation, after medical expenses have exhausted her savings, usually leave her little choice but to bring the young children with her to the hospital when she is treated..
It is easy to identify new cancer patients at Shands. They are almost always accompanied by a bevy of family, friends, and church members who are there as care-givers, providing support in the battle against cancer. Patients who have been fighting cancer for a long time are also easy to identify at Shands. They are usually alone. Family, friends, and churches too often tire of the ceaseless ordeal and abandon the fight.
It is sad when children are involved in a struggle with cancer.Last week I met a twenty-six year old father, who is now confined to a wheelchair and is dealing with terminal brain cancer. His wife is filing for divorce and is taking their four-year-old son to live with her in Central Florida. The son is the light of the father’s life. Not being able to see his pride and joy will kill him faster than the cancer.
This patient’s mother is now his only care-giver. Her husband, too, is tired of dealing with the hardships caused by cancer. He is the patient’s step father. He, too, has filed for divorce. The non medical hardships caused by the fight against cancer has stressed this marriage past the breaking point.
I have learned to try to tolerate the irritation caused by fussy children who accompany their parent to cancer treatments.A child was in the next station with her mother, behind a curtain, when I got my last PET scans. The child was obviously unhappy and didn’t want to be there. She put up a real fuss for the couple of hours I was there. It was a real irritation for everyone within ear shot.
The PET scan procedure calls for the patient to relax on a lazy-boy in a darkened cubicle, for a couple of hours, while drinking radio active barium cocktails. These fluids are absorbed by the cancer cells and cause them to show up on the scans. The protocol calls for the patient to be calm and at ease during this time. That seemed impossible with the screaming kid on the other side of the curtain.
There was nothing in the next cubicle the child wanted to do. Complaining and whimpering were constant as childish complaints were repeatedly, and loudly, voiced. I found myself wishing I had been scheduled on a different day as the child was about to stomp on my last nerve.
When I moved to the next station I discovered the child was the patient. I felt very small for my intolerance as I realized the child was complaining because she was tired of all the needle sticks, probing and prodding, and having to drink that God-awful barium cocktail. I felt so small. Suddenly, the little girl rose to Hero status in my book. She is so courageous. What a difference an accurate perception of the facts can make in our conduct.
A nurse who has become a good friend is also one of my Heroes. She was on duty that day. I commented that it must be tough to draw blood from a child when you hear her screaming. “Yes”, she said, “it’s tough—but what really hurts is when the child is so sick she just offers her little arm for the stick, without showing any resistance or reaction to the pain”.
Fighting cancer has been a real education for me. When the road gets rough for me, I find my self thinking about the children – and my prayers go out for them and their parents who must bear the most pain of all.