With his sunburned cheeks and tousled hair, 4-year-old Hudson Francis looks like summer. A boy who belongs on a baseball field practicing T-ball, romping in the backyard with family pup Pepsi or floating on a pontoon with his grandma and grandpa. And on most summer days, that's exactly where you'll find him.
But today – an early morning in June – Hudson sits quietly in the playroom at MeritCare Roger Maris Cancer Center. He yawns and silently moves toy trucks across the smooth surface of a kid-sized table. His mom, Anne, and her husband, Josh, sit next to him.
A short time ago Hudson had blood tests drawn. If all checks out, he'll receive his chemotherapy at 9 a.m. and be back home in Surrey, N.D. – 300 miles from Fargo – by dark. Hudson knows the routine well. He's already a year into a treatment regimen that will continue until the year 2011.
A challenging course
Hudson's medical story began in April 2008 when he came down with flu-like symptoms that kept getting worse. Anne took him to nearby Minot to see their doctor. Blood tests, an ambulance trip to Fargo and more tests led to the diagnosis: acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
"I was really at rock bottom and scared to death," says Anne, recalling the chain of events. "I didn't think anything good could ever come of this."
But in time, something good would come; more than Anne realized. She learned that Hudson had the most common – and fortunately most curable – form of childhood leukemia. The treatment would be intensive: daily chemotherapy pills, once-a-month IV chemotherapy and quarterly spinal taps with chemotherapy infusion.
For more than a year, the family has made countless trips to Fargo. The reason is simple: MeritCare has the advanced care Hudson needs including the state's only board-certified pediatric oncologists – Dr. Nathan Kobrinsky and Dr. Sandeep Batra, and the state's only designated children's hospital – MeritCare Children's.
Looking for good
"When you spend as much time at the Cancer Center and Children's Hospital as our family has, you get a different perspective," says Anne. "You realize you're not the only people going through something like this."
She's also come to appreciate little things that mean the world to Hudson. "Every time we're here Hudson gets to pick something out for being brave, and it's always something that's been donated – a handmade wooden car or a stuffed panda. Just simple things that put a smile on his face," she says. "We decided we wanted to do something nice in return – something fun to put a smile on other faces."
Hudson and his 11-year-old sister, Hannah, put on their thinking caps and came up with an idea: a hat drive. They promoted the project on the family's CaringBridge Web site and in just one month more than 600 new hats of all kinds poured in – Indiana Jones, Speed Racer, NFL teams and more. The hats arrived in Surrey, Anne brought them in two carloads to Fargo and they've since been given away at the Children's Hospital, the Cancer Center and the Ronald McDonald House.
"Hudson had the best time opening the packages and seeing the different hats," says Anne. She asks him to tell about it, but he's tired and knows he has a long day ahead of him. The toy trucks keep him busy.
"Keep hope"
A nurse stops in to say Hudson's blood tests look great and his chemotherapy can begin shortly.
There haven't been many smiles today, but a big one crosses Hudson's face when someone he knows walks into the playroom. "There he is," says Dr. Kobrinsky, grinning. "There's Mr. Big." Anne says that on days when Hudson feels better, he calls Dr. Kobrinsky a name, too: Special K.
With his leukemia now in remission, Hudson's on track for a cure. "The most important thing is to keep hope," says Anne. Next stop for Hudson? Summer camp. A tip of the hat to you, Hudson!