Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993 TAG: 9303040209
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
DUSTIN'S BACK HOME
Dustin Fagan has finally come home.Diagnosed with brain cancer in 1991, the 9-year-old Christiansburg boy has spent the past four months at Duke University's medical center, where he went to get the bone-marrow transplant doctors said was necessary for his survival.
The surgery was performed Dec. 17, but it will be another month before doctors can tell if all of the cancer is gone from Dustin's brain. "Right now it's still too early to tell, but we sure hope the surgery was successful," said his mother, Jackie Fagan. "It would be a miracle."
The Fagans returned from Duke two weeks ago and Fagan said Dustin is up and around and finally starting to eat. A year ago Dustin weighed 49 pounds, but now he is back up to 70 pounds.
"His immune system is still real weak . . . but if you put a hat on his head to cover the baldness, then you can't even tell he is sick," she said.
Fagan said the worst part of the hospital stint was Christmas Day. "He was so sick from all the treatments that he doesn't even remember the day," she said.
Doctors have high hopes for the transplant because Dustin Fagan was his own marrow donor.
After a chemotherapy session last fall, some of his marrow was extracted, cleaned and frozen for later use.
Jackie Fagan is just glad the family was able to raise enough money to make the down payment so Dustin could have the transplant.
The operation costs about $250,000 and Medicaid wouldn't pay because federal officials view it as experimental surgery. At first Duke's hospital told Jackie Fagan she would have to pay $150,000 before the surgery. But after lobbying, the up-front fee was sliced to $75,000.
Collection cans asking for donations were placed in businesses last year, and civic groups and friends held bake sales and auctions to raise money for the surgery.
Fagan said she is thankful to everyone who contributed to help Dustin and also for thousands of get-well cards. Enough money was raised for the down payment and the Fagans stopped soliciting money even though the hospital bill still is about $140,000.
But the kindness and generosity of Deborah Tuck has people once again sending money to Dustin Fagan's Trust Fund.
Tuck lost her husband, Billy, and their 9-year-old daughter, Stephanie, last month in a head-on collision on McCoy Road in Blacksburg. She asked friends and family to donate money to help Dustin Fagan instead of sending flowers.
Stephanie Tuck and Dustin Fagan were classmates at Prices Fork Elementary School. About $250 has been deposited in the account since Stephanie and her father died, Fagan said.
Dustin's mother can empathize with the pain Tuck is feeling. In August, Fagan's 18-year-old son, Brad, was killed in a car accident when the car in which he was riding spun out of control and flipped on McCoy Road.
"I plan to visit Debbie and thank her very soon," Fagan said. "She must be the most wonderful lady to think of somebody else at such a difficult time in her life."