THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 28, 1995 TAG: 9509280475
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 126 lines
This was supposed to be the year that Michael Bright's dream came true. At last, he would get to play for his dad - Ricky Bright, head soccer coach at Western Branch High School.
But that dream is on hold as Michael battles the latest and most serious in a string of ailments that have dogged him since his last soccer game almost a year ago, when he scored four goals for his Elizabeth River Warriors in the final of a November tournament.
Michael has spent much of the last two months - including his 15th birthday two weeks ago - in the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, where he is receiving chemotherapy and treatment for a brain tumor.
``I've always told the athletes I have coached to hang in there when times are tough, never to give up, always be aggressive,'' said his father. ``And now I'm being tested to practice what I preach.
``Through all of this Michael has made me really proud of him. He's definitely a winner.''
That's an understatement. Since January, Michael has prevailed against a half dozen afflictions.
``This has been physically and mentally draining on all of us,'' Ricky Bright said. ``You just put your faith in the doctors and pray. It has been mind-boggling.
``We all have our weak moments and then my mom died right in the middle of all this. Sometimes you get kind of numb and then you can see improvement. But it's really been like being on a rollercoaster.''
It has not been a fun ride.
``I'll just be happy when this is all over,'' said Michael. ``Why does it have to be me?
``You know, I would rather be in school.''
The brain tumor is Michael's most formidable foe yet, but he vows to fulfill the dream, that he will play for his dad.
His father would love nothing better. That would mean a recovery for his son - and the arrival of a top prospect.
``I've seen Michael do things with a soccer ball that most high school kids can't do,'' said Ricky Bright, trying his best to put his coaching eye ahead of his fatherly bias.
``I really want to play with my brother while my dad is still coaching,'' Michael said.
Younger brother Matthew, 12, also is a standout soccer player and a member of the Norfolk FC travel team. Matthew, who plays a year up on the Under-13 squad, is a seventh-grader at Western Branch Middle School.
Michael was on the junior varsity soccer and basketball teams at Western Branch last year. This was going to be the year he moved up to the varsity, where he would play for his father.
Then last winter, he began feeling sick and having constant colds. From that point, the Brights' 1995 calendar would be cluttered with doctor's appointments.
``At first we thought he was just tired or had a little virus,'' said his father. ``He had fatigue and a mild cough. But in January we decided that he should see a doctor. Blood tests were negative and he went back to school in February.
``That first day back he really became ill and we started having extensive tests made on him. His appetite decreased and he started losing weight. He developed symptoms associated with upper respiratory infection. That's when we were referred to The Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters.''
Michael was admitted on March 13 - the first of several stints at CHKD - and the tests became more intensive. With each test, it seemed, came a more frightening discovery.
Initially, Michael was diagnosed as having Epstein-Barr virus, a potentially dangerous ailment that causes mononucleosis. He started receiving transfusions.
Then an abdominal CT scan - a technique that uses X-ray images to create a detailed picture of the inside of the body - and chest X-rays revealed that Michael had a fractured spleen and nodules on both lungs. The spleen normally weighs less than a pound, but Michael's had enlarged to nearly five pounds. He underwent emergency surgery for the spleen's removal, and was discharged from CHKD four days later.
In the spring, as Michael continued his schooling from home, what appeared to be a sty developed over his right eye. On April 7 it was lanced.
On April 13, Michael was readmitted to the hospital for a lung biopsy. The diagnosis was hypersensitivity pneumonitis. He was placed on steroids and discharged on April 18.
On July 3, the day Michael was scheduled for reconstructive eyelid surgery, the lesion reoccurred. The tissue was biopsied and was diagnosed as lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.
On Aug. 9 he went into the hospital to start chemotherapy. The next day, a CT scan revealed a brain tumor in his left temple. Radiation treatments followed for 12 days.
Four cycles of chemotherapy began. Last Friday, he had a spinal tap, and was scheduled for another this week.
``It's been rough, and real hard on everybody, especially Michael,'' his mother Pam said. ``I wish it was all over, and I'll just be so glad when I get him back home.''
Michael was born in 1980, the same year soccer began in Southeastern District schools. He has grown up watching his dad's teams.
Rarely, if ever, has there been a youth league game Michael played without his dad or mother cheering from the sidelines. The Brights are divorced.
Michael's grandparents often were there also, but one grandmother died last year just as Michael was starting his own health battles.
Michael began playing soccer at 5, progressing through youth leagues to select soccer five years ago. He was the leading scorer on each of his teams, and he worked at teaching his younger brother.
``Matthew learned a lot of his soccer from Michael,'' said their father. ``Playing with Michael has helped him reach the level he is at now.''
The boys have different styles, he says.
``Yeah,'' said Michael. ``I pass and he hogs.''
Matthew is more aggressive, says their father, while Michael is ``a thinking player with a good head for the game.''
Ricky Bright says doctors believe ``the best thing Michael has going for him is his attitude. He's a real fighter. Right now all our concern is about Michael getting well.''
Michael is confident.
``Everybody better look out for me,'' he said. ``When I get through with all this, I'm gonna take it all out on the soccer field.'' ILLUSTRATION: "Why does it have to be me?"
[Color Photo]
MARK MITCHELL
Staff
``When I get through with all this, I'm gonna take it all out on the
soccer field,'' says Western Branch's Michael Bright.
by CNB