Randolph Girl Gives Students
First-Hand Account of Cancer

Twelve-year-old Haley Lary shows RUHS middle-schoolers the pick-line in her arm where she and her mother, health teacher Deb Lary, administer her medication. (Herald Photo / Tim Calabro)

Seventh-graders in health teacher Deborah Lary’s class at Randolph Union Junior High School are accustomed to hearing extraordinary stories from ordinary people in the community.

In the eight years that Lary has taught health here in Randolph, her students have learned from the guests she has invited into the classroom what it is like to be a teenage mother and an organ transplant recipient. They have seen how people live with diabetes, Down syndrome, Aspergers and cerebral palsy, and how some have fought depression, drug addition and alcoholism.

The most recent guest riveted the students with an account of what it is like to be a kid fighting cancer.

Lary’s own 12-year-old daughter, Haley, a sixth-grader and known to many in the class, was diagnosed in March with large B cell non-Hotchkins lymphoma. Doctors at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth discovered a large tumor in her throat that stretched from the base of her brain to her epiglottis, the place where she swallows her food.

"Haley is an ordinary kid who recently had an extraordinary circumstance happen to her," said Lary, who brings her students face to face with people battling difficult situations. "It’s important for students to make real life connections. I knew Haley’s story would be good for the kids to hear and I knew it would be good for Haley to tell them what she is going through. She’s around the same age as my students and will be attending RUHS next year with these kids."

The size of the tumor altered Haley’s vocal cords so she cannot scream, sing or speak loudly, but the Randolph seventh grade health students had no problem listening to this ordinary peer tell about her extraordinary story. Using videos and slides that she created for her power point presentation, Haley told the class about her illness, losing her hair, not being able to go to school and having to deal with chemotherapy treatments that make her nauseous and weak. In her larynx is a stoma or hole, which she needed in order to breathe after the initial biopsy, she said.

Haley demonstrated the effects of her chemotherapy treatments, taking off her hat and putting on her wig. She showed how every day she must clean the tube or PIC line inserted in her arm to deliver the chemotherapy. She also receives chemotherapy through her spinal chord to ensure the cancer will not spread. After her treatments, she is very ill, nauseous and weak, she said.

"I don’t mind flushing out my pic-line myself now," Haley said, "but when I first got it, I could not even look at it without getting sick to my stomach. Now it’s no big deal."

Haley explained that she has stage one cancer. Cancers found early are in stage one or two, while cancers found in stages three or four are more advanced.. She said her type of cancer is found more in boys than in girls and that it is very aggressive.

Early tests indicated that Haley’s cancer did not spread to other parts of her body, and since March, Haley’s doctors have been treating her with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor and kill the cancer cells. Because her cancer was found early, Haley’s treatment is extended over 65 days instead of two years, which is how more advanced children’s cancers are handled.

Currently registered with RES, Haley is too weak to attend class and her immunity is compromised due to the chemotherapy. She is home schooled by her aunt Milly Lary, who helped her get her presentation set up for the seventh grade health class.

When one student asked Haley if she was afraid of dying, she replied that she never really thought about it, except after one of her spinal treatments. She was very sick and the medication wasn’t working after her treatment.

The "Make A Wish Foundation," which grants wishes to kids who have a life threatening disease, is granting Haley’s wish for a horse, "so we’re trying to find a horse for sale," her mother reported.

Another student shared that her father has recently been diagnosed with leukemia. When asked how many students knew someone with cancer, all of them raised their hands.

When her treatment is completed this month, Haley will undergo more testing to determine if all the cancer cells are gone. Doctors said they are hoping Haley’s cancer will be eradicated.

"I cried when we first learned that Haley had cancer, but I didn’t cry this time," her mother said. "I never thought I would be listening to my own daughter presenting her extraordinary circumstance to my health students. I could not have been more proud."

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