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In crisis, family becomes key

A brain tumor has been removed, but 4-year-old Alex Parris of New Port Richey has more treatments to endure. His family is leaning on one another.

By GARRETT THEROLF
Published October 20, 2005

	[Times photo: Janel Schroeder-Norton]
	Alex Parris, 4, holds his stepmother's hand while watching television Wednesday at their New Port Richey home. "To think, just the day before we discovered he was sick, I started to fill out health insurance forms," stepmom Brittany Gualemi said.

Alex Parris' symptoms told the story of an old man.

First, the left eye drooped. A few hours later, the whole left side of his face sagged. His words came out mumbled and incoherent. The family panicked that it must be a stroke.

But he was only 4. Doctors brought the bad news that the cause was a large brain tumor, much more life threatening than the family had feared.

"You can't imagine how hard that news hits you," stepmother Brittany Gualemi said Wednesday, two days after the family returned from St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa, where doctors removed a tumor the size of a golf ball.

Now, four weeks since his trip to the hospital, the boy and his family are leaning hard on one another, doctors and the community as they mount a recovery effort riddled with risk.

The clinical treatment plan alone is overwhelming: six weeks of debilitating radiation of Alex's thin frame, followed by 55 weeks of chemotherapy given through IVs, shots and pills.

Doctors said that assures no more than an 80 percent chance of survival.

At home, Alex spends hours on the couch with eight Spider-Man stickers crisscrossing his belly. He listlessly reaches for his 1-year-old brother's curls. Because of the trauma to his brain, trips to his room involve intense concentration for each wobbly step.

As in many cases of sudden hardship, the family's focus has turned on the acts that could have relieved even part of the pain.

"To think, just the day before we discovered he was sick, I started to fill out health insurance forms," said Gualemi, who relies on only her husband's salary as a plumber to support herself and three kids. The family is now forced to apply for Medicaid.

And the focus also has turned to the unlikely blessings.

"Before this, his biological mother and I could not be in the same room. I can honestly say we've become friends now," Gualemi said.

Friends surprised Gualemi and her husband, Tony, with a benefit planned for Saturday at the Bourbon Street nightclub in New Port Richey.

"I'm just a very outgoing person," said Gualemi's best friend, primary organizer Jennifer Yezbick. "I'm not scared to ask people for help. If it was myself, my family, I might be embarrassed."

Already, because of the fliers and word of mouth, dime and dollar donations have been spilling out through the mail and from a few passers-by at Sticks'N'Stuff. Alex seemed to enjoy the support, although he complained that the flier shows him shirtless.

"Mom, you can see my boobs," he said.

"That's okay. You're a little boy," Gualemi told him.

A benefit is planned for Alex Parris at the Bourbon Street nightclub, 4331 U.S. 19, New Port Richey, from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday. Live music and family entertainment will be provided for a $10 cover charge. Children younger than 12 will enter free. Alex's family is requesting that any other contributions be sent to the Alex Parris trust fund, c/o Gulf Stream Community Bank, 9037 U.S. 19, Port Richey, FL 34668.

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 01:20:19]