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Learning and living
By DONNA WINCHESTER, Times Staff Writer When a student has been temporarily blinded by a traumatic brain injury, keeping up with algebra may be the last thing on her priority list. Reading Shakespeare may seem irrelevant to a young person waiting to find out if he needs to endure another round of chemotherapy. But state law mandates that children attend school, in sickness and in health. For 20 years, Pinellas County Schools' homebound/hospital program has maintained the delicate balance between that requirement and students' medical conditions. The program's 22 full-time teachers provide normalcy for nearly 575 children in abnormal situations yearly, homebound supervisor Kay Blair said. "It's amazing how they'll rally. They'll say, "Well, gee, my teacher thinks I need to go to school.' It helps them focus on getting better," she said. Instructors work with students who miss 15 days or more of school by visiting them in their homes or hospital rooms, or via teleclasses taught from the homebound office at 1960 E Druid Road in Clearwater. They often have to make judgments about what is important. "Sometimes students -- and their parents -- expect to continue at the same pace the student was at before the accident or illness. We look at what's salvageable," Blair said. "We make accommodations." * * * He teases her about her age. She teases him about being a jock. They seem more like friends than student and teacher. But their mutual respect is obvious as homebound instructor Pamela Morse teaches Dan DiCicco science, literature and algebra. DiCicco, a senior at Dixie Hollins High, learned four months ago that he has Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer that attacks the lymphatic system. He is one of many seriously ill students Ms. Morse has taught in homes and hospital rooms in the past six years. Recently named to the All-USA Teacher First Team by USA Today, she adjusts her lesson plans to meet their situations. "They have their up days and their down days," she said. "You learn to give a little bit." She taught DiCicco how to write a ballad. She shared photographs of her favorite places with him. She encouraged him to plant a garden. "I think that Dan instinctively knows that growing things is a very healing thing to do. That doesn't have anything to do with ecology. That has to do with living." She believes her students teach her more than she teaches them. "How can I be upset by the relatively small setbacks in my life when they're facing much bigger ones? I've learned a lot more about patience, and understanding that even little things are very, very important." * * * For years, DiCicco suffered from what everyone thought was asthma. Doctors at All Children's Hospital discovered the 10-inch tumor that was choking his windpipe after an emergency room visit in August. They prescribed two rounds of chemotherapy, which shrank the tumor by only a third. DiCicco began two additional rounds of debilitating therapy in November, shortly after his 18th birthday. While the highly reactive drugs circulate throughout his body, a code cart sits outside the door of his hospital room so a nurse can monitor his respiration and heart rate. Inside the room, he listens to Ms. Morse recite Macbeth and describe the inhabitable conditions of the frozen tundra. "It makes you a little sick," he said, describing the chemo. "I think it's mostly mental." * * * DiCicco finished his fourth round of in-hospital chemotherapy the week after Thanksgiving. His nurses said goodbye to him for what they hoped -- again -- would be the last time. He returned to his St. Petersburg home to start catching up on what he missed while he was away, beginning with his mail. A homebound student on dual enrollment, he attends two classes a week at Dixie Hollins when he feels well enough, but that has been increasingly infrequent; the latest treatment regimen took a toll on the 6-foot teen, who already had lost 20 pounds from his 285-pound frame. "I just take everything one step at a time," he says, adding that he is stronger, at least mentally, from the experience. "If you can beat cancer, then what couldn't you beat?" * * * One of the most important things in DiCicco's life since his freshman year has been football. He made Dixie's junior varsity team, played varsity in his sophomore and junior years, and began dreaming of a football scholarship. It's a dream that is not likely to come true. He was able to play only three games this season, not enough to make an impression on college scouts. The two-way lineman continued to suit up and show up for practice when he could, wishing from the sidelines that he was in the game. His mother, Cheryl, wishes a lot more for him as she waits for test results this week. "This is a time where kids in their senior year are making a lot of decisions and he can't make any plans," she said. "He deals with constant uncertainty." * * * In Part 2 of a three-part series about students who miss weeks of school because of serious illness or accident, we tell the story of Dan DiCicco, a senior at Dixie Hollins High. DiCicco, 18, received a diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease in August. In spite of lengthy hospital stays and four rounds of chemotherapy, he has kept up with his studies through homebound/hospital, a Pinellas County Schools' program that educates students when they can't be in the classroom. WEEK 1: SHAWN, MENDING A BROKEN BONE WEEK 2: DAN, FIGHTING CANCER WEEK 3: WHEN HOME IS A HOSPITAL
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