ASK kid Patrick

by Melanie Goodpasture

Meet Patrick.  He loves math and robotics.  Patrick just finished building his first computer, part by part, while taking chemotherapy treatments for Leukemia. 
 
When Patrick was 12 years old, he began having chronic strep throat infections and generally didn’t feel well.  When he was too weak to carry his backpack home from the bus stop, his mom knew something else was wrong.

Patrick loved to play soccer and run and be active outside, so when he started losing energy and interest in being outside with his brothers, my mother’s intuition told me I needed a second opinion,” said Mary Jacobs, Patrick’s mom.  “A simple blood test told us everything we needed to know and within hours we were in the emergency room of VCU Health System.”

ASK was with Patrick the first time he entered clinic helping to make it less stressful. Mary shares, "Katie, ASK's child life specialist, is always available to help occupy his time while in clinic and Tom David, chaplain, is a constant source of comfort and support." 

​Katie, Patrick and Mary at the ASK 5K & Fun Walk, April 2017.

Patrick particularly loves the computer games he can play while getting treatment in clinic and enjoys making friends.

“The ASK staff have become our family,” says Mary.  "Alma Morgan, Educational Specialist, coordinated his homebound schooling during the first year of his treatment, and continues to monitor his progress now that he’s back in school.  We are so grateful to all of the people who have spent so much time helping us navigate this foreign territory.”

Patrick (seated, far left) hung out with fellow ASK kids and UR Spiders baseball players for Video Game Night at Penny Tree.

Now in 8th grade at the Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia, Patrick is back in the groove of school and extra curricular activities while still taking chemo treatments.  He continues to excel in math and is one of only a few middle school students on the high school robotics team.
 
Mary is grateful that her family has ASK as a resource.  “I don’t know what we would do without all of the ASK events, camps and friends that we’ve made throughout this journey.  All of these things are instrumental in Patrick’s recovery and I could never say ‘thank you’ enough!”