Cancer patient's parents bestow pediatric specialist with a lifetime honor
PLANO – Craig and Lindsay Willeford seem much more relieved about their only son, Henry, than three years ago.
The 8-year-old is about one month out from his first anniversary of ringing the bell to end his cancer treatment; he still finds himself getting medical maintenance from a tough regimen of chemotherapy.
Even though his parents see him approaching the normalcy a child should have, Henry said his condition depends on the day.
"I know not stronger. Probably, right now, weaker," Henry said.
At 5, Lindsay Willeford said they took their son to the doctor. But neither she nor her husband were ready for the unforeseen days ahead.
"So Henry started limping a few days before he was diagnosed, and we took him to his pediatrician, who couldn't really figure out what was going on," Lindsay said. "He sent us along to an orthopedic here at Children's."
Children's Health physicians told them their son had cancer.
"He had acute lymphoblastic leukemia," Dr. Tamra Slone said. "We know the best chance of cure is treating it for two to three years."
Slone is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Children's Health and an associate professor at UT Southwestern. She became the Willefords' option in Texas, but the family wanted to leave to ensure Henry got the best care. Everything was on the table, they said.
"We talked about maybe moving to Philadelphia, maybe moving to Cincinnati, some more work. There were some really good pediatric hospitals," Craig Willeford said.
The family ultimately entrusted Henry's care to Slone and the team at Children's Health.
"In particular for Henry, he has a more rare type of leukemia in the acute lymphoblastic leukemia called Philadelphia chromosome-positive," Slone said. "And that's only about 3% of kids with ALL have that type of genetic change in the leukemia cells."
Her multiyear plan for the young patient was aggressive. It meant traveling from Sherman to Plano and Dallas to the hospital system's campuses.
Henry endured two years of intensive treatment. Lindsay said their son was in the hospital for 199 days, where he got 100 blood transfusions and 24 spinal taps. Complications from the treatment included fungal infection and mucositis.
"She's a good doctor," Henry said.
The young cancer fighter came to treatment in costumes—Spider-Man, Deadpool, Star Wars, or T-shirts—as he held a stuffed animal. One shirt said, "Dr. Slone does my hair."
Slone and the team made an impression on Henry. He describes her as his favorite doctor.
"Giving them hope is extremely important that we're going to get this better and letting him know on a 5-year-old level that there's some normalcy," Slone said. "And we're going to get there, and he's going to go back to school, and he's going to do all the things that he wants to do."
The Willefords knew there were no guarantees, but they knew Slone had a plan. Henry got a boost in the recreation department from the doctor's plans. She convinced his parents to let him come to one of the hospital's camps to be with other kids like him. The kids concentrated on fun and no treatment, which became medicine.
"Camp Esperanza, which is our oncology camp," Slone said. "We take 140 kids, you know, going through treatment and having side effects from chemotherapy, etc. We have a whole medical team that's there. I go. And they get to do the rope course. They get to do arts and crafts. They get to do archery."
Lindsay said her son, who loves video games, swimming, reading, and animals, returned a different kid.
Henry and older sister Caroline were told their family was expanding at the end of 2022. Craig and Lindsay had a girl on the way. Ten weeks in, they decided on her name.
"And we had a boy's name, and then we were thinking about girls' names if it were to be a girl. And Lindsay just said, what about Slone? And there was no way I could say, oh, no, that's not a good one, because we're a huge fan."
The name was a well-guarded secret until baby Slone Willeford was born. She arrived right before Henry's next doctor's appointment.
"Slone was born on Tuesday, and Henry had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday so we couldn't bring her either because, you know, she was brand new," Lindsay said.
Unsure about how Dr. Slone would receive the namesake honor, the family strategically wrote the pediatric specialist a note on the baby's stationery.
"You know, I don't think there are words. It's very special," Dr. Slone said.
On Aug. 23, 2023, Children's Health staff filled a hallway as Henry stood on a chair near a bell. Plastic clappers clacked as the crew sang "Our patients have the cutest S-M-I-L-E." As the group carried the melody, to the side of them was Dr. Slone holding baby Slone. Her brother rang the bell to signal the end of his cancer treatment.
"It was hard on our family. It was a really scary and dark time, and then, you know, this baby's born, and it's such a positive thing for us," Lindsay said. "And so I think it was a fantastic way of ending a chapter and starting a new chapter."
The Willefords said Henry's battle made them realign their lives and refocus on what's important. To them, that's a day with their children.
And if Slone decides to become a doctor, they believe their little one could get a letter of recommendation from a doctor they know.