Super Joseph and his sidekicks support psychologist dedicated exclusively to helping families of children with cancer

The week before he started first grade, 6-year-old Joseph Dennard started coming down with something. At first his parents, Christina and Clayton, thought it was just a sinus infection. When Joseph didn’t get better with over-the-counter sinus medicine, Christina took him to see their pediatrician and then an eye doctor.

The optometrist suggested glasses might help but recommended Joseph have an MRI at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), just in case.

“So, we headed down to the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and got the MRI,” said Clayton Dennard, Joseph’s father. “And they discovered a golf ball-sized tumor on the back of his spinal column in his head.”

Joseph was admitted to the children’s hospital Sept. 12, 2020, and had brain surgery a few days later. Not long after surgery, his parents learned the tumor was cancerous, and that it had spread to Joseph’s cerebrospinal fluid, which flows in and around the brain and spinal cord.

After hearing the treatment options, the Dennards decided to pursue the Head Start 4 protocol for Joseph. It’s a worldwide clinical trial that’s studying two different treatments for children with brain cancer.

The next decision was where Joseph would receive treatment. “Do we travel to St. Jude or the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia or the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles where they’ve done this before,” Dennard asked. “Or do we pursue this treatment at MUSC in Charleston? This would be the first time any child in the state of South Carolina had been a participant in this Head Start 4 study.”

Ultimately, they put their trust in Michelle Hudspeth, M.D., division chief for pediatric hematology/oncology and the team at MUSC. Staying close to home for care also meant the Dennards could lean on family and friends for support and keep life as normal as possible for Joseph. “When we’re not in the hospital we can be at home in our own bed and not a Ronald McDonald House or an extended stay hotel out of town,” he said.

Clayton says they were told Joseph would be in treatment for a year and that he would likely spend about 90 days in the hospital. Instead, Joseph spent a total of 287 days in the hospital. The chemotherapy was so harsh on his body that he only got to go home between cycles, which was every month and a half to two months.

It was also emotionally draining for Joseph and his parents. “He had no control over what was happening, and we were trying to convince him that the pokes and prods and medicine were helping him,” Clayton said. “It's really hard for an adult to understand why the medicine doesn't make you better and it's harder for a child. So, he got very combative about taking the medicine or the chemo or the multiple blood draws. He felt everyone who came in the room was going to hurt him in some way.”

 

The Dennards wished they had someone to help them process their feelings and guide them through how to help Joseph. When Joseph was in the hospital, COVID-19 safety precautions were still in place, so they were also isolated from other parents on the cancer floor who might understand what they were going through.

The experience inspired them to start an endowment through the MUSC Foundation to support a child psychologist dedicated to helping families like theirs. They call it “Joseph’s Sidekicks” because of Joseph’s love for superheroes.

The endowment enabled MUSC to “embed” psychologist Alexandra Boeving Allen, Ph.D., on the cancer floor of the children’s hospital, allowing her to intervene in a quicker and more coordinated way than was possible before. During her first year in this role, Allen helped well over 100 families.

Hudspeth says the endowment has been a complete game changer, providing timely and convenient access to an important service that is often not covered by insurance.

“Philanthropy is key to being able to provide the services our patients and families need,” she said. “Before, families had to first try to find a psychologist or counselor who would accept their insurance. No matter the type of insurance, this first step was a significant challenge and often a major roadblock. If a family could find a psychologist or counselor, then it was extremely difficult to coordinate appointments with all the scheduled treatment times here at MUSC, as well as the unpredictable fevers and hospital admissions.”

Today Joseph has been in remission almost two years. He’s looking forward to second grade and excited to sit next to his friends at lunch.

The Dennards are grateful to everyone who has supported Joseph’s Sidekicks. “Thank you for the opportunity to have our son one more day, in hopes of a true lifetime together as a family,” Clayton said. “Every day is a gift.”