Cover Story

AND FAMILY RALLY TO SUPPORT
MATT
MATT LASH IN HIS FIGHT AGAINST CANCER.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Staff Writer

atthew Lash has learned more about
cancer and chemotherapy in the last
eight months than he ever hoped to
know.
But serious illness also has allowed him to realize
the blessings of unyielding family support and
remarkably true friendship.
After his Dec. 28 diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma, a
type of bone cancer, Matt, 20, says he's never been
alone if he didn't want to be.
"The night all my friends found out, they came
over, and sat with me and just talked," he says.
Later that week, they canceled New Year's Eve
plans to be with him while he recovered from a tis-
sue biopsy in his heel. "We sat around and ate food
my mom cooked and had a good time. It meant a

I Matt, center, with Jeremy Wolf and Jeremy Manson.

hospitalized monthly for three to six days of treat-
ments. And he drives once or twice a week from East
Lansing to William Beaumont Hospital in Royal
Oak for blood work. When he has doctor's appoint-
ments, his dad, Clifford Lash, usually joins him.
At Beaumont, he receives chemotherapy in the
hospital's pediatric oncology department. "I actually
enjoyed being where little kids run back and forth,"
Matt says. "It's a more active environment."
Matt's mother, Roberta Lash, says he gets excep-
tional attention. And she raves about his physicians,
pediatric oncologist Dr. Charles Main, Beaumont's
chief of pediatric hematology-oncology, and ortho-
pedic oncologist Dr. Ronald Irwin, who discovered
Matt's cancer.
"Dr. Main told Man anytime he doesn't feel well to
call him," says Matt's dad. "He's kind of like his father
for the next year. Matt sees him as much as he sees me."
Dr. Main refers to Matt as "Mr. Energetic."

Everybody is very positive. If I show I have a lot of strength, it's because everyone
else is so strong. I didn't realize how lucky I was with everything. I didn't expect the
turnout. I was afraid of being a burden on them. Instead, I realize howgreat it is to have
this support. What I'm going through isn't nearly as terrible as it could be.

lot to me that they came over."
The former North Farmington High School baseball
catcher now is a sophomore at Michigan State
University in East Lansing. He began to exhibit symp-
toms following a day of running and playing basketball.
"Later I couldn't walk on my heel," Matt recalls.
"Every time I put my foot down, I was in a lot of
pain. It felt like a pinched nerve from the heel up." .
The pain remained, even after various doctors treated
him for tendonitis, a pinched nerve and a bone cyst.
Matt calls the fourth doctor he visited "the savior."
A series of X-rays and MRIs revealed that a shattered

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2001

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bone in Matt's foot would not heal because a tumor
had grown there.
A biopsy was performed on the tissues and, at
first, Matt's doctor told him he did not see any can-
cerous material. But two days later, the biopsy came
back with a diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma, the same
disease survived by Ted Kennedy Jr., who had his leg
amputated at age 12 in 1973.

Doctors And Decisions

Matt began chemotherapy treatments on Jan. 28,
receiving medication through a chest catheter. He is

"He is extremely friendly and extremely outgoing
with everyone he meets. He seems to attract a very
positive, very intelligent group of friends."
Upbeat yet realistic, Matt has done extensive research
on his illness, its treatments and prognosis. And Dr.
Main confirms there is no evidence of any metastasis.
"The cancer I have is very curable," Man says simply.
But it comes with tough decisions. Within the
next three months, Matt will have to decide between
radiation treatments and amputation of his left foot.
"I plan on doing amputation because there is a
STAND BY ME on page 12

