ORONO, Maine — Teenagers Emily LeClair, 16, and Gabby Sherman, 15, didn’t hesitate and gave the same answer when asked what was the worst part of battling cancer at a young age.
“Not being able to play softball,” they said.
“I try to stay with it year-round,” LeClair said.
LeClair, who is a junior, has been able to play this season, and she is having a good year as the starting first baseman for the Orono High School Red Riots.
Sherman, who is a freshman at Old Town High School, isn’t able to play due to her chemotherapy treatments but hopes to try out next season.
LeClair was diagnosed with lymphoma on July 22, 2015, her 16th birthday. She said the glands over her collarbone were “visibly swollen” and painful.
In December 2013, Sherman learned she had a brain tumor.
LeClair had to endure endless hours of radiation and chemotherapy.
Sherman had an emergency surgery to remove part of the tumor and has to have chemotherapy treatments every Friday at the Lafayette Family Family Cancer Center in Brewer to prevent it from spreading. The treatments frequently give her nausea.
The tumor remained dormant for two years but began growing, which required chemotherapy.
LeClair, who is in remission, admitted to being “down in the dumps” at times and being significantly weakened by the lymphoma and the treatments but both have handled their cancer with remarkable resilience and bravery. They have been an inspiration to their families, friends and communities.
“Gabby never complains. She has handled it a lot better than her parents,” Glen Sherman, Gabby’s father, said. Her mother is Elizabeth Sherman.
“Gabby is amazing,” Glen Sherman added.
Tracy LeClair, Emily’s mother, said when her daughter was diagnosed with lymphoma she told her and husband, Chris, “I’ve got this,” meaning she was going to deal with it and they shouldn’t worry about her.
“That has been her motto through the whole thing,” Tracy LeClair said. “She has been a rock. She hasn’t let anything slow her down. She has been my inspiration.”
Tracy LeClair also was diagnosed with a “non-aggressive form of breast cancer” and recently finished up radiation treatments.
“We can finally get our family back to normalcy,” she said.
“Emily is definitely an inspiration, not only for us as a team but for the school and the community,” Orono High School coach Kristen Espling said. “She had grabbed it by the horns and her family has been great.”
‘Softball is my sanity’
Emily LeClair missed virtually the whole first semester of her junior year because she would spend four days a week, every three weeks, getting chemotherapy and radiation treatments at Lafayette. She returned to school in mid-January.
She had a port in her chest in order to receive her dose of chemotherapy.
“Sometimes I would be there all day. In the middle, they had to up my chemo because the first kind didn’t work as well as it was supposed to,” LeClair said. “So I actually had to stay in the hospital [Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor].”
“That was really, really tough,” she said.
She began working out in late March-early April after having the port removed and the area where it had been was tender early in the season.
“I’m not as strong or as fast as I was because of the lymphoma but I’m getting there. When I get stronger, I’ll be able to hit the ball farther and I won’t have to run as hard,” LeClair joked.
She also was surprised to see the number of youngsters who are stricken with the disease.
“It was pretty crazy. You never realize how many kids are affected by it until you actually go to the treatment center and see kids coming in and out of there all the time,” LeClair said. “It’s really scary to see teenagers with something nobody should have to worry about, especially if you’re a kid.
“Every story is different. That has been the most interesting part of it all. What Gabby and I have experienced is black and white. It is almost the complete opposite,” LeClair said.
Her attitude has played an important role in her therapy.
“I’ve taken a positive attitude. I treat it like softball. Softball is my sanity in a way,” LeClair said. “When you get down on yourself, you just have to pick yourself up.”
She is ecstatic to be back on the field.
“I’m so happy. Like I said, it’s my sanity. If I’m angry, I go hit some BP [batting practice],” LeClair said. “This is a pretty great game.”
‘My favorite sport’
Gabby Sherman said she began playing softball in second grade.
“It’s my favorite sport. I play second base or the outfield,” she said.
“It is a horrible thing to go through at such a young age,” her father, Glen, said. “But she’s a great girl.”
He said his daughter passed out at home one day so he took her to the hospital.
“They did a scan and the day after that they operated on her,” he said.
In December, they discovered that the tumor had started growing again “so they started her on chemotherapy.”
So she spends four to five hours at Lafayette in Brewer every Friday for four consecutive Fridays at a time before getting two Fridays off, although she does have to go to Lafayette on those two Fridays to have bloodwork done.
This will continue through at least January, Glen Sherman said.
“And she has only missed three [other] days of school overall from being sick,” he said.
Her father said the prognosis is “very good. That’s what they keep telling us.”
“I’ve been feeling better,” Gabby Sherman said. “Sometimes, I’ll have a headache.”
Community support
The two girls were honored by their respective communities at the Orono-Old Town softball game Thursday. It was called the Cancer Awareness game and proceeds from the barbecue and the passing of the hat will go to LeClair’s team that will participate in the Champion the Cure Challenge at the Lafayette Center Aug. 20.
“The support from the community has been so overwhelming,” Glen Sherman said.
“My friends and everyone at Orono High School, especially my teammates, have been very, very supportive,” LeClair said.
“There is something to be said for living in small community,” said Tracy LeClair whose family lives in Milford. “There has been lots of encouragement and love.”
“Emily has been one of my best friends since we were very young and she has always loved this game,” Orono High School junior shortstop Katelyn Richards said. “When I heard the diagnosis, it was heart-breaking.
“But I knew Emily would come back and play,” Richards said.
Old Town High School junior shortstop Mikayla Richards said: “It makes us feel good doing stuff like that for them. They’re part of our community so anything we can do to support them is good.”
“This gets into everyone’s heart and it’s great to come here and support them,” Old Town sophomore outfielder-pitcher Mckenna Smith said.