By Laura Lane
Now she has found a new passion: spotting the Roosevelt Island tram as she travels with her father, Tom, a Merrick firefighter, over the Queensboro Bridge. Seeing the tram is the high point of Shannon's trips to Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital, where she spends much of her time undergoing cancer treatments.
Shannon has never experienced pain from the cancer. In fact, her parents didn't even know she had it until they got a call from a staff member at Shannon's pre-school who had noticed the lump. "We thought at first that it was a bite or a muscle," said Tom Gleason. "But we took her for an MRI and CAT scan anyway. That's when we found out that it was a mass."
The Gleasons took their daughter to several doctors, including an oncologist at Winthrop University Hospital. But no one would diagnose the mass until Shannon underwent a biopsy. And because the mass was near an artery, Shannon's Long Island doctors refused to do the biopsy, referring the Gleasons to Sloan Kettering.
"By the time we got to Sloan Kettering, the lump was a hard mass the size of a tennis ball," Tom recalled. "The doctor took one look at it and told his secretary to clear his schedule so he could do the biopsy."
After diagnosing the mass as cancer, the doctor recommended a treatment plan. "We could have gone back to Winthrop and had it removed, but the doctor at Sloan Kettering recommended shrinking it first," Tom said. "He said that that would minimize the possibility of her losing her limb."
Shannon's cancer is an aggressive form of the disease that usually first appears behind the eye. Because the location of the mass was unusual, doctors searched for other masses on her body. When they found nothing further, Shannon was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer, which means that it hasn't metastasized. She has received several rounds of chemotherapy to shrink the lump.
Shannon is the Gleasons' youngest child, and their only daughter. "She's Daddy's little girl," said Tom, who looked wistfully at his daughter. "When the doctor told me she had cancer, I ended up being admitted on the spot with chest pains. They later told me it was stress-related."
The Gleasons have worked together to help their daughter and maintain their household. Shannon's mother, Laura, works full-time for the Nassau County Assessor¹s Office. When Laura shared the dire news of Shannon's diagnosis, her colleagues donated money to show their support.
Laura, however, is a fairly new employee, and is unable to take much time off, so Tom is responsible for taking Shannon to Sloan Kettering. Laura, meanwhile, handles all of the medical research, spending hours online gathering information about the disease. She also cares for their son, Sean, who is 9, helping him with homework and school projects, which isn't always easy considering how worried Laura is about Shannon.
Laura has joined an online support group, which she believes has been helpful. "People don't understand what's happening," she said. "When the lump on Shannon's leg shrunk after the chemo, someone said, 'Well, now she won't need as much medicine.' She needs more. People in the support group understand that."
Tom, a sign maintenance crew chief for the Town of Hempstead, couldn't say enough about how appreciative he is for all the support he has received from his employer. The town always allows him to take Shannon to Manhattan for her many hospital appointments.
The Merrick Fire Department has been there for Tom from the beginning as well. "They won't let me do anything, and [they] drive us to and from the city for all of Shannon's treatments, including the blood tests that she has done two days a week at Sloan," Tom said. "If I need something that I left at home, like my wallet or cell phone, they go back and get it for me. And they all chipped in and got Shannon an iPod with a DVD player on it so she can watch her movies when she's being treated."
The Merrick Fire Department is holding a benefit Halloween concert on Sunday to help the Gleason family. And many of the firefighters continue to travel to Sloan Kettering to donate blood. The hospital informed Tom that Manhattan firefighters have donated, too -- none of whom he has met.
A lifelong Merrick resident, Tom appreciates the help the family has received from their neighbors and friends. With no immediate family nearby, the couple has come to appreciate the home-cooked meals and offers to watch Sean when they need the help.
As for Shannon, a new acquaintance can't help but notice how independent she is, her engaging smile, her sparkling eyes. A friendly little girl, she is as comfortable showing you her "boo-boo" (a scar from an incision where the mass is) as she is coloring a picture for you.
Tom said his daughter never complains, and has made many friends at the hospital with other children undergoing cancer treatments. "They'll give her very strong drugs, and she'll be running down the hall with her IVs," said Tom. "Her energy amazes us. But the chemo is hard on her because she has to have anesthesia, which always makes her so sick."
Shannon was scheduled to undergo surgery at Sloan Kettering to remove the cancerous mass this week, and doctors may need to remove part of the bone in her leg, too.
She will face an uphill battle after the surgery, submitting to chemotherapy treatments and radiation five days a week for five weeks. The radiation will stop the bone in her leg from growing properly, causing one of her legs to be shorter than the other as she matures. She'll undergo a great deal of physical therapy after she returns home, and will eventually need plastic surgery.
But Tom and Laura hope their daughter will be cancer-free someday. "She'll have a follow-up every three months, and if there isn't any cancer found in five years, she'll be considered cured," said Tom. "But this cancer is known to relapse."
The Halloween concert to benefit Shannon is scheduled for Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at the Merrick Fire Department, 2300 Merrick Ave. Admission is $12 for adults and $8 for children. For further information or to donate, call (516) 463-5194.
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