Isle leukemia
patient reaches for
‘a miracle’
The young woman goes to
By Helen Altonn
a Texas cancer center in hopes of
getting ready for a key
step in Seattle
Star-BulletinA year ago Carole Ann Kitahara played tennis and golf and "could outrun all of us," said her mother, Jocelyn.
Now the 19-year-old is trying to outrun leukemia.
She's been in and out of hospitals in Hawaii, Washington and New York since being stricken with cancer in December 1997.
She left the Queen's Medical Center yesterday and flew to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for treatment.
Accompanying her and her mother was her boyfriend, James Lee, 19, who left college earlier this year to care for her.
He said they will be at the Anderson Center "however long it takes to continue our fight, until the battle is won.
"Miraculously, two perfectly matching donors" were found for a bone marrow transplant for Carole, Lee said. However, the transplant couldn't be done because she wasn't in complete remission, he said.
"That's what this crusade is all about," he said, expressing hope that new therapies at the Anderson Center might take her into remission.
He said the Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle has agreed to do the transplant when she is able to have it.
The two youths met at Hawaii Baptist Academy about four years ago and their bond has strengthened through her illness.
"He is a superman as far as I'm concerned," said Carole's grandfather, George Ching. "He stayed with her day and night in the hospital. He took care of her seven months in Queen's."
Ching said doctors have been so impressed with Lee's caring and knowledge of cancer and medications, they've encouraged him to enter medicine.
After leaving the academy, Lee said he went to the University of Washington thinking he would follow his father, Tsai-Chi Lee, into international law. His father was a Supreme Court justice at one time in Taiwan, where the family lived for a long time. His parents now live in Honolulu, but his father works in Taiwan.
Carole attended the University of Hawaii her freshman year and worked at Sam Choy's. She was interested in botany but said she's changing to biology.
While going to different colleges, the two maintained their relationship. They talked constantly on the phone and "were miserable," Lee said.
The past year gave them a new perspective, he said. "We just have to get our lives back. Normalcy will be like heaven for us."
"Without him, I probably wouldn't be able to keep track of all the medications," said Carole. And he keeps her spirits up, she said.
He was by her side at the University of Washington Medical Center Hospital in Seattle, at Sloan-Kettering in New York and at the Queen's Hospital.
"Every hospital has a fold-up (bed). It's much like dormitory beds so I'm pretty comfortable with it," he said.
Ching said he calls Lee by his middle name in Chinese -- "Strong."
Jocelyn Kitahara said Lee told her he knew Carole would do the same for him. His culture also emphasizes care for the family and loved ones, she said.
Lee said he has learned a lot about cancer and medicine and "thinking maybe I should put it to practical use."
He may switch to pre-med when he returns to school, he said. But whatever he decides to do, even if he pursues law, he said he will dedicate part of his money and efforts to cancer research "to alleviate suffering."
"You see a lot of bittersweet things going on with cancer patients," he said. "It is so indiscriminating and it hits at the most awful times."
He said Carole eats a lot of fruits and vegetables and was very healthy until she became ill. She said she thought she had the flu until diagnosed with cancer.
Mrs. Kitahara said her daughter "is a scrappy fighter" and with Lee's staunch support has "done well to make it the past year. "We're standing on the brink of a miracle and asking God -- what now?
"I always said I am grateful to have my daughter one more day."
Lee said, "It's the season of miracles. We have a lot to be hopeful (for) this season. All of us, Grandpa, Carole's mom, and my parents, are so grateful that we're healthy and strong to support her."
He said he and Carole have a New Year's resolution: "To treasure every single moment in the next year. First of all, we have to beat this leukemia together."
