Captain Underpants and a surprise Christmas celebration at The James helped a patient and her son cope with cancer treatment. Brooke Dover, 31, says her “first instinct,” after she was diagnosed with leukemia in the summer of 2019 maternal ¬— it was all about the well-being of eight-year-old Camdyn, whom she raises with his father and Dover’s longtime partner, Anthony Wilson. “I was raised by a single mother, and she was sick all the time,” Dover says. “I didn’t want my son to have to deal with that. I wanted to give him the best version of myself.” The best place The first symptoms Dover noticed were shortness of breath and nagging, lingering chest congestion. “I went to the ER [in another hospital system] and was diagnosed with pneumonia,” she says. It took some time and advocacy on her own behalf for further testing, but eventually she was diagnosed with an acute myeloid leukemia sarcoma. “The leukemia escaped my blood and formed a mass — a sarcoma — on my lung,” Dover explains. Dover quickly decided she would be treated at Ohio State The best place As they were walking through The James on the day Dover began her in-patient treatment, Camdyn, carrying his mother’s favorite pillow, turned to her and said “Mom, you’re in the best place you can be to beat cancer.” “I said, ‘How does he know that, he’s eight?’” Dover says. “It was written on the wall — he saw it and I didn’t. Those words were there and were spoken to me for a reason. I was in the right place.” Reading is fundamental Dover’s treatment included chemotherapy, followed by a stem cell transplant, and then a few weeks as an inpatient at The James. Every day after school, Camdyn and Wilson visited. Camdyn’s personable and outgoing nature were on display during the visits. “He’s going to be the next Kevin Hart,” his mother says. “He loves to make people laugh and smile.” When Camdyn couldn’t join his mom at The James, they were able to continue their bedtime reading ritual virtually. “We each got a copy of the same book — one of the “Captain Underpants” books — and we read it together, every night, on FaceTime,” Dover says. Christmas at The James Due to Dover’s hospitalization, the family’s Christmas celebration took place at The James, where they were able to mark the occasion with some help from members of the staff. “The nurses and social workers and some other members of the staff brought in a Christmas tree that they decorated and set up in one of the conference rooms,” Dover says. “How many patients do they take care of, and they go above and beyond for my family? That was amazing.” A positive attitude Maintaining a schedule and staying as active as she could, despite the side effects of her treatment, were Dover’s action plan while at The James. She walked along the hallways and up and down a few flights of stairs. “I had some moments when I was first diagnosed of ‘Why me?” Dover says. “But, then I said to myself, ‘I’m no different from any other cancer patients, and I’m going to beat this.’” Her doctors told Dover she’d be at The James for three-to-six weeks. “They said it would probably be closer to six, but I said I was leaving in three — I had a wedding to go to,” says Dover, who was well enough after three weeks to go home, and to the wedding. The next steps Dover’s treatment team included Ayman Saad, MB/BCH, and many others. “They are my favorite people — they’re my friends now,” she says. Now that she’s out of treatment, Dover is determined to be a cancer advocate. “I want to spread awareness and give back and be a mentor for other cancer patients,” she says. She has formed Brooke’s Battle Squad and held her first fundraising event in conjunction with Camdyn’s tenth birthday party. Dover’s cancer diagnosis and journey to recovery has impacted the way she sees the world and the people around her. “This has made me softer,” she says. “I had a tough time growing up, and I don’t think I always realized what other people were going through. You don’t know what other people are going through unless you listen and are more sensitive.”