Centerville family’s Christmas wish is granted early

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Centerville family’s Christmas wish is granted early

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Christmas is a time to celebrate. It is a time for brightly lit trees,

colorfully wrapped packages and a candy cane or two. Christmas is also a

time of hope as families gather, looking forward to a new year. For the

Petze family of Centerville, this Christmas is especially meaningful.

They are finally regaining a sense of normalcy in the wake of their

son’s illness.

By all accounts, Dominic Petze, 11, has always been your typical boy,

playing baseball and collecting Pokemon cards. He was athletic and

boisterous, always on the go until he was stricken by a mystery illness

that robbed him of his mobility. In September of 2003, Dominic was sent

home from school with a headache and a fever of 104. His temperature

remained dangerously high for days on end.

“I was giving him all kinds of medicine around the clock, you name it,

and his fever wouldn’t break,” said Joni Petze, Dominic’s mother. After

undergoing rounds of tests at Cape Cod Hospital, Dominic was still

feverish and was sent to Children’s Hospital in Boston, where he was

hospitalized for three and a half weeks. “He was so sick at one point

that they couldn’t get his blood pressure high enough,” Joni said.

So began what would prove to be a very long journey for a very young

man. Since that fateful September day, Dominic has been hospitalized

five times for more than 60 nights in an attempt to diagnose and treat

his illness. “They aren’t certain what his condition may be,” said Joni.

“It could be Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis or it could be a blood

disorder. His tests show that he has the markers for both possibilities

but not 100 percent of one or the other.”

To fight the fevers and the overall illness, Dominic was placed on a

variety of powerful medications. For a period of time he was given oral

steroids, which helped somewhat with the illness but wreaked havoc with

his body, causing edema that swelled him to nearly twice his normal size

and left him with numerous stretch marks. “I even have stretch marks on

my feet,” he said. His bones became brittle and he suffered constant

joint pain and a fractured vertebrae. “He couldn’t walk,” his mother

recalled. “We had to carry him from room to room.”

At one point, blood tests revealed that Dominic had virtually no white

blood cells. Because these cells fight infection, Dominic had to wear a

mask everywhere he went until the cell count returned to normal. In

spite of those efforts, Dominic was hospitalized in January with

pneumonia. During that hospital stay, several of Dominic’s doctors,

including Milliken and Kim, told Dominic’s parents about the

Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“We thought it was only for children with terminal illnesses,” Joni

said. “They actually grant wishes to children with life-threatening

illnesses, too.” Dominic’s doctors encouraged them to fill out the

application. While the Petzes waited to hear from Make-A-Wish, Dominic’s

illness continued, keeping him from many of the activities he enjoyed

most in his life – attending school, seeing his friends and playing

baseball. “Dominic was in the hospital on opening day of Barnstable

Little League,” said Dominic’s father, Rich Petze. “We hooked a cell

phone up to the PA system. Dominic got to talk with his friends and call

out ‘Play Ball’ to start the game.”

Even when Dominic wasn’t hospitalized, life was still far from normal.

He could only attend school two hours a day and had very limited contact

with friends. He welcomed the ongoing support of his classmates’ cards

and letters. About a month after filling out the Make-A-Wish

application, the Petzes learned that they had been accepted.

Unfortunately there was a three-year wait for Dominic’s first wish of

attending the baseball All-Stars game, so the family settled on his

second wish, a trip to Florida to visit famous theme parks.

As the family planned the trip with local assistance from Hein and

Merloni, Dominic’s condition slowly improved. In April he was

finally able to go back to school full time, though he remained on a

cocktail of special medications. He resumed playing baseball and other

than frequent trips to Boston for his medicinal infusions, began

reclaiming his youth. A devoted Red Sox fan, Dominic was treated by

Make-A-Wish to several games at Fenway where Dominic was able to tour

the park, watch the game from prime seats, and even scratch his name

into the wall of the dugout.

In October, Dominic, his parents, and brother finally boarded

the plane for Florida. The family stayed at the Give Kids the World

Village, a non-profit resort that works with wish-granting organizations

such as Make-A-Wish and provides accommodations, attractions tickets,

and meals for a week-long fantasy vacation. Dominic was in awe of the

Village attractions, including a carousel and a water-fountain park.

The real fun was had at the theme parks. Thanks to Make-A-Wish, Dominic

and his family were able to experience Disney World, Epcot Center,

Universal, MGM, and SeaWorld, where they rode the rides and took in the

sights. “At SeaWorld, we rode this coaster called ‘Kraken’ that went 60

miles an hour and turned upside down seven times,” said Rich. “I got off

and felt like my brains were scrambled eggs.”

Dominic was impressed with the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith-themed

coaster, which he rode six times each, but said, “I really loved Dueling

Dragons at Universal and Splash Mountain at Disney.”

“We were treated like royalty in Florida,” said Rich. “We were picked up

in a limo and were allowed to go first in line at all the parks.

Make-A-Wish really took care of everything.”

Especially important was that Dominic was able just to be a kid for the

first time in too many months. During the day, he and his family enjoyed

the rides and sights and in the evenings returned to Give Kids The World

to find special gifts waiting for him. “I got bobbleheads, books,

Matchbox cars and movies,” he said with a grin.

“Disney has created a roller coaster monster,” Joni said with a laugh.

Rich is grateful to Make-A-Wish and the doctors for all of their

efforts. “Without them, we don’t know where we’d be today,” he said. As

part of the Make-A-Wish deal, the Petzes are also eligible to visit

participating Six Flags or other theme parks free for one year. Joni and

Rich are anticipating another roller-coaster trip this spring with their

boys.

For now, though, Dominic is happy that his personal roller-coaster trip

seems to be ending. He is feeling markedly better than he did at this

time last year. “Last year, all I wanted was to sit in my bean bag chair

and I couldn’t,” he said. This Christmas, he is hoping for Legos and new

roller blades. He talks about bike riding with friends and his cool

teachers at the Barnstable Horace Mann Charter School. “Last year, I had

Mrs. . She was cool. Now I have Mr. Goode. He’s funny.

Literally, he’s good,” he said. After flashing the infectious smile of a

once-again boisterous young man, Dominic dashes off to play video games

while dad makes dinner and mom looks at photos of their memorable trip.

“This Christmas,” she said, “I am just so thankful. Every little thing

means so much more.”