Springhill's Charcandrick West battles an unknown opponent as season begins

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Player fights illness to get back on the field

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Springhill's Charcandrick West battles an unknown opponent as season begins

Energetic, athletic, full of life - these words were once used to describe

Charcandrick West, a sophomore at Springhill High School. However, for the

past year, a multitude of symptoms have left the 16-year-old weakened and

his parents and doctors baffled.

On November 3, 2006, Charcandrick West, tailback/fullback for the Springhill

Lumberjacks, played the best game of his football career, in which he scored

three touchdowns against the Lakeside Warriors. After the game, he felt

tired - perfectly understandable, or so thought his parents, Toccara and

Dametrice Ford.

The next morning, the teen, a life-long resident of the Cullen/Springhill

area, was extremely stiff in his joints, exhibited a whelp-like rash and was

running a high fever - 104- to 105-degrees.

Charcandrick, known as " Moosey " by his friends and teammates, was rushed to

Minden Medical Center where initial tests were conducted. He was then

transferred to Sutton's Children's Hospital in Shreveport. For 21 days, the

teen suffered with a high fever, tremors, bed sweats, a rash, stiffness and

a sore throat.

The illness sapped Charcandrick's strength and his body weight began to

drop. At one point, he was so weak that his father, an officer with the

Springhill Police Department, had to pick him up and carry him.

Charcandrick's health seemed to improve. With the symptoms gone and the rash

fading, he was released in December from the hospital. In January, he

returned to school, thinking his mysterious illness had passed.

In February, Charcandrick participated in three track meets. Afterwards, the

stiffness in his joints as well as the rash returned. This time, the

symptoms were not quite as severe.

Toccara Ford, thinking that his son might be having a reaction to recently

installed metal orthodontics, had his son's braces removed. Once the braces

were removed, Charcandrick's rash cleared up and the stiffness receded. It

appeared as if Charcandrick was cured.

During the summer months, Charcandrick's routine returned to normal. He

began putting back on the weight he had lost during his illness and was

preparing for the Jacks' upcoming season.

" He was fine from May the 10 all the way through July, " said Toccara Ford.

" We had been to LSU to the disease specialist and at that time, all of the

blood work came back negative. He had an elevated white (blood) count, but

still, they couldn't determine exactly what it was and then it went away. "

In July, Charcandrick again began suffering from the mysterious illness.

" In July, the day before he broke out, on the 8th, somebody asked me, 'Man,

how's your son doing,' and I said, 'He's doing fine - he's back to playing.

He asked if Charcandrick was going to get to play this year and I said,

'Yes, he's going to get to play.' "

The next day, the Jacks held practice. Afterwards, Charcandrick appeared

tired - a result, his father thought, of the strenuous exercise.

Following practice, the father and son duo went to the task of mowing.

Afterwards, they discovered that Charcandrick's rash had reappeared.

" After that day, it went downhill from there - the fever and everything came

back, " said the boy's father. " I'm not used to him being sick - he's like my

little Superman. He's not supposed to be sick - not like this. "

Charcandrick was taken to see Dr. Ulich who prescribed antibiotics.

The symptoms, including a high fever, did not diminish and at the end of the

week, the football player was once again admitted to the hospital. When the

fever broke, he was released and an appointment was made to see an ear, nose

and throat specialist.

Upon learning that the specialist had ruled out Charcandrick's tonsils as

the root of his sickness, Dr. Ulich conferred with Dr. ph Bocchini, a

disease specialist at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. Both doctors

agreed that further testing was required.

The Fords were presented with two options - Children's Medical Center in

Little Rock, Ark. or LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

" We got back home and got to thinking about it - it's only three hours to

Little Rock and six hours to New Orleans, " said Toccara Ford. " I had heard

that Arkansas' children's hospital was supposed to be pretty good, so we

went up there on July 25 and we stayed there for 14 days. "

During his stay in Little Rock, Charcandrick went through a battery of

tests, including tuberculosis, AIDS, cancer, West Nile and meningitis.

" They ran him from A to Z, " said Toccara Ford. " They took one of his lymph

nodes out because it was kind of infected, but they couldn't tell why. Their

main concern was to see if he had any form of cancer - they wanted to rule

that out. "

Doctors in Little Rock told the Fords that Charcandrick's symptoms could

possibly be caused by juvenile rheumatoid arthritis; however, there is no

test for this debilitating disease. The only options available to doctors in

cases such as Charcandrick's is to rule out everything else.

The Fords researched juvenile rheumatoid arthritis on their own and learned

that symptoms include fatigue, fever, joint stiffness and swelling and skin

rash.

Once Charcandrick's fever broke and he began to feel better, he was again

released, this time with an appointment to see a juvenile rheumatoid

arthritis specialist at Shriners Hospital.

Charcandrick was evaluated by the specialist, who also ordered a biopsy on

the boy's skin rash. Results of the biopsy are expected sometime this week.

" Hopefully, he (specialist) will know exactly what this is and can start

giving Charcandrick something to treat him for this, " said Toccara Ford.

Throughout this ordeal, besides antibiotics, Charcandrick has only been

given non-prescription strength pain relievers, such as Tylenol.

" It's been kind of tough on all of us, but especially him, " said the boy's

father. " He misses football and being a normal kid. This right here isn't

him. In the summer time, he's like a ping-pong ball - he's always moving,

fully energetic, always on the go. He would even get home from practice and

still ask, 'You want to go out and throw the football?' They would play out

there and have me in the road throwing the football for hours and hours

after practice. "

One of the toughest things Charcandrick has had to deal with during his

illness is watching his physical strength, which he has worked so hard to

build, diminish.

" The other day, he said, 'The hardest part about it is, I worked so hard to

get back to where I was and now I'm back down again,' " said the athlete's

father.

If doctors determine that Charcandrick is suffering from rheumatoid

arthritis, treatment most likely will include mild steroid or cortisone

injections.

" It would put him back to being a normal kid, but he would probably have to

take shots and he would have to go to a specialist once a month to test his

blood for white blood cells, " said Dametrice Ford.

Currently, Charcandrick continues to suffer from joint stiffness and

all-over body aches and the rash comes and goes. As a result, he is being

home schooled; however, nothing would keep him away from his team's game

Friday night against Haynesville.

The teen's loyalty to his school and team is mirrored by both friends and

teammates, who visit Charcandrick regularly. One such show of support

occurred the night he returned home from Little Rock. When he arrived at his

house in Cullen, half of the Lumberjacks team as well as Coach Pesses

were there to greet him.

Charcandrick and his family wish to thank friends and everyone in the

community for their support and prayers during this trying time.

One such show of support is a seafood dinner fundraiser, spearheaded by the

Springhill Lumberjacks and the Springhill Police Department.

Tickets are on sale now for the all-you-can eat dinner, which will be held

on September 10 at the Indian Run restaurant in Shongaloo. To purchase your

tickets, contact the police department or a Lumberjack team member.