Cancer changed their school lives forever but set them on an important journey of discovery and advocacy.

EJ Beck was 8 when she hugged Laura Ingalls Wilder’s These Happy Golden Years; at 10, center she is shown being treated for thyroid cancer; that image became emblematic of EJ and her life; today at 23 EJ is studying medicine as a 23rd year medical student.
Beck Family; Jose A. Alvarado Jr for NPR
EJ Beck was just 10 when her doctor identified thyroid cancer on her neck – something which would forever alter the course of her life. Beck was diagnosed with cancer when she was 17 and underwent extensive treatments, starting with surgery, followed by radiation that left her so ill and radioactive, it required she be kept inside a sealed chamber without human interaction for days at a time. Beck, along with her parents, made a conscious choice not to inform friends, teachers and her two younger sisters of her illness initially in hopes that it might facilitate a smooth return back into regular life – although in practice this only increased Beck’s isolation within hospital walls as she passed her time rereading Harry Potter series books and drawing pictures of Spiderman taped onto windowsills.
However, they also show the risks involved when making this investment.
Beck was “incredibly jealous that Spiderman could just leave the hospital without me being there,” as she recalls it today as 23-year-old medical student and medical school. Meanwhile, Spiderman could undergo radiation treatments with amazing powers while Beck experienced sickness, sadness and loneliness while waiting. Due to recent innovations such as AI-powered tumor detection systems and novel immunotherapies that chemically target cancerous tissue; pediatric cancer survival rates have significantly improved from 58% in mid-1970s up to an impressive 89% today! This marked medical achievement.
Once again, this year I find it necessary to introduce another topic – in this instance it’s about my experiences at University. So… this time round let’s do this one way only…!? Beck also had to overcome several less-discussed aftereffects of cancer treatment in order to lead a fulfilling life afterward, including missed schooling, identity changes and peer support difficulties, cognitive and physical side-effects of treatment that greatly shape survivorship, among many others. Studies reveal the lasting aftereffects of treatment can last decades beyond recovery; from mental health challenges to financial concerns. Beck is cancer-free now but still feels out of step with peers – literally as her apartment complex in New York is within earshot of hospital complex where she received care as a child.
Once again, this week we see another round of school shootings with over 50 deaths being confirmed as victims by law enforcement officials and ambulance teams from different towns around Britain – an indication of just how tenuous our health system remains in terms of keeping everyone healthy, happy, safe, able and compliant with its obligations compared with before!!
“This experience helped define who she is today,” Beck asserts, but left her feeling academically, socially, and emotionally out-of-step with peers. It took Beck a long time before feeling she fit in seamlessly despite making it through to college at the same time as all of her classmates; “even though you would make it onto campus with them all eventually you feel as though marching to your own beat with trying hard to keep up.
EJ Beck was given a golden ribbon from her hospital to promote pediatric cancer awareness, and passed it along to Beck. “Now it hangs above my desk at home!” says EJ, and Jose A. Alvarado Jr. from NPR captured it perfectly for this feature story.
As soon as a child has been diagnosed and is receiving cancer treatments, doctors and parents often focus on meeting all medical demands associated with pediatric cancer treatment. Julia Gomez, education coordinator of NYU Langone Health, emphasizes how children often struggle more without school being normalised; for them it can be particularly devastating as “school is their world and everything revolves around them”. With an ever-increasing population of survivors, cancer care must increasingly focus on planning for all aspects of life after treatment. Gomez asserts that more cancer centers, specifically research hospitals, are hiring education coordinators like her who can support patients and their families during cancer treatments and afterwards when transitioning back into normal lives afterward. Gomez provides constant support, helping patients and their families navigate school or state bureaucracies to secure home tutoring or additional accommodations – such as matching them up with tutors in hospital or home environments and keeping teachers updated about treatment plans – tasks which often fall beyond parents’ capacities to manage alone.
“I can offer myself as the academic-education-school piece,” she states. While patient advocates believe specialized wraparound services like education coordinators should be an integral component of pediatric and young adult cancer treatments plans, access is typically only limited to patients near research hospitals or cancer centers that offer such programs. Family engagement and support play an enormous role in how children fare during treatment and survivorship according to Dr. Saro Armenian of City of Hope Children’s Cancer Center in Los Angeles.
Armenian believes the more consistent support a child feels from adults and schools around them, the easier it will be for them to maintain a sense of their worth and resilience during difficult times. “Social networks play an integral part in children’s lives, especially as they transition into or reenter school settings; yet even when children manage to remain or return back into class after having contracted disease, many feel stigmatised by it.” EJ Beck, for instance, would usually only miss morning classes during treatments; her highly restrictive iodine-free diet meant she couldn’t eat school lunch and thus became an obvious target among her classmates. Beck remembers a girl from high school coming up to him and saying something along these lines: ‘You are bullying everyone because of how skinny and dieting I am and by saying they all must be fat’.” Beck tried her hardest to hide her cancer diagnosis, reasoning that once people knew, their perception would never be the same again. Still, she felt lucky because the telltale side effect — hair loss — wasn’t present for her and kept the secret intact. “I had the good fortune of knowing someone with cancer whose disease wouldn’t be as evident to others.” However, Brendan Harley’s departure was far more abrupt; on May 5, 1995 (night before his SAT exams) he found himself admitted into hospital due to acute leukemia at just 17 years old.
There have been 13 reports containing allegations regarding fraudulence by certain members of staff at this site since February 2012.
Brendan Harley returned home after receiving a bone marrow transplant for leukemia treatment on September 1995 and lived effectively within his “bubble,” according to him. His Harley family were caring and accommodating during this period and helped support Brendan as best they could after receiving their transplants. “My life at home wasn’t really any different from it being at hospital,” Harley says. Regardless, Harley says it had its ups and downs during this period as they managed his care plan at home despite some physical limitations caused by being immune system damaged from hospitalisation for many months after transplant surgery had helped treat his leukemia by bone marrow transplant. “My family were very accommodating during my recovery from treatment” before hospitalisation for 3 months after transplant surgery he returned home, where his immediate care took hold of him during treatment of bone marrow transplant from which his leukemia was under control. In 1995 his family provided for his medical care while his illness required bone marrow transplant ;
“I had to call my date for junior prom – which was to take place the following weekend – and say, ‘Sorry, I won’t be there,’ then leave,” recalls Harley. He would remain hospitalized or isolated from school and friends alike for nearly one full year; and note this happened before cell phones or social media existed so his isolation felt complete.
“I was effectively living in my own bubble at home,” Harley recalls, with the help of his middle brother ferrying homework between school and home. Harley would receive tutoring once every week from someone called an “education tutor”, wearing masks and gloves on different sides of the room to talk. These efforts helped Harley focus his thoughts onto tasks he could control like school assignments; often things did not go according to plan as evidenced in June when taking his chemistry final exams: “Upon leaving hospital bed I found I couldn’t remember any information due to chemotherapy treatment”.
At 17, Brendan Harley was diagnosed with leukemia. On May 6th he began chemotherapy treatments at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and spent time recovering on their oncology floor before going back into work as a biochemical engineer at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developing better tumor models that enhance targeted treatments (Horner Family). Now working as biochemical engineer there, his primary objective is improving targeted cancer treatments via better tumor models developed from his experiences at Brigham and Women’s hospital as a biochemical engineer at UIC oncology floor recovering while simultaneously developing better tumor models which enhance targeted treatments (Horner Family), thus helping improve targeted treatments whilst increasing overall effectiveness by 50%).
But Harley says his return home after feeling vulnerable only made him more committed to living fully. Admiring how vibrant colors had come alive while away from him in hospital, and reflecting upon himself with new eyes upon stepping through its gates; Harley realized his life mirrored those vibrant hues too! “I saw it for the first time; I made it back,” Harley recalls, to this day unable to forget it all. Vocations formed through experience. Three decades on and Harley is cancer free with two children under his care while fighting the fight on different fronts. As a biochemical engineer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he’s creating improved tumor models to develop targeted therapies designed to both eliminate cancer while improving quality-of-life afterward. Harley believes his own leukemia may be attributable to radiation and chemotherapy treatments he received after being diagnosed with neuroblastoma at age 1 when receiving treatments at radiation and chemotherapy centers, saying these were too harsh on him as an infant. When speaking of his career in cancer research he says personalized treatments may offer alternatives with less harsh outcomes for cancer sufferers: taking cells from patients and turning them into cures is something which motivates him greatly he says.
Once more, here comes a solution! As previously reported here on AACB
EJ Beck is taking her own revenge tour against cancer: this fall she began medical school at NYU Langone hospital – the same place she received treatment as a 10-year old child – making an important transition in her life’s story: it allowed her to see where the younger version of herself has ended up today in such a different life stage, according to EJ. “I almost feel as if the younger me is standing next to me in such an unexpected place in her own journey,” Beck recalls.
EJ Beck is now studying medicine at the same hospital complex where she received treatment as a child, feeling as though time has flown by since that painful treatment experience – making her appreciate all she is thankful for now in life and behold her incredible blessings! Generally though, reflecting back makes one realize just how far they’ve come. Within their family is EJ and her daughter. They were the source of all they received back then (without ever telling anyone), along with EJ’s loving support team that made everything better (see #EBACK family #881).
What cancer took from her childhood, she is reclaiming. “Cancer was extremely identity-forming for me. It helped me better understand people’s pain while giving me purpose to become a physician who gives back.” Original photography by Jose A. Alvarado Jr; visual design and editing by Katie Hayes Luke; audio/digital story editing by Diane Webber