Minden St. Jude Under Way
Lives are touched by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital every day. More often, it seems they are the lives of patients and their families.
That isn't always the case.
In 2006, then 21-year-old Megan Balkom (Swayze) walked through St. Jude's doors. She was, as her mother said, forever changed.
"I wanted to go to St. Jude to do my last rotation of clinicals," said Swayze, who was attending Bossier Parish Community College to become a Physical Therapist Assistant. "I had been involved with the Minden auction, and I wanted to go see where our money goes and what it's used for."
Swayze's instructor, Kim Cox, was unaware of any students who had gone to St. Jude from BPCC, but she was willing to try to get Swayze a rotation there.
"She checked and they didn't have any spots available because they accept students from all over the world," Swayze said. "I was sad, but Miss Kim gave it some time and called back."
Apparently, the St. Jude representative wanted to know about the student who so badly wanted to come to the hospital.
"Miss Kim told her that I'm from Minden, and we're the ones who do the auction," Swayze said. "Our town is very involved, and this was something I had always wanted to do."
Two days later, Swayze's rotation was granted.
"They know about Minden at St. Jude," she said. "They know we're the small town that has a big heart and a huge auction."
So, in the summer of 2006, Swayze, who was not yet married nor a mom, packed her bags and headed to Memphis.
"My time up there was overwhelming," she said. "To see what all the children were going through and at such a young age. It was hard to see the parents and what they were struggling with."
But, she said, the people of St. Jude are anything but sad.
"It's a very happy place," she said. "Even though you want to be sympathetic toward the children and their parents, I didn't get the feeling that it was this depressing, sad place. It was full of laughter. They did anything in the world to make it as good an experience for the kids as possible."
While there, Swayze worked with children battling every form of cancer.
"The therapy is basically the same as if I were to work with somebody else with the same disease, but you have to put it on a pediatric level," she said. "You have to make it fun, entertaining and that was challenging to me. What's the difference between play and therapy? A lot of it seemed like play."
Children requiring her expertise suffered with bone tumors and malignant muscle tumors that may have required an amputation.
"Or they may have nerve damage and have to adjust to life with some sort of paralysis," Swayze said. "Some of them get so burned out on treatment that it takes all their strength away. Some get to where they can't walk any more. We helped them learn how again."
She learned that children are resilient.
"Those kids are fighters," she said. "Every single one of them that I ever came in contact with – they had that drive. They had that fire inside of them. Some of them were just babies, but you could tell they were fighters."
There were some sad moments, but Swayze called on her mother, Cindy Waller, and her older sister, Rachel Streetman for support.
"I lost three (patients) while I was there," Swayze said. "I called Mom every night crying, saying 'I can't do this, I can't handle this.' It was a very eye-opening experience.
"At St. Jude, you realize cancer has no age," she continued. "There were babies there. I had a lot more life than they did. It really makes you open your eyes and realize cancer can strike at any time and anyone and in the healthiest people. There is no age limit."
And there are no geographical boundaries, she said, pointing out there were children and medical personnel from all over the world at the hospital, either receiving treatment or learning ways to administer it in their own country.
"I would recommend anyone who is on vacation or has the opportunity to travel near Memphis, go up there and see what your money does," Swayze said. "It's amazing at how huge the hospital is. It keeps expanding and getting larger. The labs are bigger; the technology is better."
Now, a wife, mother of two-year-old Allie and PTA at Town & Country Health and Rehab, Swayze agrees with her mother – she is forever changed.
"Being at St. Jude was a humbling experience," said Swayze, who now works primarily with geriatric patients. "I'm more personable with the patients. It's made me better at what I do."
Swayze said she would definitely go back, but it would be different now.
"Going back as a mother would be much more challenging and difficult," she said. "I didn't have Allie then. I didn't have a mother's eyes. I think I would probably bring back even more."
She is grateful for much in her life, especially her time at the hospital, and the people of Minden who do so much for St. Jude.
"I am thankful that all my family is healthy and we haven't had to face that (cancer), she said. "It makes you look at life completely different. I have so many nieces and nephews. I have so many friends with children. I can't even let my mind go there."
Her mother, Cindy, believes St. Jude touches the lives of children and parents, but the people of Minden helped make her daughter the person she is today.
"Those same people, (Minden residents) without knowing it, have helped make one of Megan's dreams come true," Waller said. "She went to St. Jude and worked with the incredible doctors there and then brought her knowledge and skill back home to Minden. She couldn't have done it had it not been for the wonderful reputation Minden has earned.
"We are so blessed to live in Minden, and our children and grandchildren are reaping the benefits of Minden's big heart," Waller said.
