Della Batts, Herald Staff Writer

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ROANOKE RAPIDS— To the untrained eye, 2-year old Kevin “K.J.” Clark Jr. looks happy and healthy. He smiles readily at any attention, loves hugs from his mom and dad, and tries hard to keep up with his brother Tyvon and sister Jessica. 

But his mom, Angela, knows the truth. She noticed back in August that things just weren’t quite right with her baby boy. He didn’t seem to be developing as quickly as she expected. He couldn’t walk well, he had trouble on the stairs, his balance seemed off, just little things that only a mom would notice.

In August, Angela decided to discuss this with her pediatrician, who referred K.J. to UNC Chapel Hill. “In the beginning, they thought it was just a problem with his hip, something orthopedic, but we would have had to wait six weeks before we could get an MRI at Chapel Hill, so we asked to be referred to MCV in Virginia.”

It was Sept. 19 when the diagnosis was handed down. There was no orthopedic problem, K.J. had a tumor in his spinal column, an astrocytoma. “It’s almost like I thought when we went to the doctor that it would be something simple. It would be something minor or we’d fix it. Working in the medical field, I knew something was wrong as soon as I looked at the doctor’s face,” said Angela.

Husband Kevin said, “At first I wanted to find somebody to blame, but there was no one there to blame.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, astrocytomas originate from cells called astrocytes and are most commonly found in the main part of the brain, the cerebrum. People can develop astrocytomas at any age, though they are more common in adults. It is a painful condition. “The doctor said K.J. must have a high tolerance for pain, because he said that it had been there for a long time. But K.J. showed no signs of pain until two days before the surgery.”

Surgeons didn’t want to wait around after the diagnosis was made. Sept. 25, they performed surgery in an attempt to remove the tumor. “The doctor said that sometimes when they remove part of the tumor, the rest will shrink and die, so we had some hope,” said Angela. Unfortunately, this was not the case for K.J., and within weeks the tumor began to show its former tell-tale signs. “The doctor said his tumor was everywhere.”

From this point, K.J. will have to endure at least one year of weekly chemotherapy. A port-a-cath has been surgically implanted for him to receive his treatments, which begin Friday.

Since the diagnosis, Angela and the family have been in a state of flux, not sure of the future, but trying to hold on and believe in the best. “It didn’t hit me until they told me they would have to do the surgery. I honestly don’t even know how I’ve gotten from one point to the other,” she said. Angela commented that K.J. has become a lot more dependent on her since she stays at home with him now, and she expects that this will be a long road. Kevin continues to work at the Greensville Correctional Center where he is a lieutenant. Angela is out on leave with the same Correctional Center, she is a nurse. The family has explored assistance from various foundations but has found that K.J.’s age prevents him from benefiting, and as if all this isn’t enough, in an unrelated incident the family has had to find a new home.

“It’s really hard, because technically I’m on leave without pay,” she said. “But you don’t know how much people love and care for you until you get in a situation like this.” Angela said that family and colleagues have come together with donations and fundraisers to help with their situation. She also related how great a blessing it is that Georgia Pacific sends paper towels and toilet paper for the family each week. “It may not seem like a lot to some, but when you’re out of work everything that you don’t have to buy is a blessing for you.”  She also said that people from work were putting together a fundraiser for K.J., a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s in Emporia, Va., and that members of her church had helped to pay some of the bills.

“I just want to thank everybody who has helped so far, and ask everyone to please pray. We need every prayer we can get for K.J.,” said Angela.

If you would like to help this family during their time of crisis, donations can be sent to Kevin Clark Jr., c/o Angela Clark, P.O. Box 1422, Roanoke Rapids NC 27870.