HOPE, LOVE BEFORE & AFTER

Not even an inoperable brain stem tumor can stop Danielle LeCompte from graduating Thursday from third grade at St. Edward School.

The strong-willed 9-year-old girl is an inspiration for many in the community and this week’s milestone is one of many Danielle and her family will have gone through this year.

Danielle, whose full name is Katherine Danielle LeCompte, just finished six weeks of radiation treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and her mother, Jackie LeCompte, said the family is optimistic about the treatment’s success.

“The short-term effects are looking great,” LeCompte said. “There is no swelling, no signs of growth. (Danielle) just completed all her radiation, and we go back on June 21 to do more MRIs and a PET scan to make sure it doesn’t go back down into her spine.”

Early signs

LeCompte said her daughter Danielle used to vomit while in her second-grade class four or more times a week. Initially unaware it was a sign of serious illness, Jackie first thought her daughter was afraid of the teacher.

“Her teacher is a wonderful woman who is an old school, very-disciplined teacher,” LeCompte said. “I would tell Danielle all the time that there is nothing wrong with discipline. When I would get to school to pick her up, she was fine. She never had any neurological or equilibrium problems or anything like that.”

When the vomiting did not cease, Danielle was examined for a variety of causes before an MRI revealed the root of the problem as a brain stem tumor.

Both Jackie LeCompte and her husband Randy received the devastating news from their family doctor.

“We wanted to fall down and cry in his office,” Jackie LeCompte said. “It knocked me to my knees. I didn’t know what to say or what questions to ask. All I wanted to do was run home, grab my little girl and hug her and kiss her because I didn’t know how much longer I was going to have with her. It was an awful experience.”

The LeCompte’s treatment pilgrimage led them through Tulane Medical Center, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, a St. Jude feeder hospital in Baton Rouge and finally St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee.

LeCompte estimated her daughter has undergone eight MRIs and three PET scans in Tennessee. The enclosed procedures can have an ominous feel because Danielle has to do them all while awake.

“They let me go in there and sit with her, and I hold her foot,” LeCompte said. “When (Danielle) wiggles her toes that means she wants me to stand up, that she is getting scared because it’s a closed MRI. I’ll stand up and let her know I’m there. She will blink her eyes to let me know she is OK. I’ll sit back down, but I’ll hold her feet at all times just to let her know mama’s here.”

The treatments there have been intense, but Danielle made it through a biopsy, radiation treatment, a battery of other procedures and was cleared to return this month to New Iberia.

It was on the return trip that things got interesting.

Terrell Court

Danielle’s neighbors on Terrell Court decided the 9-year-old deserved a special welcome when she got home May 16. Terrell Court resident Kyng Tutt said every family on the street made an effort to show Danielle support.

“Danielle is a special little girl,” he said. “We just wanted to welcome her home and let her know she has been on our minds and we’re glad she is doing better. Anytime a child is sick, it hits close to home.”

The result was a police car escort, decorated golf cart and a street lined with cheering people similar to a Mardi Gras parade. It was also a complete surprise for the LeCompte family, who did not realize anything was planned.

“When we got to the Exxon station from Cade highway, there were two police officers waiting for us,” LeCompte said. “All of sudden they sped up right in front of me and my husband’s truck. All of a sudden there is another police car at another intersection and Danielle said, ‘Mama, we didn’t do anything wrong.’ It ended up being seven police cars. Then when we got to our street, five cars turned in front of us and two behind us and there was a golf cart decorated for Danielle and 10 or 15 people standing on the corner, saying “honk for Danielle” with leis and Mardi Gras beads and all kinds of stuff.”

Danielle jumped on the golf cart on Terrell Court and rode it in the procession all the way to her house. Every mailbox had pink and white balloons. Every neighbor had signs in front of their houses and they were all standing in their front yards to wave to Danielle as she came down the street.

Organizers, which included neighbors, friends and the sheriff’s office, said the welcome came together rather quickly because the family was actually expected to come home a day later.

“We thought she was coming home on a Sunday, then we found out it would be Saturday,” Tutt said. “It just kind of came together. We couldn’t have planned it better.”

The LeCompte house had a huge banner across the front yard, a banner across the door and one across the back gate. Balloons were all over and well-wishers included neighbors, friends, classmates, teachers and family.

“When they did this, the child’s face just lit up,” LeCompte said. “Danielle said, ‘Mama I just felt like a Cinderella.’ It was an incredible experience. When she saw her friends in front of the house, she finally started hiding and wiping her eyes. She was so in shock asking ‘are they doing all of this for me?’ ”

When the celebration of May 16 was over and Danielle lay in bed that night, her mother said the strong-willed 9-year-old  actually did something she rarely has done in the last year and a half: Cried.

“Through this she has hardly ever cried,” LeCompte said. “If anything, she comforts me and says ‘Mama, I have to do this. I’ll be OK.’ ”