TINLEY PARK, Ill. _ Near tears, Noelle O'Connell recalled the terrifying walk she and her husband Tim made through hospital hallways to see their first-grader son in recovery following brain surgery.
It was Sept. 11, 2017 and O'Connell said she could hear other kids in the post-surgery unit whimpering.
"We weren't sure what we were going to see," the Tinley Park, woman said, "but my heart was bleeding."
They walked into the bay where their youngest child lay in time to overhear him telling the nurses about "the savages" he lives with.
"He was still our Timmy," O'Connell said, laughing. "It was such a relief."
Timmy is now in the throes of a treatment program that has involved proton radiation and chemotherapy. O'Connell said even though he is tired and sometimes doesn't feel well, he has not lost his gift for brightening a room and bringing a smile to the faces of everyone around him.
That includes his peers back at Millennium School in Tinley Park. There, Timmy is considered "a superhero," said Nicole Conrad, speech language pathologist at the District 140 school.
Timmy is the inspiration behind this year's St. Baldrick's Day event March 23. The school has 52 students and adults poised to have their heads shaved during the national fundraiser for cancer research.
Millennium has already raised more than $16,000, a number that impresses organizer Jen Bittner, who said each year interest in the annual event exceeds her expectations. Since she began St. Baldrick's at the elementary school seven years ago at the request of a student whose grandfather had cancer, more than $125,000 has been raised for the cause.
"It gets bigger and bigger and bigger every year," said Bittner, who teaches fifth grade. And the donation recipients aren't the only ones to benefit, she added.
Participating in St. Baldricks, as well as other toy drives and fundraisers, helps all children "realize there's something out there besides them," Bittner said. "It's nice to do something for somebody else."
And now that the threat of cancer has reached one of their own, the event is that much more important, she said.
Bittner said many school days start with students updating her and themselves on Timmy's condition. Some of the reports come from the O'Connell's four children, some from friends of friends, but always there is concern for their fellow classmate, she said.
"Because of Timmy, our St. Baldrick's theme this year is superheroes. Every classroom has a cape outside it. The kids all get mini capes to put their names on," she said.
In addition, every Tuesday is Timmy Tough Tuesday at the school, Bittner said. "We all wear the (same) T-shirts. All of the kids are involved and included."
A ROUGH START TO THE SCHOOL YEAR
Late summer was a time of excitement and anticipation as Noelle O'Connell, a former teacher who worked at St. Thomas More School on Chicago's South Side, readied to fill a maternity leave position at Millennium.
"Things were looking up, things were exciting," she said. "We went on vacation."
During that trip, Timmy would sometimes mention that his head hurt. And every now and then, he'd vomit, O'Connell recalled. But he always bounced back right away and told her he was fine.
"He's a tank," she said. "I once found plantar warts on the bottom of his feet and asked how long they'd been there because he never complained about them."
As the summer waned, Timmy's symptoms escalated. O'Connell took him to his doctor, who diagnosed strep.
When her son began sleeping some 20 hours a day, she suspected the strep, but just to be sure, took him back to the doctor. More tests were ordered.
"His blood work came back stellar," she said. "I thought, 'This is positive.' "
Shortly after, though, she noticed that her son was squinting a lot and having trouble tracking. Back at the doctor's office, he tested positive again for strep. But this time, the doctor recommended they see a neurologist or an eye specialist.
The specialist diagnosed meningitis and sent the O'Connells immediately to the emergency room at Advocate Children's Hospital, where a CT-scan revealed a tumor.
At first doctors at the Oak Lawn medical center suspected it was a highly curable gerinoma, O'Connell said, but later realized it was the more aggressive pineoblastoma. Surgery was scheduled for the following Monday at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago.
O'Connell said doctors told her they were able to remove all of the tumor but found two separate small spots at the base of the brain.
Though they aren't sure the spots are cancerous, she said, they're treating them like they are.
Timmy subsequently underwent six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy. In January, he started another six-month treatment regimen at Lurie.
"We go there for three days, then home, then back on day 7," she said. "And we're constantly in and out for transfusions. He constantly needs blood and platelets."
TOUGH LIKE A (MILLENNIUM) FALCON
Through it all, O'Connell said, "He never complains. He smiles. He laughs." He's the only patient in that ward, other than the new kids, who walks down to the play room, she said.
"He has dance parties in his room and he plays games and gets the volunteers and nurses involved," she said. And, she added, he is mindful of showing his appreciation to everyone who visits him.
"They come in at 3 in the morning to give him a shot and he thanks them for helping him," she said.
But, because he's 7, at the same time, "he has a fart gun under the blanket, ready to fire."
Timmy still goes to school when he can and though he may start the day feeling tired, being in his social circle seems to energize him, his mother said.
O'Connell said the school environment energizes her, as well. Even though she had to pass on the full time position, she continues to volunteer at Millennium and Prairie View Middle School whenever she can.
"I can't say enough about Millennium _ all these teachers and staff do for my children and for all the children is amazing," she said. "I'm so impressed with (Principal) Mary Jo (Werbiansky) and the environment she creates here. They really cater to every child."
The night before Timmy's biopsy, one of 8-year-old Marty O'Connell's former preschool teachers came to the hospital with a social story book she'd made. It had pictures of Timmy and the O'Connell family and it explained in easy-to-read terms what was happening to Marty's little brother.
"This is a teacher who had an infant at home," O'Connell said.
And now St. Baldrick's Day, which will not only help Timmy but all children who are battling cancer.
Bittner said the kids are looking forward to watching some of their peers go under the shears.
"But they see the big picture, that it's not about a haircut," she said. "It's about so much more."
