By Margaret A. Ferry
Kory Billings and his twin brother, Kerry, are fairly typical 13-year-old boys. They enjoy playing video games, riding bikes and roughhousing with Kasey, their goldendoodle puppy (a golden retrieverpoodle mix). Watching the two interact, you would never know that one of them has spent most of his life in treatment at Georgetown University Hospital.
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| Kory (right), with his twin brother, Kerry, biked the 20 miles of the Western Maryland Rail Trail. |
Kory was first diagnosed at the age of 4 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the white blood cells. Thanks to the integrated care provided by a team of pediatric experts at Georgetown, he is entering his teenage years much the same as his fellow students at his Potomac-area middle school.
Kory’s parents, Greg and Karil Billings, speak with great affection about the Georgetown team they refer to as their “medical family.” “We are an intensely close family in large part because of what we’ve been through,” says Karil. “The care at Georgetown focused on our entire family — addressing Kory’s medical needs as well as the needs of our other two children. Georgetown’s approach envelops the whole family with attention, care and medical expertise.”
Kory’s team was led by Aziza T. Shad, MD, chief, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and included Gabriel Hauser, MD, the director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit; Charlotte Barbey-Morel, MD, the chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease; and Orthopaedic Surgeon William Lauerman, MD. Kory’s mother also gives special credit to Katherine Myint-Hpu, MSN, and the staff of the Lombardi Pediatric Oncology Clinic, as well as Georgetown’s outstanding nursing staff and spiritual advisers. “There were so many wonderful nurses who were part of the team and contributed so much to our feeling good about his care,” Karil says.
When his cancer was first diagnosed, Kory underwent aggressive treatment, including chemotherapy. Just shy of five years into his treatment, Kory relapsed and needed a bone marrow transplant. It was not his twin brother but his older sister, Karly, who provided a match for that procedure in 2006. Now a freshman at the University of Michigan, Karly is studying to be a nurse practitioner, a career choice inspired by the team she interacted with over the years at Georgetown.
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As new issues arose during the course of Kory’s treatment, his parents were reassured by the caliber of the entire Georgetown team. “We didn’t feel like we were starting over each time there was an issue,” says his mother, “because each one of the doctors was an integral part of the team all along the way.”
Kory’s latest surgery, in May of this year, was not related to his cancer, but the result of severe back pain caused by fissures in his lower spine. Orthopaedic Surgeon William Lauerman, MD, was already part of the team, having monitored Kory’s back pain since a routine MRI first picked up a stress fracture in his lower back. That MRI showed spondylolisthesis, a condition where the L-5 vertebra, the lowest vertebra in the lumbar spine, slips forward on the sacrum.
“Dr. Shad and I were in touch regularly, and the specialists involved in Kory’s care had many conversations about the most appropriate next steps,” says Dr. Lauerman. “Initially we elected just to monitor it. But over time, the slippage got worse, and Kory started experiencing more severe pain. At that point we decided to go ahead with spinal fusion surgery.” The two-hour procedure involved pedicle screw instrumentation, advanced technology that eliminates the need for a cast or a brace after surgery. And it resulted in Kory being up and out of bed much more quickly.
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| Kory (left) with his twin brother, Kerry, hang at home with Kasey, their goldendoodle puppy — a golden retriever-poodle mix. |
“Kory’s back pain has been significantly reduced, and he started the school year as active as many of his classmates,” his mother adds. “This is a good example of how everyone on the pediatric team works together to provide the best care possible for our patients and their families,” says Dr. Lauerman, “and it’s a testimony to Kory’s toughness that he has come through so well.”
Kory’s mother says that Georgetown’s combination of the latest in medicine, science and technology, along with the level of compassion for patients and families, is what sets it apart. “I never question that I’m getting the best at Georgetown,” she says. “We would and could have gone anywhere in the country to be assured that Kory was receiving the best treatment possible. Fortunately, the best was in our own backyard at Georgetown.”
As for Kory, his biggest concerns right now are his grades, and finding time among his many activities to walk the dog. That thought brings tears of joy to Kory’s parents’ eyes.
For more information about pediatric orthopaedics and cancer care, call:
Georgetown MD at 202.342.2400 or toll-free at 866.745.2633.
