Rowlett school nurse's doggedness may have saved student diagnosed with cancer

07:41 AM CST on Friday, December 21, 2007
By CHRIS COATS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

While the students at Nita Pearson Elementary call their school nurse "Miss Beverly," third-grader Roger Zapata and his family call her "hero."

"If it wasn't for Beverly Cox, my son would've died," said his mother, Mary Zapata. "She saved his life."

The 8-year-old was diagnosed Dec. 5 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. Doctors say the nurse's recognition that something was very wrong and her insistence that Roger go to a hospital led to the timely diagnosis and lifesaving treatment.

Roger had been to the clinic at his Rowlett school numerous times over a period of days when he arrived again, obviously having taken a turn for the worse.

"His color was jaundiced, very yellow, which typically is indicative of liver problems," Ms. Cox said. "He was also so weak that he had difficulty sitting up."

She called his mother, who said that one doctor who had seen Roger a couple of days earlier had scolded her for bringing her son in with "only ... a cold." When she had taken Roger to his pediatrician the next day, the doctor had suspected a urinary problem and scheduled an appointment with a urologist in 10 days.

"I tried for an hour to calm Nurse Beverly down, telling her it was under control," said Mrs. Zapata. "She said, 'I don't care what those doctors say. He's showing signs of his organs failing. Take him to the emergency room.' "

Mrs. Zapata took Roger to Children's Medical Center Dallas armed with documents from Ms. Cox detailing his numerous visits to the school clinic and suggesting tests. Within hours, the family received the diagnosis.

Roger's pediatric oncologist, Dr. Paul Harker-Murray, said the boy's chances of survival "are good, but this is truly a life-threatening illness and requires very aggressive chemotherapy over the course of three years."

He, like the other doctors that examined Roger, credits Ms. Cox.

"His body was at risk where he couldn't delay the treatment," Dr. Harker-Murray said. "She was very perceptive in seeing his symptoms were something more."

Though Roger cried about having cancer, counselors at Children's have been helping him cope.

And Ms. Cox, a registered nurse for 20 years, has been by his side at the hospital, calling him at home and checking on him at school.

Roger underwent his first chemotherapy treatment Dec. 8.

"When I went to Children's, I was really sick," he said. "Every minute, I would fall asleep, my head was hurting, and I was always cold. I'm feeling better than before."

He felt good enough, in fact, to return to school on Monday.

His classmates, along with teachers and staff members, had met with child life specialists from Children's last week.

"They did a presentation on what's going on inside his body and emphasizing that he's still the same Roger," Ms. Cox said. "He'll still want to play and be their friend."

The family has Medicaid but is still struggling with expenses for things such as gas to get Roger to the hospital for treatments.

But Mrs. Zapata said she; her husband, David; Roger; and the couple's seven other children are grateful for the overwhelming support they've received from the school, especially from Ms. Cox.

"She gave us a second chance with Roger," Mrs. Zapata said. "She's had talks with him about bravery. He said, 'I'm going to grow up to be someone important to make you proud.' "

Roger isn't shy about sharing his feelings for his school nurse.

"If I would've waited, I could've died," he said. "Miss Beverly is my hero."

Ms. Cox said she was only doing what all of the 70 or so nurses in the Garland school district do – "looking out for our kids."

"Roger is the hero," she said, tearing up. "To face what he's facing at the age of 8 is just a lot for a kid to handle."

Sarah Sauseda, Roger's maternal grandmother, has made it her mission to tell everyone she can about the special nurse.

"Beverly is an angel, and her persistence saved my grandson's life," Ms. Sauseda said. "Christmas is a time for miracles, and God knows she performed a miracle."

ctcoats@aol.com