The District Chronicles

Issue date: 6/15/08 Section: Cover

Media Credit: Jazelle Hunt

(NNPA) - "Son, do you have pain?" Jairus Hunt asked over his shoulder. He was flying down the New Jersey Turnpike, jetting to Philadelphia, where he and his son would find relief. It was the wee hours of the morning, and he had come straight from an overtime shift.

There was no answer from his son in the backseat.

"Brian?" he called, trying to keep his bleary eyes on the road and check on his son at the same time. "Yes," Brian murmured. "Yes you have pain?" Jairus said, this time to the rear view mirror.

"Yes," Brian responded. It was his leg, shooting jolts of pain through his body with every bump in the road. Jairus tried to reach one arm back to massage his son's thigh and relieve some of the pressure. They needed to get to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, to get stronger pain medication. Then they could both get some sleep.

Brian is my brother. Jairus is my father. They made the drive to Philadelphia for the first time about six years ago, when there were so many theories about my brother's slow and subtle deterioration.

First, doctors said it was Sjögren's (pronounced SHOW-grins), a disease that attacks the body's moisture-producing glands. Next it was vasculitis, weakening his blood vessels. And then it was juvenile rheumatoid arthritis attacking his joints and muscle tissue. Rheumatoid arthritis can be fatal if it turns the immune system on its body's own organs. One doctor thought Brian might even have lupus.

My father, never one to invest in anything at face value, started looking for answers on his own. That's how he found the hospital in Philadelphia, also known as CHOP, which Child Magazine has rated No. 1 in the country for the past five years. It's where Brian goes for treatment to this day. It's where he found out just how sick he was.

At 11 years old, my younger brother was diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disorder - a group of different diseases, all rolled into one. There's no cure. There's no known cause. In most cases, it seems a virus triggers the immune system - but the immune system stays in hyper-drive after the virus has been killed and begins attacking healthy tissues.

OUR NEW REALITY

When we were little, Brian was unstoppable. He was the MVP of every sports team. Before I could stand still on my in-line skates, he had already skipped training wheels and dominated a two wheeler, zooming down concrete stairs and popping wheelies in the middle of the street. At school he made straight "A"s look easy. Brian was dynamic.

Continued...

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