A Reunion 20 Years in the Making: “Thank You for Giving Sweet Baby James a Second Chance in Life”

The Diagnosis

Barb Williams knew it was more than a virus making her one-year-old son, James, sick. He was having trouble breathing and developed white sores inside his mouth. Barb and her husband, Chuck, took him to the doctor twice, but both times they were told not to worry and were sent home.

“I’m the mom of five boys and James is the youngest,” said Barb. “I knew this wasn’t just a routine sickness.”

James was getting worse, so his parents took him to the emergency room and again they were told to take him home. Instead, Chuck insisted on bloodwork. James was diagnosed with leukemia and immediately transferred to the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

Battling Leukemia

This was 1994 and University of Michigan School of Nursing (UMSN) alumna Beth Duffy was working as a fresh-from-school nurse. James was one of her first primary patients, and she has clear memories of caring for him: “We used to call him Sweet Baby James because he was so cuddly and sweet even during terrible times.”

James’s five-month hospital stay included weeks in intensive care, a coma and an intestinal infection so severe his parents were told they might want to consider preparing for a funeral.

“The nurses became like family,” said Barb. “His doctor was wonderful, but we really became close to the nurses. We could not have asked for better people to take care our son.”

Through chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant from his brother Nick, James survived.

Life Continues

James enjoyed a typical adolescence in his hometown of Hudson, MI, and even earned a college football scholarship.

His mom sent Beth occasional updates but they did not see each other for 20 years. Beth had gone on to earn her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) specializing in pediatric acute care and oncology. She credits patients like James as her inspiration. “I just wanted to do more,” she says. Now a clinical assistant professor at UMSN, she invited Barb and James to share their story with a class.

The Reunion

On a recent February morning, Barb and James arrived at UMSN for an emotional and at times tearful reunion. Beth introduced them to the class, her voice cracking as she told her students, “This is why I do what I do.”

Barb, fighting back tears, explained to the students that before the diagnosis she didn’t even know what leukemia was. She emphasized how important the nurses were to them during the 5-month ordeal. “You are the ones the families will get attached to,” she told the class.

She shared that they became close to other families in similar situations, and it was the nurses who reassured Barb and Chuck that they would keep a close eye on James so they could attend the funeral of another child who did not survive his cancer.

She recalled that Nick told her “I’d rather be a nurse than a doctor because they are the ones that spend the most time with the patients.’”

“James had times he wouldn’t want to eat, but the nurses discovered he liked ham so they made sure he got ham–and I think he ate ham for two weeks straight one time,” laughed Barb in a moment of levity.

James, who was too young to remember his time in the hospital, was emotional as he gave the students a simple message. “I think it is so great that you want to do this for your career,” he told the nursing students. “Be ready and be awesome.”

Now a healthy 22-year-old man, James left for basic training in the Marines just three days after speaking to the UMSN class. Before he left, Beth told him “All the bad guys better watch out! You’re a fighter and you’ve demonstrated that.”