My Story

Editor’s Note: “My Story” is a first-person column OR a Q&A feature of a New Albany community member that centers on health. Have a story to share? Email bklein@cityscenemediagroup.com. Submissions should be no more than 1,000 words.

Behren’s Journey New Albany couple navigates family life after child’s leukemia diagnosis

Bobby and Monique Britton’s son, 5-year-old Behren Britton, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2018 when he was just 2. Bobby, a teacher and an assistant varsity football coach at New Albany High School, and Monique Britton, an attorney for Abercrombie & Fitch, sat down with Healthy New Albany to share how Behren’s diagnosis changed their lives.

Healthy New Albany: When and how did you realize there was an issue with Behren’s health?

Monique Britton: We first noticed that he had a little bit of swelling in his neck and we kind of assumed that it was in his lymph nodes. A quick Google search told me that it was common in toddlers when they had colds and things like that. No reason for alarm. One of his teachers at daycare then sent us a note and said, hey, I’ve noticed the swelling in Behren’s neck. And it was in that moment that I thought, gosh, someone else is noticing, so maybe we should look into this a little bit more.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, we went through a variety of tests. But we just weren’t getting any answers. Then I could tell at a certain point with his pediatrician that the concern was increasing.

He went down to Nationwide (Children’s Hospital) and had a surgical biopsy. And then they decided to keep him overnight. At the time it was for excessive swelling and drainage. And then the next morning we got the official diagnosis.

HNA: What was his treatment like, and how did it impact your family?

Bobby Britton: They started immediately. That next morning, when they called the room, they let us know the official diagnosis and that the plan was to begin treatment immediately. Basically, we weren’t leaving at that point, and I’ll never forget that. So, they started an aggressive introduction to chemo that next day. So it started pretty quick.

MB: I can remember being in the waiting room when we were getting ready to go back for the surgery, and there was an oncologist in there telling me what the treatment was going to look like, and then she made a comment about daycare. He wouldn’t be able to go to daycare, and for some reason that was the moment when I realized this was very real. She probably thought I was a little out of my mind since my son just got diagnosed with cancer, and why this would be a concern for me. But I think it was just like a moment realizing how serious this was, that life was really going to change for us.

HNA: How has the New Albany community supported your family?

MB: It’s been really, really amazing. I mean, Bobby and I said so many times, especially early on, I mean, the amount of support … (the) outpouring of love that we got from friends and the community and then also complete strangers, quite frankly, has been really amazing. For almost a year we had people bring us dinner twice a week, which was amazing, and a lot of those people we didn’t know. I mean, they were just strangers that were friends of friends and it was like mind blowing and so heartwarming just to see people be so kind.

BB: For me personally, accepting help is difficult. I always want to pretend like I’m in total control and I’ve got this, but it was eye-opening to realize that, you know, accepting help is a part of this process, and in particular the food train,

and it may not sound like a big deal, but it was. Some nights it was absolutely life saving.

There were so many people that we knew would drop food off, so many people that we had no clue who they were. They had just heard the situation from a friend of theirs or just felt obligated to help, and it was inspiring to see how many people in the community just wanted to contribute something. People check in on me daily and want to know how Behren’s doing and it’s something that has just been reassuring, you know, about our humanity and who we are in this community, as well as people want to know what they can do.

HNA: And how has your family changed throughout this experience?

MB: We feel very fortunate that this has forced us to come together. I mean, we really just sort of hunkered down as a family and kind of took the approach of we’re going to get through this together. We have three kids. Our youngest son, who was 14 months when Behren was diagnosed, is now 3 and a half and is largely oblivious to anything that has ever happened, which is good. But our older son, who is 16, this has been a couple of really tough years for him while he’s in high school, and that could be really hard for a teenager. But he deserves a lot of credit for being mature and kind of coming in and bonding as well. So, I think that as a family it’s really brought us together because we realized that if we can get through this, we can get through anything.

HNA: What does the future look like for your family and for Behren specifically?

BB: You know it’s funny because at that early stage, it’s extremely difficult to look back at those pictures that we took. And we documented with pictures all through the process. It’s hard to look back because when you look at him now, he looks like a regular 5-year-old boy, he acts like a regular 5-year-old boy. He is resilient. He is tough. It has revealed his character as a young boy, that he really can get through so much. But from a development standpoint, he’s right where he’s supposed to be. If not, way ahead in some areas.

MB: I often think to myself, I have no idea who Behren would’ve been without all of this, but I can tell you who Behren is. And Behren is an emotionally mature, tuned-in tough kid. He’s gone through this from 2 to 5 and so, largely, it does

Monique Britton, Rowen Britton (3), Caden Britton (16), Behren Britton (5) and Bobby Britton

feel like he’s oblivious, but I think sometimes even I don’t give him enough credit that he knows he’s going through some tough stuff. And he has had to persevere and I think there has been a lot of toughness that has just been building up inside of him that I think he’ll probably carry with him forever.

BB: His last treatment will be on Sept. 11, 2021, which will be a couple weeks into his kindergarten year. We have 10 scheduled treatments left and we should hopefully be transitioning out of this phase of his life and our life and into the next phase early fall next year. So that’s kind of the light at the end of the tunnel for us, and hopefully between now and then it goes as smooth as possible.

Brandon Klein is the editor. Feedback welcome at bklein@ cityscenemediagroup.com.

To read more about the Brittons’ story go to www.healthynewalbanymagazine. com