JIM PETERS: Life throws Portage boy a curveball

As a pitcher and catcher, Ronnie Wilkins knows a thing or two about curveballs.

Life recently threw a nasty one at the Portage 11-year old when he was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.

"It's definitely changed our way of thinking about a lot of things," Dawn Wilkins said.

Wilkins and her husband, Ron, first sensed something wasn't right when their normally energetic son, a Little League all-star who also plays in the Tribe travel ball program, began tiring easily and experiencing breathing problems. He missed a week of school in September, and, just before Thanksgiving, they received the diagnosis.

Ronnie's case was rare and high risk because his white cell count soared to close to a million. The typical range for a child his age is 5,000 to 10,000. A course of treatment under the direction of Dr. Elaine Morgan at Children's Memorial Hospital began the next day. It will continue for three years.

The Wilkins received an early Christmas present last week when initial test results showed Ronnie appeared to be in remission. Because of that, it's not yet been determined if Ronnie will require a bone marrow transplant. Ron and Dawn are working on a potential donor list just in case. Ronnie underwent a transfusion Thursday to replenish his red blood cell count.

"He's reacted well to the chemo," Ron said. "It just wears him out. We take it day to day, but the prognosis looks pretty good."

Ron, a self-employed general contractor, is juggling his schedule, while Dawn's employer is allowing her to do some work from home.

"It's tough," Ron said. "There are only so many hours in the day. But he comes first."

Ronnie is going to school about three days week. Julie Whitten, his fifth-grade teacher at Jones Elementary, has been stopping by for tutoring.

In a little more than a month's time, the family has been overwhelmed by such displays of support.

"I'm speechless," Ron said. "It's unbelievable. We're hearing from people, our parents are hearing from people, what can we do? How can we help? We couldn't be more grateful."

The news hit home with Portage High School baseball coach Tim Pirowski. His 4-year-old son Tyler was hospitalized for five weeks last summer with an infection resulting from a burst appendix.

"You take things for granted a lot of times," Pirowski said. "Tyler was nowhere near as serious, but you get to know how it is with expenses, eating out, parking every day in Chicago. It's part of the reason I wanted to do something."

Pirowski had gotten to know Wilkins at his winter camps, which the youngster has been attending the last few years.

"He's a real good ballplayer, one of the best ones in his group," Pirowski said. "He's one of the guys who stuck out because he was always running around. He's one of those kids who just loves baseball. He's smiling all the time. We'd found out he was going through chemo, and he was still smiling. We told him his nickname was 'Smiley.'"

Pirowski and assistant coach Bob Dixon, who recently underwent successful cancer surgery, have set up an account, the Ronnie Wilkins Medical Fund, through Dawn Brutout at First Source Bank. The baseball team will be around town collecting contributions and other fundraising activities will be held at basketball games.

If things continue to progress, Wilkins may be able to return to action in the spring.

"He's got a good attitude," Ron said. "The doctor said no baseball right now, but in a couple months, we'll see."

The opinions are the writer's. Reach him at jim.peters@nwi.com.