Zaveon's Struggle.
At The United Church of Jesus Christ of Apostolic Faith, a small Ravenna church on a back-road leading from Cleveland Road, about 200 are in attendance of a weekly sermon given by an impassioned The Rev. James Sanders.
In the dim light, Sanders paces back and forth on the bright red carpet with his microphone, delivering a sermon based on a passage from the Book of Hebrews.
“Praise God!” he shouts. “No matter who we were born to be … if God teaches you how to live right, how can you not with Him?!”
As he speaks, rounds of “Amen” and clapping come from the energetic crowd, although not all at once.
“Praise the Lord!”
Some people speak in tongues, rocking back and forth.
The choir sings as he speaks, although not all at once.
Today is an unusual Sunday service; today, a baptism will take place after the blessing.
Zaveon Cobbin, 6 months old, is to become a child of God today.
Although baptisms are fairly typical in the Christian faith, what makes Zaveon’s case atypical is that his torso is wrapped in plastic to protect his IV-connector for chemotherapy from infection.
His mother, Shinelle, is holding him.
And she’s wearing a surgical mask.
Zaveon’s grandmother, Michelle Cobbin, owner of the Christian Edwards Hair Salon on Summit Street, said he was born on Feb. 16 of this year, happy and healthy.
Then in August, he got a fever.
“His pediatrician said his nipple and stomach were a bit large, and he thought a hernia was coming on,” Michelle said. “We just took him back to emergency because he wasn’t getting any better.”
Michelle said the family initially thought he might be teething, which often brings on discomfort and fever, but, after it didn’t go away, they took Zaveon back to Akron Children’s Hospital.
“They said the second time that it looks like signs of leukemia … and then they ran tests,” Michelle said. “On Aug. 20, we took him in, and he was diagnosed with leukemia on the 26th, a week later … they put him in chemo right away.”
Specifically, Zaveon is diagnosed with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML).
According to the National Cancer Institute’s Web site, www.cancer.gov, JMML is a rare form of the cancer, “accounting for less than 1 percent of all childhood leukemias.”
The JMML Foundation’s Web site, www.jmmlfoundation.org, says it affects 1.2 cases per million children each year, predominantly in infants. By gender, “boys are more affected than girls.”
If left completely untreated, the median survival time is one year. According to www.WebMD.com, “prognosis is related to age at the time of diagnosis … better in children younger than one year at the time of diagnosis.”
The most successful treatment discovered so far is bone marrow transplant, yielding a 50 percent survival rate with a compatible donor.
A coin flip.
Relapse rates are about the same.
Another coin flip. Call it.
Zaveon was in Akron Children’s Hospital for a month during his first chemo session.
“He was home seven days,” Michelle said. “He had to be readmitted on Monday, (Oct. 1). That allowed him the time he was home (so) he could be baptized.”
Michelle said he “seemed very well” on his visit home.
She said this has been a life-changing experience.
“This is so critical, we try to be with him as much as we can,” Michelle said, as she attended to a customer. “We do shifts because we have to work.”
After the blessing, family and community gather around Zaveon for his baptism.
Cameras flash. Relatives pray and hold hands.
Zaveon’s grandfather, Earnest, hands him off to The Rev. Sanders.
“In the name of Jesus, we ask that you touch this child!” The Rev. Sanders booms.
“I know he’s small now, and he may not understand this … Hallelujah!”
Zaveon is submerged into the baptismal water twice as the church fills with clapping and cheering.
His mother towels him off.
The gospel band cuts into another joyous, energetic tune.
Members of the church are helping to organize fundraisers and bone marrow donation drives to help Zaveon.
“We are (one big family at the church) God has truly blessed,” Michelle said.
A fundraiser and bone marrow donation drive will be held on Saturday, Oct. 20 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Christian Edwards Hair Salon, located at 230 E. Summit St. in Kent. Another one will take place from 12 to 4 p.m. at The United Church of Jesus Christ of Apostolic Faith on Sunday, located at 6589 Terrill St. in Ravenna, on Oct.21.
Michelle said she has no doubts Zaveon will get better, especially with all of the community support her family has gotten since the diagnosis.
For her, the coin is one of those trick coins with both sides on heads. She said God didn’t call tails.
“We know Zaveon is already healed, it’s as simple as that,” Michelle said. “And we’re just going through the process; it is only a process Zaveon and my family have to go through, he’s in God’s hands.
“And it’ll be a story to tell Zaveon when he gets older, and he will get older, about how God’s hands healed him and to always trust and believe in God. That’ll be Grandma and Grandpa’s story to Zaveon once he gets older.”
Anyone living around the Kent, Ohio area who would like to help the family:
Send me an e-mail (tjacobs@kent.edu), and I'll see how you can help.