Reviews of films in the 2023 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival
PAGES 14-15
A N O N P R O FIT, IN D EP EN D EN T N E W S S O U R CE TO I N F O R M , I N S P I R E , E D U C AT E A N D CO N N E C T T H E S T. LO U I S J E W I S H CO M M U N IT Y.
S T L J E W I S H L I G H T.O R G
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M A R C H 8 , 202 3
VO L . 76 N O. 5
EVERY MAKING EVERY MOMENT COUNT
Family, community rally to help child through cancer journey BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
What would you do as a parent if you found out your first grader had brain cancer? What would you do if less than four years later, after several successful surgeries to remove the tumors causing the brain cancer, you learned a new tumor had formed, even closer to the brain stem than the previous ones, and this new tumor was deemed inoperable? After the initial shock, fear, despair and anxiety, how would you go about advocating for your sick child, making sure you’ve exhausted every possible remedy, while trying to take care of the rest of your family and yourself? Thankfully, those are questions most of us will never have to answer. But for Jennifer and Doug Patchin of Creve Coeur, who last month learned their son Drew’s cancer prognosis is dire, making as many memories together as a family is now a way of life. To help achieve this goal, they have turned to social media. Both Jennifer, 42, and her sister “Aunt Debbie” Schultz, 44, have a near-daily presence on Facebook where they keep the 1,000-plus member “Drew’s Crew” community up to date on his medical condition as well as the various fun adventures they are having while Drew is now asymptomatic. “The oncologist said he definitely recommended planning travel, and everything Drew wants to do while he can,” wrote Jennifer in a recent Drew’s Crew post. “I can’t even believe we are working on a bucket list for my baby who is almost 10 (on March 20). We are scrambling to plan everything we can think of for this spring. It’s going to be a challenge enjoying these things knowing why we are cramming them all in like this.” Cram, says Jennifer, is an understatement. Consider that in the past couple of weeks, Drew, a fourth grader at Bellerive Elementary School, along with his 5-year-old brother Tyler: • Attended the home opener of St. Louis City SC where prior to its start, the two got to sit on the bench with some of the soccer players • Shook hands with Kansas University basketball Coach Bill Self, and received his autograph, as well as visited with some of the team’s players in the locker room after enjoying the game in primo seats • Practiced basketball skills with members of the St. Louis Billikens • Signed “contracts” along with others on the University of Missouri St. Louis Tritons baseball team, which last year “adopted” the brothers as honorary teammates • And toured a Domino’s pizza facility, where in addition to making pizza, they rode in a new electric car and left with bags of swag including fun pins, personalized tumblers and a Domino’s Lego set. Oh, and come noon on Saturday, March 11, Drew will be honorary chairman of the 54th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, leading floats down Market Street from his perch atop the back of a stretch convertible limo, decked out in a custom-tailored, Shamrock-green sports jacket and match-
Drew Patchin, who will be 10 on March 20, and his brother, Tyler, 5, enjoy time together blowing bubbles during a visit last year to Disneyworld. ing tie. Also riding with him will be Tyler, his parents and Aunt Debbie while friends in his cub scout pack walk behind them, joining other Drew’s Crew supporters cheering on “Super Drew” and “Super Sib Tyler.” Most of these opportunities came about because of Jennifer and Debbie’s social media posts and people reaching out to help. People like Sara Frieberger Brooks, a self-described “nice Jewish girl from Olivette” who has been volunteering with the St. Pat’s parade for 12 years. “Drew loves parades and mascots. And Jennifer asked for ideas for his bucket list,” said Brooks, who lives in Chesterfield. “That motivated ‘this nice Jewish girl with a German maiden name who works with the Irish parade’ to do whatever possible to give Drew a memorable experience – and to give his family a special memory to hold onto in the months and years to come.” If all this activity sounds overwhelming, Drew and Tyler seem to thrive on it. At Sunday’s Purim carnival at Temple Israel, where the family belongs, both boys dressed in Pokemon costumes darted among the various attractions, stopping for a minute at one, then zooming off to another. Drew’s cancer journey, as his family refers to it, began in 2019 when intense, vomit-producing headaches led to a diagnosis of Anaplastic Ependymoma, which required two surgeries totaling 29 hours at St. Louis Children’s Hospital to remove the brain tumor. That was followed by 30 rounds of radiation. See MOMENTS on page 7
Drew is fitted for his sportscoat, which he will wear as honorary chairman of the 54th annual St. St. Patrick’s Day Saturday, March 11.