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Fenwick cheerleader battling disease

Staff photo by Samantha Grier. Fenwick senior Lauren Hawkins cheers during their basketball game against Alter at Nutter Center on Saturday.

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By Steven Matthews, Staff Writer 7:03 PM Monday, February 6, 2012

MIDDLETOWN — When Lauren Hawkins wakes up every morning, her father, Wayne, sets out nine pills that Lauren has to take before heading to school.

A senior at Fenwick High School, Lauren takes two more pills in the afternoon and an additional three before she goes to bed each night for a total of 14 a day.

Diagnosed with an incurable disease called Behcet’s in January 2011, it’s the lifestyle that Lauren has had to get used to it — and one she’ll have to take with her when she enrolls at the University of Cincinnati in the fall to study health science and try out for the cheerleading squad.

“I think they are very worried. They don’t show it as much as I do,” Lauren, an only child, said of her parents, Wayne and Lisa. “When I’m sick next year, I don’t know what I’ll do. I can’t lay in my dorm all the time. My mom will call me every day and my dad is concerned about me walking across campus when it’s cold.”

Behcet’s disease is a rare disorder that causes chronic inflammation in blood vessels throughout the body, and symptoms may include mouth sores, eye inflammation, skin rashes and lesions, and even blindness in serious cases.

Cold weather can trigger Lauren’s illness, along with other factors such as eating certain foods, drinking certain beverages (Coke, lemonade) and how much sleep she gets.

Getting enough sleep, though, is a challenge for Lauren, as she’s active in the Middletown community and at Fenwick.

“I get about eight to nine hours a sleep a night,” Lauren said. “I don’t know if it’s enough, but I do pretty well with it.”

Lauren, 18, said her symptoms — swollen throat and body aches — are similar to that of the flu. About every three weeks she gets sick.

“It’s something that she can grow out of,” Lisa said, “but it’s a matter of keeping the condition under control. When there are flare-ups, that means rest. She’s so busy, it’s difficult to get the rest she needs.”

Among the activities Lauren is involved in are an Abilities First volunteer; a student leader for Kairos, a religious retreat; serving on the Middletown Community Foundation youth council advisory board; and a varsity cheerleader.

“She sees things from the perspective of an adult while not losing touch of who she is as a teenager,” said Mark Floyd, Fenwick’s director of campus ministry. “That’s her greatest quality. She’s very mature in the right way for someone her age, but she also has a good rapport with those who are her age.”

While overcoming adversity has been a way of life for Lauren since her illness began more than four years ago, she was thrown another unexpected twist Dec. 15 when she suffered a microfracture in the talus bone and tore ligaments in her left ankle during a stunting class at Midwest Cheer Elite.

The injury and its recovery jeopardized the opportunity for Lauren to cheer this past Saturday at Wright State’s Nutter Center as Fenwick’s boys basketball team faced league rival Alter.

But Lauren — wearing a boot after getting the cast removed two days prior — was back on the baseline after missing seven weeks.

“I just think every time I have to go through something, I get stronger each time,” Lauren said. “By now, I’ve been able to deal with a lot.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or steven.matthews@coxinc.com.

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