Young competitor battles leukemia

“Don’t call it a doctor’s appointment, Dad, call it a visit,” 10-year-old Cole Spivey politely demands.

One day in April, Cole’s mom, Lisa, happened to stroke her son’s head and feel a knot. Cole had not been sick, so the Spivey family was caught off-guard when doctors diagnosed Cole with leukemia. The world as they knew it changed.

Leukemia is a cancer found in the bone marrow and blood. In April, Cole began what will be at least three years of treatment and many surgeries to battle the leukemia.

In spite of difficult times, Cole’s parents laugh and smile as they reminisce about one of the more amusing subplots of their son’s battle: his appetite.

“All he could talk about was food this and food that,” Cole’s dad, Brian, remembers. “He was listing what kinds of dip went with what.”

There is a certain amount of time before and after surgery that you cannot eat though, so the Spivey’s helped Cole build his list as they waited.

Some of the steroids Cole took for one of his surgeries made him particularly hungry. “One morning, early—probably around 6, Cole wanted seafood,” Lisa laughs. “There was an aquarium at the hospital, which made him want it even more. We heard about it all day.”

“One time he wanted Popeye’s chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy because it’s the best gravy in the world, well second best. Cole’s grandpa’s sausage gravy is the best,” Brian says. “The grin he was wearing when he saw that bag—it was worth the trip around Atlanta.”

Cole spreads joy. He has that type of personality. He wants everyone to share the fun he is having.

Sitting around the kitchen table playing his favorite game, Monopoly, Cole has everyone laughing.

Lisa rolls a seven, the lucky number that lands her on the blue property, which gains the highest revenue of all the properties on the game board. All afternoon, Cole has been strategizing to buy that high-rent property.

“I think I’ll pass this time,” Lisa sweetly smiles.

“Oh, I wouldn’t have done that!” Cole giggles. He adds quickly, “But it’s too late. Your turn is over.”

Cole monopolizes the board after buying the blue spots by rolling double ones, which allows him to move anywhere on the board he wants, per Spiderman Monopoly rules. He also allows competitors to skip rent on the blue spaces if they will give him their property.

“You can just give me all your hundreds and the green property you own,” Cole says when I find myself $1,000 in debt to him for landing on his blue space.

Everyone gives him a questioning glance. Cole says, “What? I’m sure she would owe me more money than that anyways.”

Such is the logic of a 10-year-old boy. It is moments like these that remind you that Cole Spivey is still a kid. While he can be conniving and competitive when playing Monopoly, Cole’s competitive edge is born of a desire to play and interact, the symptom of the inherent rascally nature of any boy his age. Cole’s strategy is to challenge opponents, and he loves being challenged by them. It is all part of the game.

Before the cancer, Cole took first place in a 4-H Club competition at Rock Eagle last year, he checkmated his fellow chess club members at Blandy Hills Elementary School, and he created what is now a folder bulging with pictures he has drawn.

Now that he has cancer, traveling back and forth to Atlanta for treatment slows down Cole’s involvement in school and activities, but his teachers keep him up to date on assignments as he works from home and the 4-H Club has kept Cole close.

“Every 4-H club in every county in the state of Georgia has sent Cole cards,” Lisa said. “Cole read them. He looked at every one of them. We just thank God for everything. All the outpouring of prayers and letters means more than you know. We’ve gotten letters from churches in Washington state and Minnesota—people we’ve never met before are praying for us.”

The Spivey’s are grateful for their church family at Northside Baptist Church as well as their many emotional and medical supporters.

“Scottish Rite is an excellent hospital,” Brian and Lisa said. “The people there have a passion for the kids, and it’s amazing.”

The other day a couple of people dressed as clowns met the Spiveys on the sidewalk leading into the hospital. They had everyone laughing before anyone even walked inside.

“Little things do add up and minister to the families,” Lisa remarked. “One group brings food in from various restaurants, so families can have a break from cafeteria food.”

“The Ronald McDonald House is also a tremendous ministry to families,” Lisa said. “It provides them with a place to stay, and the CURE Team reaches out to families and encourages them.”

Leukemia is a tough battle that is not to be taken lightly, but Cole is focusing on the things any 10-year-old boy would: painting the dog house with his dad, collecting $200 in Monopoly money from his older brothers when he passes “Go,” and figuring out math problems with his mom.

Cole is fighting cancer, but cancer will not overcome his competitive spirit. He wants people to focus on who he is rather than his cancer. Thus, Cole’s trips to the doctor’s office are not appointments, but visits to Atlanta.

“We would greatly appreciate you remembering us in your prayers as we travel this journey,” Lisa said. “It is a road we would rather not be on, but God has allowed us to endure this journey for now. One day we will understand why. Our hope lies in Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.’”