Reiss cousins are each other’s No. 1 fans.
By J.F. PIRRO
The Express-Times
For Emmaus High School senior Bryan Reiss, the road back to Hershey for the PIAA’s wrestling postseason in March holds a two-fold purpose.
One, improving on a fifth-place state medal as a junior, is selfish.
The other’s utterly selfless.
Whenever he’s not scheduled for a bout at the Giant Center, he’ll be pinned bedside beside 12-year-old first cousin Jordan Reiss on the Seventh Floor-West Wing of Milton S. Hershey Hospital at Penn State on University Drive in Hershey.
That explains why Reiss, the No. 1-ranked Class AAA heavyweight in the state, has handwritten “Live Strong JMR “(Jordan Michael Reiss) on the back panel of his wrestling headgear all season.
“It’s just something I wrote, so thoughts of him would always be with me, “Bryan said. “As much as he’s been part of my life growing up, I have to be there now as he grows up, and now at an even more crucial time. He’s always rooted me on. Now, I have to root him on. It’s well overdue.”
“I’m his motivation, “said Jordan, who attends Shawnee Middle School in the Easton Area School District.
Bryan, a senior, has dedicated this season to Jordan, who had a successful operation Wednesday to remove as much as 40 percent, or roughly one foot, of the right side of his pelvis in and around where a cancerous tumor is lodged.
Jordan, who lives in Palmer Township, has Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare cancer that forms in, and in between, bones or in the soft tissue between bones. He’s undergone months of chemotherapy to reduce the golfball-sized tumor.
Last Tuesday, Jordan’s father, Jeff Reiss, returned from yet another trip to Hershey with good news, or at least as-good-as-it-can-be news, about his only child — and bad news, too. The good news was that the chemotherapy worked, and so Jordan’s surgery was possible. It will be followed by a four-week recovery period, all in Hershey through mid-March.
The PIAA Wrestling Championships are scheduled for March 10-12 in the shadows of the hospital. Hershey, as all Pennsylvania sports fans know, is a place of chocolate and championships — not cancer.
The bad news last week is that Jordan, an aspiring football star like Bryan, a lineman who also led the Green Hornets to a school-best 9-2 record last fall, was told he will never be able to play contact sports again. His love is football.
Because of his age, and his rate of normal growth, a replacement pelvis is not an option for Jordan. Neither are plates. Only a recovery period and then extensive rehabilitation are prescribed.
“I’ll still knock his butt around in practice, “Bryan said, trying to defray last week’s sad announcement a bit.
His surgeon, William Parrish, is himself a former wrestler. Ironically, the Reiss family met him soon after his daughter’s Hershey High field hockey team lost to Emmaus in last fall’s state playoffs. Jordan’s chief oncologist is Andrew Frieberg.
His chief caregiver? It might become cousin Bryan soon after wrestling season ends and before college, if Jordan’s parents run out of sick days to take him back and forth to Hershey for his follow-up chemotherapy.
His mother, Tina, has the house in Palmer. Jeff, who shares custody, lives in Whitehall.
“It’s brought us together, “Jeff said about Jordan’s illness and his ex-wife. “We’re working well together. It’s all about getting our son healthy.”
A few weeks before his 12th birthday, Jordan hurt himself the first night of youth football practice summer. Pain and discomfort followed, and then came a series of diagnoses. First, it was a pulled groin, then a fractured pelvis — and finally a referral to Children’s Hopsital of Philadelphia, a biopsy and a classification of Ewing’s sarcoma.
“I thought I was going to die, “Jordan said about the final diagnosis, which was just the first of two times he’s cried over his medical situation (the second was last week after doctors told him he’d never play football again). “I thought everyone who gets cancer dies. Now, I just know I have a long road ahead.”
At the onset, Children’s Hospital muddied the waters when it wouldn’t accept the family’s insurance plans, nor operate to remove this type of cancer in a child this young. With a 25-percent recidivism rate, the worse case scenario is the cancer could spread to a patient’s bone marrow, lungs or brain.
Right now, Jordan’s all clear, and the hope is that a dissection of his tumor reveals that 90 percent or more of the cells are dead ones.
Since medical insurance is still only covering a portion of the vast expenses, the family has sought help from outside sources. A Penn State University-based Ewing’s donor organization called Four Diamonds has helped. There have been raffles for a trip to Cancun, a Chinese auction and team fundraisers in Palmer. Also, family, friends and co-workers have offered monetary aide, and the likes of ESPN and the Pittsburgh Steelers responded to Jeff’s letters asking for help.
“I can never truly thank everyone for what they’ve done, “Jeff said. “For a while, I didn’t know if we were going to have roofs over our heads. If I had to, I was going to sell everything. It’s all about this little guy. I want to see him graduate and get married — and then I want to be able to bug him, like he’s bugged me, for a long time.”
Mostly, Jeff talked mostly about coping.
“It’s devastating, really, “he said. “To this day, I have a hard time talking about it. Not a day goes by without me crying about it. I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t something serious, but after the biopsy they knew right away — and our lives changed forever.
“You really have to value the word ‘life’ about now. It’s not about football or baseball (Jordan’s other sport, which he could possibly return to). What’s important now is his life. We’ll beat it. I have to stay positive, but a lot of times (Jordan) catches me with my head down. Some days he asks me if I’m all right.”
Although Bryan’s parents, Lori and Butch, had known about Jordan’s situation for a couple weeks, no one told Bryan until after Emmaus lost its Nov. 13 district football game with Easton, 14-7. After the game, they told Bryan before Emmaus boosters presented Jordan with a signed game ball.
“I broke down, “Bryan admitted. “We lost a tough game, and then finding out was hurtful.”
When Jordan willingly shows the port to his heart where his chemotherapy is administered, it’s covered by a football sticker. The chemotherapy that’s claimed every strand of hair on his head will continue after his four-week recovery, and last another 10 sessions through August. He’ll need to be screened every three months for the rest of his life, Jeff said.
“They asked me to pick one, “he said simply about the themed sticker. “I picked this one out ’cause I love football.”
“My goal was always to go to Michigan on a football scholarship, “Jordan said. “Now, I guess it will have to be on a baseball scholarship.”
His Palmer Township midget football team, the Palmer Panthers, went undefeated the last two years. A safety and running back, Jordan missed much of this past season but never missed a practice or game; he just couldn’t play. He’s also played travel baseball in the Palmer Athletic Association with the Palmer Yankees, and the Palmer A’s, an all-star team.
In a way, Jordan said football saved his life. The growth caused the bone to weaken, but the contact in football caused the break, which exposed the cancerous growth.
One thing that will clearly never break is the bond Jordan has with Bryan, who is considering opportunities to wrestle at Maryland (Jordan’s preference and prediction), Bloomsburg, West Virginia, N.C. State and Kent State.
Bryan, in fact, recently broke the box spring in Jordan’s mattress when the two were wrestling for fun. Bryan said the make-due mat must not have been “Bryan and Butchy (his dad whose own size has contributed significantly to Bryan’s) approved.”
“I’m still sleeping on it, “Jordan said, “but it sags in the one corner. It’s like my bed’s on a slope, and all (Bryan) said was, ‘Don’t worry. I can fix it.’ How do you break a box-spring?”
“The joy you see in his eyes when he’s around Bryan is amazing, “Jeff said. “That’s really who he looks up to.”
“He’s the man, “Jordan admitted. “I always thought he’d go to the NFL — and that I’d go right along with him. I thought we’d be on the same team, or I’d be facing him. He’s like my big brother who doesn’t live with me.”
“I’m just like him, “Bryan said. “We’re both a little goofy. It’s just how he and I act together. We can make fun out of anything. It’s hard to put into words, but no money or anything could replace it, and I could never get angry at this kid.”
“It’s impossible, “Jordan concurred. “It could never happen, but we always trash talk.”
Especially over ping pong or during marathon Playstation “Madden “tournaments.
“I call him ‘lineman’ all the time, “Jordan said.
“I always beat him, “Bryan assured, “but he doesn’t want to face the facts.”
“One day, I’ll be 20 times better, “Jordan responded.
“We both hate to lose, “Bryan said.
“Yeah, our family’s used to success, “Jordan said.
So what would make Jordan’s illness — or Bryan’s bid to become Emmaus’ first state champion — any different?
“He’s been my motivation to work harder, to not take life for granted, “Bryan said. “I can’t imagine my life without sports, but now he’s my motivation to fulfill my sports at the highest level.
“When I think I can’t go any more, I can. (Jordan) could stop (chemo treatments) early, but if he did, it would be the end of the road permanently. My team sports is his chemotherapy. My state championship is him being cancer free.”
Marking up his headgear is nothing new. Last year, after a second cousin, a nun, died, he scrawled “RIP “on the protective equipment. With his “Live Strong JMR “inscription, he’s being far more proactive and positive.
So — positively, or at least as it is planned — here’s how the upcoming PIAA Class 3A Championships will play out:
After bouncing back-and-forth to see Jordan at the hospital in between wrestling successfully through the necessary qualifying rounds March 10-11 on the way to the heavyweight state title match March 12, Jordan will make his way to the Giant Center to watch his cousin win the crown.
“It would be perfect, “Bryan said. “That’s the best-case scenario.”
“I’d be able to go back to school and say, ‘My cousin is a state champ,’ “Jordan bragged. “It would make me proud to be a Reiss.”
Down on the mat, Bryan would place his state gold medal around Jordan’s neck. It would dangle close to his chemo port.
“That’s how it will work, “Bryan said. “Then, I’d raise his hand.”
“If he wins his battles, then I’ll win mine, “Jordan promised. “His opponent is whoever he has to face. My opponent’s cancer.”
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