By Erin Melwing

When Corey Strunk was 5 years old, doctors thought he had appendicitis. However, the family was given much worse news on Sept. 16 — Corey had cancer.

“When you hear that diagnosis, you’re devastated,” Corey’s grandmother and guardian, Brenda Cross, said. “You think that’s it.”

Cross works full-time at a local daycare and also has full custody of her three grandchildren: Haley, Corey and Gracey Strunk. Corey, now 6 years old, was diagnosed with a type of cancer called Burkitt’s lymphoma.

Cross and her family are first-time DanceBlue recipients and will be at the marathon benefitting the UK Pediatric Oncology Clinic this weekend.

DanceBlue, a 24-hour dance marathon with all proceeds benefitting the UK Pediatric Oncology Clinic, is the culmination of a year-round fundraising effort. Other events include a DanceBlue 5K race and ice skating nights at the Lexington Ice Center.

This year, 90 teams are registered to participate in the dance marathon, said Colin Wheeler, the DanceBlue marketing chair.

Corey began chemotherapy at the UK Pediatric Oncology Clinic last fall. He received his last batch of chemotherapy on Dec. 17, the day before his sixth birthday.

The cancer changed everything, Cross said.

When Corey was sick, Cross could not go to work. She also had to balance her time and try to keep the other children’s lives as normal as possible.

Gracey, Corey’s youngest sibling, does not fully understand the concept of cancer, Cross said. However, when Corey was hospitalized, he wanted his sisters around him more often than usual.

“If you asked Gracey about it, she would say that he was sick or in the hospital. She knew he was sick,” Cross said.

At first, Corey only associated his cancer with his chemotherapy medicine, his “magic milk,” Cross said.

“Obviously when he was sick he was fearful. He was 5 at the time, but I think he understood,” she said. “Now he’s a little happier and he’s not scared anymore.”

To make sure no child felt left out while Corey was the focus of attention, Haley was paired with a student mentor from Asbury College. She also participates in a program for children of an incarcerated parent called Amachi.

“Corey’s gotten a lot of attention, and I wanted to find someone who could be around for her, too,” she said. “She likes someone to pay attention to her, by herself.”

Cross, a member of Southland Christian Church, found strength in her faith and close relationships. Church members visited the hospital frequently and prayed with Cross, she said.

Also, family members, co-workers and friends helped Cross significantly since the diagnosis, she said.

As part of DanceBlue, Carson Massler, the DanceBlue family relations chair, paired Cross and her family with Phi Delta Theta through the Adopt-a-Family program.

“We met them at the Christmas party and then it was just instant,” Cross said. “Corey fell in love with them, and they fell in love with Corey — but of course he was already in love with Carson by then.”

Being involved with DanceBlue has given the family hope, she said.

“I just think it’s awesome that people, they could be doing all sorts of other things, but they choose to spend (time) with patients like Corey,” Cross said.

Since Cross has been raising Corey and his two sisters by herself since June 2005, there has not been a positive male role model in their lives, she said.

“Having that whole fraternity around gave Corey another way to look at life than just incarceration and jails,” she said. “When he sees them, he sees college students and he sees a lot of positive things, not just negative.”

Members of Phi Delta Theta, especially Aun Munis and Alex Ghasem, have made a lasting impression on the family, Cross said. Sometimes the fraternity hangs out with the entire family and at other times just with Corey, she said.

“They’re my friends. It’s fun. They bring me toys,” Corey said. “I made the best gingerbread house (at the DanceBlue Christmas party) with them.”

Corey has made many friends and has a contagious laugh, Munis said. He even calls Carson his girlfriend, Cross said.

“It’s like he’s just one of the guys. We don’t even treat him like a 6-year-old,” said Ghasem, Phi Delta Theta DanceBlue co-chair and Adopt-a-Family chair. “One time he started rapping verse for verse with Lil Wayne, and we all died laughing.”

In turn, Cross has served as a role model for the members of Phi Delta Theta, Munis said. Visiting Cross and her family has put a kind of perspective in the fraternity members’ lives, he said.

“That family has been through a lot, and yet whenever I go there Brenda is smiling, Corey is smiling and they’re all laughing,” said Munis, Phi Delta Theta DanceBlue co-chair. “For a woman at this point in her life to do that and take in three young kids and decide that she’s going to raise those kids — that’s amazing to me. That’s inspirational.”

Out of her experiences with DanceBlue, Cross finds hope in the long-term friendships that she has made through the clinic and the fraternity as well, she said.

Corey returned to school the first week of February this year, and his cancer is currently in remission, Cross said. There is no tumor to even biopsy.

“The doctors are very positive. The kind of cancer that Corey had has a very high cure rate,” Cross said. “We’re starting to get our lives back to normal, somewhat.”

Cross will be speaking at DanceBlue Friday night and has been looking forward to seeing how the marathon will come together, she said. Corey and his siblings will also be at the marathon and plan to participate in the Disney-themed parade. Haley plans to be Tinkerbell, and Gracey wants to be Cinderella.

Corey wants to wear a Spiderman suit.