Dance helps teen with cancer keep upbeat tempo through hard times


The music started and Krystle McGrady seemed to have forgotten life outside the dance studio.

Inside Miss Jody's Place To Dance on a recent Saturday, the song's lyrics were about letting things "roll off" your shoulders. That's just what Krystle has done: She survived cancer. She literally danced her way through chemotherapy and kept on dancing after a stem cell transplant. Now, she's getting ready for college auditions.

"She is one amazing young woman," said her mother, Kim McGrady. "Throughout all of this, she has always been in great spirits."

Krystle, 17, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, which can spread from one lymph node to another, on her 16th birthday. She has had several surgeries at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and Palms West Hospital in suburban West Palm Beach, and the transplant at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.

But now that things are somewhat back to normal, the McGradys, who live in Delray Beach, are struggling to pay for medical expenses, dance classes and college applications.

"I don't really know how to go about this," said Kim McGrady. "We don't know what we're going to do for college. We can't make the mortgage payments anymore."

The McGradys have held bake sales at their jobs, but they haven't raised enough money to finance their daughter's dream to keep dancing.

"I love it so much," Krystle said.

Asked how she got through the hard times, she said: "I danced through it."

While Krystle was being treated for cancer, and even after the surgery, she kept up with her school work and maintained high grades at Dreyfoos School of the Arts.

But she's quick to credit others. "I have amazing friends and an amazing family," she said.

She took an active role with her treatment. Her mother said doctors grew accustomed to talking directly to Krystle, who during the transplant was confined in a room, isolated from her family and other patients.

"She refused a lot of pain medication because she doesn't want to be loopy and not in control," said Kim McGrady.

While in treatment, Krystle also volunteered to help fellow students at her dance studio.

"I've never seen her down," said her dance instructor, Jody Sorrels, who has been teaching Krystle since she was 2 years old. "There's no limit for her. She will accomplish whatever she sets her eyes on."

Maria Herrera can be reached at meherrera @SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6544. To see more of the Sun Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sun-sentinel.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.


Copyright (C) 2009, Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Disclaimer: References or links to other sites from Wellness.com does not constitute recommendation or endorsement by Wellness.com. We bear no responsibility for the content of websites other than Wellness.com.
Community Comments
Be the first to comment.