'Marissa the Fierce' sidelined by measles outbreak in Saint John

After surgery to remove a malignant brain tumour and 13 months of ensuing chemotherapy, 15-year-old Marissa Gootjes was on the mend and happy to be back at Kennebecasis Valley High School, when the measles outbreak forced the Grade 10 student to stay home.

"She literally has the immunity of a newborn," said her mother, Jan Gootjes. "Apparently, chemo wipes out the effects of vaccinations."

It's been an emotional setback for the Quispamsis family to see Marissa yanked away from her friends and classes, when life had just returned to being nearly normal after an 18-month absence.

"It's been a real blow," Gootjes said over the telephone while her daughter took a late morning nap in her room.

Marissa still gets fatigued and feels occasional nausea related to her cancer treatments but was making great strides, said Gootjes.

She was loving her art classes and even finding her skating legs again, hoping to return to minor hockey in the fall.

Before her cancer diagnosis, Marissa played defence for the Kennebecasis Valley Minor Hockey Association's Bantam Senators.

The sport was the love of her life and her nickname, Marissa the Fierce, spoke to how she played the game and how she faced her cancer.

On May 13, Public Health confirmed the first case of measles at KV High.

Unable to get vaccine

Gootjes said she was told Marissa might have been exposed between Monday and Thursday the previous week.

That meant it was too late to get a vaccination that would have retroactive benefits. Public Health says that window closes in 72 hours.

It was too soon anyway for Marissa to get re-vaccinated. The guideline says to wait until six months after chemotherapy before giving a cancer patient vaccine.

The night of the KVHS measles announcement, Gootjes called the Saint John Regional Hospital to say Marissa would be coming in the very next day.

On May 14, the family drove up to the entrance facing University Avenue. Gootjes suggested that side of the hospital because she said it seems less busy.

Medical staff came and met Marissa at the car and gave her a face mask, said Gootjes. Then Marissa was whisked up to the fourth floor pediatric oncology isolation room.

That's where Gootjes said her daughter was given intravenous immunoglobulin to provide antibodies to help Marissa's body fend off infections.

For every new confirmed measles case, Marissa has been instructed to stay home from school for 21 days.

No child should be able to enter the school system without proof of vaccinations.- Nancy Dempster, parent

With two new cases confirmed late Tuesday, May 28, it's looking increasingly unlikely that Marissa will get back into class before the summer break.

The last day of classes is June 21.

Gootjes said she wants the public to know that vaccinations aren't perfect, but they are the best defence for those in the community who are immunocompromised or vulnerable for other medical reasons.

"There are people like Marissa who can't be vaccinated, because of her health issues."

'Huge risk' for some

Another parent at KV High said that's a critical message.

Nancy Dempster said her 16-year-old son Sam has had to stay home because he's on a class of immunosuppressive drugs known as biologics.

She said Public Health has advised her to keep Sam out of school, probably for the remainder of his Grade 10 year.

Other families need to understand that "there's a huge risk out there" for people like her son, she said.

"No child should be able to enter the school system without proof of vaccinations."

When asked for an update on how many people were not attending Kennebecasis Valley High School, Anglophone South Superintendent Zoë Watson said she was expecting to have three of the 65 teachers and 18 of the 1,040 students absent May 30 because of various immunity-related issues or "other followups from the measles outbreak."

Watson had promised at an earlier news conference that any student who had to stay at home, as advised by Public Health, would be given "all necessary supports" to complete their school year.

Gootjes said she's waiting for the dust to settle to find out how Marissa will make up for any classwork she's missed, including any exams.

But she said she's confident Marissa will advance to Grade 11 in the fall.