'Iron Max' Visits Hilliard City Council

Hilliard City Council recognized September as national Childhood Cancer Awareness Month with a resolution of City Council presented Sept. 13 to a Hilliard school district family.

Brent and Kimberlee Billet, their daughter, Penelope, and their 8-year-old son, Max, received a copy of the resolution Sept. 13 from Council President Omar Tarazi after city officials invited the Billet family to council chambers to represent those affected by childhood cancer.

Max was diagnosed in December with Acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL.

Acute lymphocytic leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made, according to mayoclinic.org

Acute lymphocytic leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children, and treatments result in a good chance for a cure. Acute lymphocytic leukemia can also occur in adults, though the chance of a cure is greatly reduced, according to the Mayo Clinic website.

Max is currently undergoing treatments that include daily medication and oral chemotherapy, as well as scheduled IV chemotherapy every three months, Kimberlee Billet said.

Max has taken on the title “Iron Max” during the treatments and has not lost a beat in school, an achievement for which Billet credit’s Max’s teacher, Michelle Prince, who visited Max and individually tutored him so he was not required to repeat a grade.

Billet also credits Dr. Suzanne Reed and her team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital with the excellent care of Max.

“It’s a tough time, of course, but Max is going to school (and) he was excited to be (at City Council),” Kimberlee Billet said.

St Jude Children's Hospital and Charities

The American Cancer Society

Nationwide Children's Hospital