BOYS SWIMMING

CROWN POINT | Most of his classmates have expensive Christmas wishes -- iPods, workout gear, PlayStation 3, etc.

Andrew Bagnara just wants to be home for Christmas, surrounded by family and friends.

It might sound simple, but isn't all that easily accomplished. In fact, not much has been easy for Bagnara since last October, when he was diagnosed with trilineage, a rare form of acute leukemia with characteristics of both acute myelogenous and acute lymphocytic leukemia.

As Bagnara embarked on what was to be his senior season for the Crown Point swim team this past fall, the disease quickly made itself evident.

Bagnara came home from workouts complaining of no energy and being short of breath. Then one day he came home and told his parents that when he got out of the pool, he felt as though all the heat had been drained from his body.

His lips were blue and his fingers were numb. Parents Lori and Tom took him to the doctor for tests that included blood work and a chest X-ray.

"The next day, the doctor wanted us to pull Andrew out of school and report to his office," Lori said. "The diagnosis was leukemia, and our doctor wanted Andrew at Northwestern Hospital that same day."

Despite a week at Northwestern and more tests at Children's Memorial, no one seemed to be able to pinpoint the rare disease and give a proper diagnosis. Finally, with help from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, the medical team pinned it down to trilineage and created a chemotherapy treatment protocol.

Band of brothers

Before he got sick, Bagnara was a feel-good story for the Bulldogs' swim team, making an impact despite no competitive swimming before high school.

The 2004 Summer Olympics evoked an inner passion in Bagnara, and the timing -- the summer before freshman year -- was perfect.

"I thought the swimming looked pretty cool," Bagnara said. "I knew I wanted to try out for some sport, so I decided to give swimming a try."

There are not too many walk-ons in swimming, especially at perennial powerhouse Crown Point, which is ranked No. 7 in the state in the latest poll.

Coach Doug Norris told Bagnara he would get a fair shake, but he had his work cut out for him.

"I have coached some great swimmers, including state champions," Norris said, "but I'm not sure any of them ever outworked Andrew. He came in with heart, and he built on what he had."

Bagnara's determination and work ethic earned him the respect of teammates who had more experience.

In his junior season, Bagnara hit his peak. Bagnara led off for the 200 free relay team that finished second at the sectional and qualified for state. They finished 12th in Indianapolis with a time of 1:29.92, better than anybody had dreamed all season.

"That was the greatest feeling, to be at the Natatorium, the crowd, the excitement," Bagnara said. "I had worked hard to get there, it was a dream come true."

As those dreams unraveled several months ago and Bagnara lay in hospital beds fighting the rare disease, teammates rallied.

Relay teammates Brad Stallings, Matt Kukurugya and Brendan Morin visited him whenever possible, making the trek to Children's Memorial as often as their schedules allowed.

"I remember when they told us Andrew was sick," Morin said. "I thought he was at St. Anthony's right across the street. Then coach told us where he was and how serious it was. The whole thing was surreal."

Stallings and Bagnara had just finished talking about a repeat trip to Indy when Bagnara missed a few days, then became hospitalized.

"I remember thinking, 'How do you go from being so tough and strong to this?'" Stallings said. "I had a hard time wrapping my brain around it."

Kukurugya said he felt more than just a teammate was missing, like "they took a piece out of all of us."

Bagnara visited the team before a road trip to Valparaiso for the season-opening meet. He was weak and wore a surgical mask to protect himself.

His band of brothers hugged and cheered in a bittersweet reunion before their departure.

"That," Norris said, "was a very different bus ride."

Bagnara completed the induction phase of chemotherapy in November. Dr. Elaine Morgan of Children's Memorial gave the family good news -- he was in remission, meaning that less than one-half of one percent of his blood cells showed signs of cancer.

In December, Bagnara began the second round, called the consolidation phase.

If all goes well with the second phase, Bagnara will be healthy enough for a bone marrow transplant in February.

"He's a tough kid," his father said. "Through all of this he never complained. He's so used to working hard for what he gets, and I think that mental toughness has helped him through this."

Bagnara's brothers, Matt, 16, and Jason, 9, were both tested for bone marrow transplants, but neither was a match.

"That means he has to go on a national bone marrow search list," Tom said.

Holding out hope

Bagnara's teammates are organizing a bone marrow match drive.

"He never got too big to remember how he started," sophomore Matt Smith said. "He is someone we could always go to. Now it's our turn to be there for him, and that's exactly what we're going to do."

Baseball coach and statistics teacher Steve Strayer has put together a group of teachers who have volunteered to work with Bagnara in a homebound program, so that he can graduate with honors and on time in the spring.

"There was a sense of emptiness in class after news of Andrew's diagnosis," Strayer said. "Working together, doing something positive for Andrew is a way to turn that around. He's a good student and has a lot of desire. We want to help."

Several members of the swim team visited Bagnara at his home last Sunday. They brought get-well cards from the LaPorte, Chesterton and Michigan City swim teams. They gave him an award for being the "most valuable team member."

According to Bagnara's parents, the news at this point is good.

"Dr. Morgan says Andrew is becoming a boring patient," Tom said. "That's just about the best news we could hear."

Bagnara's chemotherapy is being done as out-patient at this time, so his Christmas wish is highly possible.

"More than anything, I want to be home and be around the people who love me," Bagnara said. "The people I love."