Salem Observer : cancer

Salem toddler beats cancer, now parents want to help

Salem Editor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:41:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

When John Rufo learned his baby daughter had a cancerous tumor on her kidney, he stepped out of the hospital emergency room and vomited in the parking lot.

“How can anything go wrong with a 10-month-old baby, especially my child? It’s such a young age. It’s something that is just unfathomable,” he said. “Children are supposed to be untouchable. You let them grow and experience and become adults. You expect that to happen to older people, not to children.”

Diane Rufo, an occupational therapist, felt the hard lump of a Wilms’ tumor on Milana’s side a year ago and knew instantly something was very wrong with her bubbly, wide-eyed daughter. There was no time to stop and think or let the bad news sink in, she said.

“You put your head down and you plow right through,” Diane said.

On the advice of pediatrician Susan Brown, the Rufos drove straight to Children’s Hospital in Boston. Milana spent two weeks there, undergoing surgery to have her right kidney removed on Halloween last year.

From there it was a whirlwind of daily doctors appointments, chemotherapy and radiation, Diane said. Throughout, the couple dealt with their worries as Milana’s weight dropped and hair fell out as she underwent treatment. There were no more trips to the park or play dates. Relatives were asked not to drop by for fear Milana might catch a cold. One trip to the isolation chamber for a mild case of the flu was enough, Diane said.

But now Milana is on the mend – her last round of chemotherapy ended in June – and pent-up emotions have poured out.

“You’re so busy, you don’t really have time to get depressed,” Diane said. “After everything was done we both fell apart.”

John still feels the anxiety of the past year. He calls his wife daily to check on Milana.

“She’s out of the woods and you sit back and look at her and she’s running and playing and laughing and then it hits home, more or less like a wake-up call: this terrible thing had taken our daughter,” John said. “Everything comes kind of like a freight train in a way. You step back and sometimes I cry for no reason, just looking at her.”

Out of the three of them, Milana may have taken it the best. She’s quick to smile and eager to share her toys – though not for too long – despite her ordeal. She was a “trooper,” Diane said, Milana kissing her nurses’ hands even during injections or when they’d draw blood.

But if Milana walks away with no more than a few surgical scars, Diane and John will live with what they saw during daily trips to the hospital: dozens of children as sick or more so than their daughter.

To help, the couple has partnered with friends they made since last Halloween to coordinate local blood drives for cancer patients.

It’s the least they can do, John and Diane said. They received a lot over support over the past year and want to pay it forward. Treating Milana cost $300,000, which the family was able to offset through fundraising, social services, insurance and help from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Jimmy Fund. They also received a lot of emotional support from friends, co-workers and doctors, the couple said.

“As they say, every pint helps four kids,” John said. “The more blood that they’re going to get ... the more that get better.”

Salem tots participate in hop-a-thon for cancer research

Salem Editor — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:13:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

When young students recently hopped to music at Littleville Learning Center, they were doing more than getting some good exercise. They were raising money for the American Cancer Society.

On Wednesday, May 7, and Thursday, May 8, preschool, prekindergarten and kindergarten students took turns hopping for a total of 30 minutes each day. During two weeks leading up to their hop-a-thon, they had collected pledges from relatives and friends.

“The kids love it,” said Littleville’s co-owner, Laura Devine, who explained to the students that they would be helping people with cancer, including sick children. “They get a kick out of it.”

Their hop-a-thon supports the Relay for Life fundraiser that is held in Salem annually to benefit the ACS.

This is the third year that Littleville students have hopped to make a difference in cancer patients’ lives. In 2006, Salem resident Dawn Mastrogiacomo and the school’s staff came up with the idea for a hop-a-thon. That year, students raised $1,700. They brought in $2,300 last year.

A Relay for Life is an overnight event where participants raise money for cancer research and ACS programs and celebrate cancer survivorship. Relays are held in communities throughout the nation.

This year’s relay in Salem begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, and concludes at 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 22. Over 18 hours, members of teams will take turns walking laps at Salem High School’s Grant Field. Last year’s event raised approximately $250,000.

Mastrogiacomo, a breast cancer survivor, is a member of a group of women, Team Mom-O-Gram, who will be participating. Mastrogiacomo will bring the money the Littleville students raised to the relay.

“They can play a big role in Relay for Life even though they’re on (summer) vacation,” said Mastogiacomo who had sent her daughter, Jamie, now 8, to the school.

On the first day of this year’s hop-a-thon, the children hopped to music by Hannah Montana and Kidz Bop as Devine’s sister, school co-owner Valerie Longo, cheered them on.

Colorful helium-filled balloons decorated the area, and nearby hung an American Cancer Society Relay for Life banner. It read: “It’s about being a community that takes up the fight.”

Cancer survivors work on book to show scars don’t inhibit life

Salem Editor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:45:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

The scars from skin cancer treatments made Kim Sanga too embarrassed to wear a two-piece bathing suit in her own backyard. Her husband, Shawn, told her she was crazy and that her scars tell a story.

“It hit me that I shouldn’t be afraid. I should celebrate my scars,” Sanga said.

Now, she and other cancer survivors are doing just that.

Sanga, a Salem resident, has teamed up with a Manchester photographer – a breast cancer survivor – to produce a book, “Beyond the Scars.”

The two women hope to profile 50 to 100 cancer survivors in their book, which will feature photographs and poignant stories.

Sanga has battled skin cancer since she was 18. Now 31, she has 47 scars, from her face to her toes, and 30 more to come.

“You do go through the vain points that you’re embarrassed to be in your own skin,” said Sanga, who has used scarves to cover her neck. “These have been very hard for me.”

When Sanga came up with the idea for the book and contacted the American Cancer Society in her search for a photographer, the organization put her in touch with Kristin Despathy, who had undergone a mastectomy.

Despathy, 30, who owns Rheault Photographers in Manchester and lives in Raymond, used photography to deal with her illness. One of the photos she took of herself that will probably be included in the book reveals the scar, about seven inches long, as the result of her mastectomy.

“That was my way of dealing with it, taking pictures,” she recalled. “That’s how I’ve always dealt with things that are really hard in my life.”

One day, when she was having a hard time and feeling overwhelmed, she went into her bathroom with her camera equipment, taped black felt in the shower, jumped in the shower and starting shooting.

“I wanted to be able to sit down and look at how I felt vs. just feeling it inside,” she recalled. “Actually see it and just get it out. I just felt like it was stuck inside, and I think it was also important for me to do for my family members to see.”

Among those who will be featured in the book are Salem Police Chief Paul Donovan, a cancer survivor; Shonda Schilling, wife of Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Shilling, who has been public about her battle with malignant melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer; Miss Maryland 2006, Brittany Lietz, who battled skin cancer; and a Salem boy who beat a brain tumor and continues to shave his head with his father.

The people who will be profiled – adults and kids – are those who have beat cancer and those who are still battling it. Not everyone will be revealing their scars.

Sanga, who is writing the profiles, and Despathy are still searching for people to profile.

They want to find more diversity: more men, more cancer types and broader ethnicity.

“For somebody who has had cancer, they’re very touched and can relate to it,”

Despathy said of her photos. “For people who were my caretakers, it meant that much more to them. For people who had nothing to do with cancer, I think there’s a bit of shock value at first. When they hear what I’ve gone through, that kind of thing, I think they open up more to it.”

The women hope the book will inspire people.

“We beat it. We got through it with our strength, with our inspiration, support from our family and our friends,” said Sanga. “The whole purpose is to shed some light at the end of the tunnel. You can get there, you can get through it.”

For the women producing the book, their project is therapeutic. They have an almost instant connection with the other cancer survivors they meet.

The women have a publisher lined up, and hope to complete the book in time for Relay for Life, fundraising events held in communities throughout the United States to benefit the American Cancer Society.

They hope to have author book signings and exhibit the photos during gallery tours.

They also hope to bring ACS into their project as a partner and share proceeds from book sales with the organization.

Finding a publisher wasn’t easy. Sanga sent out dozens of queries and book proposals but only two companies showed interest. Some publishers told Sanga that cancer is a subject they didn’t want to touch.

“Now that (my scars) are happening in places where I can’t hide them anymore, this book means so much more,” said Sanga. “We shouldn’t have to be embarrassed or ashamed or afraid.”

Relaying hope – Salem event brings residents together to fight cancer

Salem Editor — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:01:00 GMT

BY MATT HERSH

The theme of the day was cancer, but the mood and atmosphere were nothing but positive at Salem’s third annual Relay for Life.

More than 1,500 people gathered at the Salem High School track where they walked laps for 18 hours, shared stories about overcoming cancer and raised more than $225,000 to fight the disease.

The event has become increasingly popular over the past three years, with attendance growing exponentially every year, according to publicity director Laurel Redden.

Since 2004, more and more people have heard about the day’s events, which include not only walking, but many other activities.

The track was decorated with dozens of stands and tents, where teams of participants sold raffle tickets, baked goods, and other items to raise money.

The day kicked off at 4 p.m. with a lap walked by 150 cancer survivors, all demonstrating the possibility of overcoming the disease and inspiring others to keep fighting.

Following the survivor lap, several other laps were theme-based, including Disney, Halloween and pirate themes.

Members of the town’s boards and committees could be seen showing their support during the dignitaries’ lap, and at nightfall, the luminary lap took place, where hundreds of white bags with lights in them were lit to pay tribute to cancer victims and survivors.

Though there were plenty of tears, most people at the event said they were honored to participate in such an event.

“What brought me out today is that there’s too many people I know who have passed away from cancer,” said Salem resident Donna Palmisano, who has been battling lymphoma for the past few years. “Far too many people have it.”

Like Palmisano, many others said their family members have been stricken with the disease and finding a cure resonates with them on a personal level.

Organizers said this year’s event was the most successful one yet, and next year could be even bigger.Planning for the 2008 event will begin in September.

“It just gets better every year,” said Mary Reese, a member of the organization committee. “Everyone knows someone whose lives have been touched by cancer. These are the peoples’ lives that we’re hoping to make a difference in.”