By Hector Flores
As the days have passed, Fritzen has realized that surviving leukemia was just one of the many hurdles life has thrown her way. ³Financially we are in bad shape,² she said. ³I didn¹t realize how bad until the last couple of days that I¹ve started taking the phone calls. Before I got sick, the only debts that I had were my house and my cars. Now that I¹m out [of the hospital], we¹ve amassed a credit card debt of $50,000. My husband lost his job and has had to use the credit cards to take care of me.²
Fritzen is a cancer survivor. She has spent the past 17 months of her life at the Cornell University New York Presbyterian Hospital recovering from complications related to the bone marrow transplant. ³I got home last week, but had to return to the hospital after getting a fever,² she said. ³I went through the transplant successfully, but there were some side effects.²
Fritzen suffers from meningitis, a bacterial infection causing an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord, as well as short-term memory loss and graft vs. host disease, in which transplanted bone marrow¹s immune system attacks the host¹s body and tries to destroy it.
Fritzen¹s cancer treatment and transplant have left her weak, and her muscles have atrophied. In addition, steroid treatments have left her with weak leg bones, so she is now wheelchair-bound. ³Doctors have never seen anyone with all these complications survive,² she said. ³Doctors don¹t think about miracles, but the day I left the hospital they sang to me.²
Now, at home, Fritzen just wants to concentrate on letting her body heal itself and eventually getting back on her feet, but with the stress of ever-mounting bills, it is becoming more and more difficult for her to get better. ³At this point I¹m really worried,² she said. ³Our taxes haven¹t been paid since January. We¹re also behind in our mortgage. Emotionally I¹m a wreck. I¹m afraid that I¹ll lose my house. It¹s really hard. I thought that when I got out of the hospital, all I needed to worry about was getting better, but now I¹m afraid that I¹m going to lose my house.²
Fritzen was diagnosed with cancer in June 2002. At the time she was employed by the state, and had good medical and death benefits. But as her stay in the hospital continued month after month, it became more difficult for her to keep her job.
³I got terminated from my position with the state on Jan. 11 [2006],² she said. ³When you work for the state, you¹re given a year of leave, but I took two years, and my co-workers were donating their leave time to me. Once I got fired, I lost my insurance. Medicare doesn¹t cover anything, so I had to get Medicaid. In doing so, it basically gave the state the right to put a lien on my house.
³I¹m afraid every day that my phone will be turned off,² she continued. ³LIPA is supposed to give discounts to disabled people. I just need help to figure out what I can do.²
When Fritzen first got sick, she received an outpouring of support ‹ from Town of Hempstead Councilman Gary Hudes, the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club, the local Girls Scouts, the fire department and the East Meadow Teachers¹ Union. She now desperately wants to reconnect with the same people to let them know that she still needs their help.
³They helped us so much,² Fritzen said. ³When I first got diagnosed, people were walking up to us with cash and handing it to us. By now I figured that I would be in better shape so I could give back to the community, but I¹m still down and out.²
Help is on the way
The Fritzens¹ unfortunate run of bad luck has not gone unnoticed. To commemorate her return to East Meadow, the Kiwanis Club built a wheelchair ramp at her home, on Cambridge Street, on July 7.
Dr. Alan Alterman, outgoing Kiwanis president, said that over the years, the club has built a number of such ramps for people in need. ³This is the second wheelchair ramp that the club has built this year,² he said.
The materials for the ramp were donated by local stores, and club members built it. ³It¹s a great amount of joy and satisfaction that we¹ve been able to help someone,² Alterman said. ³It¹s a great feeling to give your time, labor and effort and expect nothing in return.²
Jay Steinmetz, former Kiwanis president, added that it was an honor to help out. ³It felt good to do something for someone in need,² he said. ³She was trapped inside her home until we built the ramp. This is what we do, and it made me feel good to do something good for her.²
This wasn¹t the first time the Kiwanis Club has helped the Fritzens. According to Alterman, the club held a fund-raiser, donated money for medical bills and assisted the family with a garage sale.
Paul Stargot, first vice president of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce, said that the organization is again accepting donations for the Fritzens. ³Anyone who would like to make a donation should send a check payable to the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce and say that it¹s for the Fritzens,² Stargot said. ³Or you can call us at (516) 794-3727.²
Comments about story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
