By Nick Buglione
As her mother and father sat down last Thursday to discuss how the 12-year-old was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, which cost Melissa two of her fingers and part of her hand, she darted about the house and the front yard with a few of her friends.
³When are you going to order the pizza?² the young girl asked, making a brief appearance in the dining room where her mother and father sat to discuss her ordeal. After receiving a curt response from her mother, it was back to playing with her friends.
Melissa Lombardi is your average, energetic 12-year-old girl. And her parents are eternally grateful of that.
Two years after her diagnosis, Melissa¹s cancer is in remission and her parents pray for her continued health.
But Melissa¹s weeks of treatment at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center proved to be an eye-opening experience for the Lombardi family, who got to see first-hand the dreaded toll cancer takes on children.
The harrowing ordeal prompted them to start Coins For a Cure, a non-profit childhood cancer foundation. Their first major fund-raiser, a 5K walk in Eisenhower Park, is set for Saturday, Sept. 24.
In May 2003, Jerry and Susan Lombardi received perhaps the worst news any parent can receive: Their daughter had cancer.
³She was putting lotion on her hand and she found a little bump,² Susan said. They thought nothing of it.
At first doctors believed the small bump on the girl¹s left hand was a harmless cyst that could be drained. But that proved not to be the case.
After being referred to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the family learned that the bump was a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor ‹ a rare and aggressive type of soft-tissue sarcoma. Melissa¹s was only the third such case of cancer the Sloan-Kettering doctors had seen since 1987.
³It was like a black cloud going around you,² said Susan, on learning the news. ³We were shaking. We were just hysterical.²
On the other hand, Melissa, one of four Lombardi children, was like a rock, her parents said. ³We were the ones more scared than she was,² Susan said.
³The hardest part was telling her she was going to lose two fingers,² said Jerry, who in honor of his daughter¹s bravery got a tattoo on his right arm of a gold ribbon, the symbol of childhood cancer awareness, along with the word ³courage.²
Doctors had to remove Melissa¹s left index and middle fingers, along with part of her palm. It was delicate surgery, but it was successful. She then had to endure 31 radiation treatments.
³I just tried to stay positive,² said Melissa, who hasn¹t let her disability prevent her from participating in all the things she loved to do before she got sick ‹ dancing, gymnastics and softball.
The support from the surrounding community during the family¹s ordeal was overwhelming as well, Susan said.
About to enter the 7th grade at Woodland Middle School, Melissa¹s cancer remains in remission, though she still visits Sloan-Kettering for regular checkups. ³Every visit we hold our breath,² Susan said.
And every visit the family is reminded of how much worse other children grappling with the disease have it.
So in February 2005, Susan decided to start an organization aimed at conquering childhood cancer. Coins For a Cure held a small fund-raiser at Barnum Woods Elementary School, the school Melissa attended when she was diagnosed with cancer. Kids brought in loose change, collecting over $800 for the organization.
Now the Lombardi family has set loftier goals, organizing a 5K walk in Eisenhower Park (see box at right), which they hope will draw about 500 people. They¹re also planning a golf outing for May 2006.
³We hope that this walk grows every year, but we hope one day not to have to host it at all,² Jerry said. ³The main goal is that one day parents won¹t ever be in the same situation [we were].²
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
