2012 Relay Preparations Kick Of With A Flurry Of Excitement

By John Voket

The volunteers and organizers of Newtown’s June 1 Relay For Life have had a busy week, and it is only February.

The Relay’s annual kickoff event was held February 1, uniting volunteers with the 2012 Honorary Chair Sue Rocca; several local representatives were on hand as Newtown was honored for being among the top 25 events in New England last year; and two longtime Relay volunteers got a chance to say thanks to musician Javier Colon for being “The Voice” of two of Newtown’s opening ceremonies.

Organizers are also still on the lookout for nominees to be the 2012 Relay’s first Honorary Caregiver, a person in the community who has selflessly dedicated themselves to caring for a loved one, friend, or other family member diagnosed with cancer.

Michelle Babyak, Newtown’s 2012 Relay chairwoman, led this year’s kickoff ceremony at the Newtown High School cafetorium, where she introduced Ms Rocca, who is a 13-year survivor of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) — the most common and most aggressive malignant type of brain tumor.

During a chat with The Bee following the kickoff activities, Ms Rocca recalled returning from a vacation to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania with her husband and three children, only to wake up the next morning with a headache that would signal the beginning of her own intense but ultimately victorious battle with cancer.

“I thought it was just a sinus infection, because I was prone to them,” Ms Rocca said. “But after a couple of days on an antibiotic, I knew this was something different.”

And while her primary physician urged her to try a more powerful antibiotic for what was suspected to be a difficult infection, Ms Rocca’s suspicions brought her to a local emergency room, where she said an “arrogant pig” of a physician dismissed her concerns and her request for blood work and a CAT scan.

After a desperate appeal to her primary physician, she finally received an order for a sinus scan, which came back negative. But an attentive technologist suggested a brain scan, which led to a full MRI.

The results of the MRI were conclusive, but before even hearing the words “brain cancer,” Ms Rocca knew from the look on her primary physician’s face that something was terribly wrong.

“The doctor looked like she had lost her best friend,” Ms Rocca said. “She said it was a Grade 4 tumor and that nobody survives this. Two days later I was having brain surgery.”

Ms Rocca went straight from surgical recovery to receiving radiation treatments, which was backed up by a course of chemotherapy to try and control the cancer that had silently erupted in her brain.

Four Months To Live

Soon after the surgery, her neurosurgeon said there was not much more that could be done, telling Ms Rocca and her husband, Al, that if she was lucky, she had four months to live.

“That was in August of 1999,” Ms Rocca said, shaking her head. “But when I heard that, I said, ‘I’m not going anywhere — I have three babies to raise, I’m going to dance at my daughters’ weddings.’ And I literally set my mind on recovering.”

As she continued undergoing conventional treatments, Ms Rocca suffered a setback by becoming allergic to the chemotherapy medication she was put on by a new oncologist at Yale.

“We were frantic when that happened, because at the time, we though there were no other options,” Ms Rocca recalled. “But then out of the blue, a high school acquaintance I hadn’t heard from in years contacted me, after hearing about my situation, and told me there were doctors using thalidomide, a sedative that was taken off the market in 1961 after causing birth defects.”

After great success putting the recurrence of her cancer in check, Ms Rocca and her physician worked on weaning her off the drug. And despite regular MRIs to monitor the area of her surgery, the cancer never returned. Unfortunately, Ms Rocca did begin exhibiting side effects from the aggressive radiation she received in the form of seizures that have left her weakened on one side of her body, and forcing her to stop driving.

“Now I have to walk with a cane, or someone who will support me so I can walk without it,” she said. “This was the worst of it. The cancer didn’t take away my life, but it took away my independence.”

Despite “not feeling good most of the time” because of the seizures, Ms Rocca still relishes the experience of looking one of the most deadly cancers, and all the medical experts who bet on the cancer to win, in the face having survived these almost 14 years.

Survivor Becomes Supporter

Now she’s either reaching out to, or being contacted by many individuals from Newtown and beyond who are weathering their own diagnoses.

Through it all, Ms Rocca tells fellow survivors she was focused on raising her kids and not letting the long recovery process get her down.

“Through it all, I just held on and believed I was going to live. And after all we’ve been through, I’m happy to say that both of my daughters are getting married this year, so I will be dancing at their weddings,” Ms Rocca said. “I plan to dance at my son’s wedding, too, when he’s old enough.”

Besides rubbing elbows with this inspiring survivor, Ms Babyak has been zipping around first attending the regional Relay Summit, where she and several other Newtown representatives were recognized for promoting one of the top 25 Relays in New England. Then, on February 2, Ms Babyak and former Relay chair Lynda Russo took the opportunity to say thanks to musician Javier Colon, who was the Season 1 winner of NBC’s The Voice.

Before becoming internationally famous from his appearances on the show and several subsequent concert tours, Mr Colon served as the voice of Newtown’s 2009 and 2010 Relays, providing entertainment during opening ceremonies at Fairfield Hills.

During his 2010 appearance, the artist sang as cancer survivors formed themselves into the word “HOPE,” for an aerial photograph by Newtown Bee Associate Editor and cancer survivor Shannon Hicks. Miss Hicks, a Sandy Hook volunteer firefighter, climbed Hook & Ladder’s 100-foot ladder to capture the unique perspective.

Mr Colon, who lives in the greater Hartford area, said he was so touched by the gift that he promised to return to Newtown again to support the Relay — possibly on a break from his 2012 world tour, or as soon as his schedule permits.

Ms Babyak reminds Newtowners that they can also nominate a 2012 Relay Honorary Caregiver via e-mail at relayforlifeofnewtown@gmail.com.

To donate or sign up for this years event, which will be held overnight on Friday, June 1 into Saturday, June 2 at the Newtown Youth Academy at Fairfield Hills, click on relayforlife.org/newtownct.