Taking On Leukemia Dollar By Dollar––

A Committed Candidate Campaigns For A Cure

By Kaaren Valenta

When 3-year-old Marc Lasorsa began undergoing treatment for leukemia at Yale-New Haven Hospital, his father was struck by what he saw in the hospital’s tenth floor oncology ward.

“There has been such progress in the treatment of leukemia that many children can be cured,” Vince Lasorsa said. “But leukemia is still the leading cause of death in children under the age of 15. The reality is two-faced like the head of Janus. On the one side is the great promise of research. On the other are so many nights spent in the hospital with the fear of death.

“I just kept asking why can’t everyone be cured?”

To raise public awareness and help fund the research that may find that cure, Mr Lasorsa is vying for the title of the 2003 Man of the Year, a fundraiser being held by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Three men and three women in Fairfield County are competing for the man and woman of the year titles and the opportunity to represent the society nationally.

Candidates are committed to raising at least $1,500 to be used for research into leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and myeloma, and improve to the quality of life of patients and their families. An estimated 58,300 Americans will die from one of these blood cancers this year alone.

Mr Lasorsa said the candidates are judged by how much money they raise, with each dollar counting as one vote. The competition began May 1.

The Lasorsa family’s introduction into the medical world of leukemia began last September 4 when Vince Lasorsa and his wife Lynda took Marc to their doctor because the child had developed bruises on his knees and blood freckles on his upper body. Blood was drawn and sent to a lab to be tested.

“The doctor called us at 2:30 am and said ‘I want both of you on the phone,’” Mr Lasorsa recalled. “He told us to pack an extra set of clothing and leave immediately for Yale-New Haven Hospital. He said Marc’s blood counts were so low that he could to begin hemorrhaging internally at any time.

“He told us that Marc could have an infection that suppressed his bone marrow or he could have leukemia.”

Marc was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and stayed in the hospital for a week, receiving several blood transfusions and surgery to implant a central line to receive chemotherapy.

“The line came out about a month later, so the surgery had to be performed again,” Mr Lasorsa said. “He also had trouble with a catheter because of his low blood platelets.”

Doctors told the Lasorsas that if Marc responded well to the chemo within the first four to six weeks, the outlook was good.

“In October we got the good news,” Mrs Lasorsa said. “They also did genetic testing and the results told us that he should respond well to the chemo.”

Marc spent three nights in the hospital every two weeks for 12 weeks –– six hospitalizations in all –– to receive a very high level of methotrexate, followed by leucovorin to help his body to recover.

“We drove to the last appointment in a blizzard in March because we wanted to get it done and over with,” Mr Lasorsa said.

Now Marc goes to the hospital every two weeks for blood work and continues to take medication at home. Every 12 weeks he also receives an injection of chemotherapy into his spine.

“This will go on for another year and a half, until January 2005,” Lynda Lasorsa said.

Marc is in remission; his family praying that he is cured.

“We’re not out of the woods yet, but it looks good,” Mr Lasorsa said. “While Marc was in the hospital we saw other children who were not as fortunate. One 13-year-old, David, spent 18 months in the hospital and was in a coma. We were there when a child, a twin, passed away across the hall.”

That death had an especially profound impact on the Lasorsas because Marc is also a twin. He and his twin, Jillian, will share their fourth birthday on June 14.

“We are a healthy family,” Lynda Lasorsa said. “Leukemia is one of those diseases that shows up from nowhere. Marc and Jillian have been very healthy with the exception of an occasional ear infection.”

The Lasorsas have only lived in Newtown for three years, moving here from Ridgefield, and they were amazed at the response from their neighbors and friends when Marc became ill.

“The town of Newtown has been so wonderful to us,” Mrs Lasorsa said. “For the first three months friends brought dinners for our family four nights a week. People were showing up at the door with newborns and other children in tow, bringing us dinners. One woman was eight months pregnant. I had been afraid people would shy away, but it was just the opposite. Now the Newtown Newcomers Club is helping. We’re so glad we’re here in Newtown.”

In competing for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man of the Year designation, Mr Lasorsa will be raising funds in honor of the 2003 Boy of the Year, Daniel Ladenheim, 13, who is in eighth grade. Daniel was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia on April 10, 2000. After 26 months of chemotherapy and 12 cycles of radiation, he has finally finished treatment.

The 2003 Girl of the Year is Nicole Pasuth. Nicole is in her junior year of high school. She plays violin and is a singer in Madrigals. Nicole was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease two years ago. She underwent two rounds of chemotherapy, and is once again well and living a normal and happy life.

After eight weeks of fundraising, the grand finale celebration and announcement of the winners will be held on Thursday, June 26, at 6:30 pm, at the Carriage Barn Arts Center in Wanveny Park, New Canaan. The event will include a dinner, cocktails and music, and both live and silent auctions.

“As a businessman, I would like to appeal to professionals and the business community in Fairfield County to make donations of cash or noncash items for the auction,” Mr Lasorsa said.

A software designer with his own business, SoftLogic Solutions, Inc., Mr Lasorsa has enlisted volunteer help from David Riss at Greyskye Marketing in Wilton to design a website, www.MySonMarc.org, where there are online donation forms as well as information about a Marc’s progress. In addition, Wendy Marks at Marks Communications in Stamford helped him to create a video, a public service announcement, to air on local cable channels.

Donations can be made in recognition of Vince Lasorsa’s efforts to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Fairfield County Chapter, 25 Third Street, 4th Floor, Stamford, CT 06905, or by calling the society at 203-967-8326; fax: 203-325-8559; or Mr Lasorsa can be called directly at 948-6757 or 270-9181, ext. 224.

Mr Lasorsa said it is important for people to remember that while the outlook for children with leukemia has become much better in recent years, adults with leukemia still do not fare as well.

“You hear so many stories of cures with children but not for adults,” he said. “It is vital that research continues to be done into all blood cancers.”

Lynda Lasorsa agrees.

“Miracles happen. Today could be your day for a miracle,” she said.