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Touched by cancer, school gets moving
By JOHN PETRIMOULX CITRUS PARK -- At first Lenore De Sava thought she simply had leg cramps. After all, she was jogging 5 miles, three times a week. "I finally decided to go to the doctor when I got shooting pains up both legs," said the Odessa woman. What De Sava learned led to a nine-month ordeal and a brush with death. "The doctor found a soft-tissue cancer in one leg," she said. "It's a cancer that starts in muscle but will spread to the lungs." After 22 radiation treatments and six hospital stays, the cancer was gone. But De Sava's immune system was so weak that when she tried to return early to her job as a Sickles High School guidance counselor, an infection nearly killed her. This weekend De Sava, 52, is celebrating her fifth anniversary of winning her bout with cancer at an American Cancer Society Relay-for-Life. She and other cancer survivors will take the first lap of the two-day walk-a-thon event, which begins today at 6 p.m. at Sickles' stadium and continues nonstop until noon tomorrow. Teams of 10 to 15 members paid to register and lined up sponsors to donate money, based on how many laps they complete. "The teams pitch tents around the edge of the football field," said Sickles human relations specialist Theresa Aucoin, an event organizer. "The requirement is for each team to have someone walking at all times." Now in its second year at Sickles, the event raises money for cancer research while offering a way for the school community to come together. "You don't realize how many people have been touched by cancer," Aucoin said. The school first got involved with the event two years ago after a student was stricken with cancer. "A group of us from the school had gone to the hospital to award the student his diploma," Aucoin said. "He died one hour later." The event is open to the community. "There will be music, and food for sale -- barbecue, cake, candy and popcorn," Aucoin said. Visitors who make a donation can place luminaria candles around the track as part of a Friday evening vigil. And Lenore De Sava will celebrate in her own way. "I lost all my hair during my treatments five years ago," she said. "My hair is about 12 inches long now. It's all going to Locks of Love to make into wigs for cancer patients."
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