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Inspirational pair: mom, son

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY, Times Staff Writer
Published January 13, 2008

Brenda Stima watches her son, John Stima, 15, put the finishing touches on window painting they did to her car Thursday. Brenda Stima planned to walk in the half marathon fundraiser at Walt Disney World on Saturday.
	[Jim Damaske | Times]

CLEARWATER

At 5:30 a.m. each Saturday, groggy mother and son begin to walk. Mom asks about the movie he saw the night before. The teenage son confesses the stupid things he did with fireworks. They talk about church. He tells her his opinion of high school girls: all drama. He encourages her. "It's just a few more steps," he'll say. "We're almost there."

It's a rare thing: a 15-year-old up at the crack of dawn on a weekend to hang out with his mom.

For the past six months, John Stima, a freshman at Clearwater High School, and his mom, 42-year-old Brenda Stima, trained for Saturday's half marathon 13.1 miles at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Her effort raises money for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research and patient services, a personal cause for Brenda, who is still battling the multiple myeloma she was diagnosed with three years ago.

The blood cancer produces an abnormal number of plasma cells. It weakens her immune system and her bones. The Clearwater resident has a grapefruit-sized mass bulging from her right hip, a smaller one on her left.

Since August, she has trained on Saturday mornings as a member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training.

Although John isn't old enough to participate in the half marathon, he walked with his mom to support and motivate her.

"Her son is an amazing young man," said walking coach Bea Swere. "You don't see many teenagers that age who are as supportive as he was."

Brenda is an inspiration, Swere said.

"Her perseverance, coming to training when I know she wasn't feeling well, her positive attitude," Swere said. "She just amazed me."

Mother and son interacted as friends, each making sure the other had enough to drink, Swere said.

On one training walk, Brenda got so tired, John gave her a piggyback ride up the Dunedin Causeway.

The walks have brought them much closer, John said.

"I can share more with her," he said. "Like school life, grades."

"Girls," Brenda added, teasing.

John has been a great source of inspiration, Brenda said.

"I don't know too many teenagers who get up first thing in the morning," she said. "If they get up, they're going to meet with their girlfriends or something."

On weekdays, John woke up his mom at 6 a.m. before he left for school so she could walk around the neighborhood. She used to bring her dachshund, Bailey, but the dog started to hide behind the couch to avoid the daily treks.

She had setbacks. She got a painful wart on her foot that her doctor refused to burn off because he was afraid the wart's virus could spread and her immune system wouldn't handle it. She did her morning walks in flip-flops until she couldn't take the pain any more and demanded the doctor burn it off.

Then came another barrier. In September, she started radiation treatment to shrink 12 plasma masses throughout her body. She fell behind on her training.

As a result, Brenda had only completed an 8-mile walk before the half-marathon. And she's currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

But in an interview three days before the race, she said she thought "the hype, the adrenaline, the cheering people," would help her finish.

Daughter Jessica, 8, and husband, Doug, 48, were planning to be in Orlando supporting her.

And, of course, so was John.

Tamara El-Khoury can be reached at tel-khoury@sptimes.com or (727)445-4181.

How to help: To make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society visit: www.teamintraining.org. Click on "Find a participant" and type Brenda Stima's name.

To make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society visit: www.teamintraining.org. Click on "Find a participant" and type Brenda Stima's name.

[Last modified January 12, 2008, 21:00:34]