Why do we stand in the cold collecting change? Why do we plan fundraisers, wear gold ribbons, and run 5K's? Why do we dance?
Dancing Through Hearts
Sleep did not come easy in the early morning hours of September 11, 2001. Katie, my youngest daughter, repeatedly broke the stillness of the night with shrieks of pain. She had been complaining of shooting pain in her legs and arms. Her cries were primal and the fear in my heart grew as the dawn broke. Katie and I went back to her doctor. As we cuddled for reassurance in the office, Dr. Haught strode in looking as nervous as Katie and I did. "I'm sorry to be so upset, but I just heard a plane flew into a building in Manhattan!" After his examination, Dr. Haught drew some blood for testing and said he would call when the results came in. Wearily Katie and I drove home. The phone rang, jarring my nerves already raw with the television footage of the Twin Towers crumbling. Dr. Haught sounded serious when he ordered us to come to the office immediately. I was shaking, yet trying to stay calm for my daughter. When we arrived, the doctor led me to a separate office. "The blood test shows leukemia," he spoke with compassion. "Drive to Penn State Hershey Medical Center. They have a program called The Four Diamonds Fund that will help you." That began our relationship with a group that has been enveloped our family with love and support.
Dr. Melanie Comito, a pediatric oncologist, entered Katie's seventh floor room and leaned against the door frame. Her calmness was quite the contrast with Katie's writhing pain and my shivering nervousness. She explained the treatment plan. Later that night when Katie was sleeping under a morphine haze, I huddled in a corner and sobbed. "Is Katie going to live? What will the treatments be like? She's only seven years old! It's not fair!" The tissues absorbed my questions, but gave me no comfort. I also worried how we could pay for the $100,000 treatment.
The next morning, a social worker with the loving hugs of a mother, spoke of the benefits of The Four Diamonds Fund. The Fund covered all costs that insurance wouldn't pay. It provides funding for a social worker, psychologist, child care specialists, and a music therapist. They all work together to help the child with cancer cope with the frightening treatments. The social worker said the money came from Penn State students who hold a Dance Marathon every year.
Katie had a chance to go to her first Dance Marathon (THON) in February, 2003. The Recreation Hall was throbbing with music, swollen with dancers and Four Diamond families. A sea of people in brightly colored shirts that announced their organizations were in the stands above her. Katie was swooped up and landed on a Penn State student's shoulders. Katie's smile filled the room. She forgot about her cancer that weekend. The dancers stayed on their feet for two days and humbly said it was nothing compared to what the kids go through.
A sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, had adopted our family and kept in contact with us during the year. Katie's job was to keep their dancers awake with a well-aimed squirt of water. Games of sticker mania covered her with hundreds of stickers. The smell of baby powder permeated the air when the dancers received soothing foot massages. Music of all styles boomed in my ears as I tried to talk to other families affected by cancer. Tears flowed as the last hour finally came. Then, cheers burst out as the total amount of money raised was announced; over three million dollars for The Four Diamonds Fund! The care and support that Katie received would continue for the next child diagnosed with cancer.
Do you have a story to tell? Email Bill O'Tormey at secretary@dmaig.org.
