Honored Patients

Debi Fitzpatrick

2011 Westchester County Light The Night Honored Patient

Debra (Debi) Fitzpatrick of Yonkers was first diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) on December 30, 2009. She had awakened just five days earlier on Christmas morning with swollen glands and a sore throat. Her doctors put her on regular antibiotics that week until they realized her symptoms were not improving and her white blood cell count was abnormal. Fortunately, they were able to diagnose the disease in its early stages and Debi was put on three consolidation treatments of chemotherapy immediately. On May 27th, 2010, she had a bone marrow transplant at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. Despite many complications and nearly nine months of hospitalization after the procedure, Debi is now in remission and leading a fairly normal life again. She is especially grateful for the prompt diagnosis and treatment she received given that both her mother and grandmother died of AML.

Debi loves spending time with her family and friends, as well as going to the beach and shopping. She is the mother of three children: Meagan, 26 years old; Tara, 24 years old; and Billy, 23 years old. Her, husband, Bill, is the Chief of the Yonkers Fire Department.

Bettina Oddo

2011 Westchester County Light The Night Honored Patient

Prior to being diagnosed with Hodgkin?s Lymphoma in March 2010, Bettina Oddo had been experiencing severe chest pains, shortness of breath, and a hacking cough for nearly a year. She was just 21 years old at the time. Her doctors thought she had pulled a muscle in her chest and had a chronic cold. It was not until she found a large lump in the nape of her neck that her doctor immediately sent her for a neck sonogram and a chest X-ray. Those test results showed that she had a cancerous tumor in her chest and neck that had been growing for the past year.

Bettina immediately began six months of chemotherapy treatment, followed by 20 rounds of radiation to her neck and chest. Fortunately, after three months of chemotherapy, her first PET scan came back clean of the cancer. However, she was not officially considered cancer-free until all of her treatments were completed in January 2011, when she had her first post-treatment PET scan confirming that she was completely in remission from the disease.

Bettina is leading a normal life again and enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She works as a sales assistant at Hugo Boss in Manhattan. In her free time, Bettina loves shopping, as well as going to the movies, listening to music, and dancing. She is also a big Yankees and Knicks fan and regularly watches and attends the games.

Anthony Puoti

2011 Westchester County Light The Night Honored Patient

Anthony Puoti started kindergarten in September 2009 as a happy, energetic boy. As the weeks continued, however, he began to show signs of increasing fatigue and low energy. He started playing soccer and after two weeks, became short of breath during the practices and couldn?t finish playing the games. By the end of October, he was bruising frequently and acting quiet and tired most of the time. His mother, Michelle, made an appointment for him to see the doctor, but the school nurse sent him home early that day because he had a fever. Michelle immediately took him to the emergency room at Westchester Medical Center and the doctors discovered he had an enlarged spleen. Anthony was sent to the main hospital for further testing and was then diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL).

For the remainder of his Kindergarten year, Anthony was home-schooled by his Pre-K teacher during his chemotherapy treatments to protect him from contracting any illnesses or infections. Now Anthony is now in the maintenance phase of his treatment, where he is on a monthly protocol for his chemotherapy. He has been able to attend first grade this year as a full-time student at Casimir Pulaski Elementary School in Yonkers. Anthony is resuming full activity again and loves playing with his siblings: Salvatore (9 years old); Alexa (8 years old); and Nicholas (4 years old). He is looking forward to playing baseball this spring and also loves drawing and playing video games.

Sammy Zweig

2011 Westchester County Light The Night Honored Patient

Sammy Zweig was just five years old and was two days into kindergarten when he was diagnosed with leukemia. He had been experiencing severe heart and chest pains that week so his parents took him to the doctor. Soon they discovered he had very large mass of cells pressing on his heart and filling his chest cavity. Sammy also had a dangerously high white blood cell count. After further testing, he was quickly diagnosed with High Risk T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and admitted to the Children?s Hospital at Montefiore for treatment. After one month of extremely intense chemotherapy and eight days of radiation, Sammy went into remission. Due to Sammy?s high risk diagnosis, he continues to receive an intense combination of chemotherapy medications both orally and through a port in his chest during the maintenance phase of his treatment. In addition, he takes steroids and antibiotics.

Sammy was home-schooled for his kindergarten year due to his weakened immune system. He is happy to be back in school for first grade, however, and has become more active again. He loved playing in the snow this past winter and cannot wait to ride his bike this spring. Sammy also enjoys golf and swimming and will be taking lessons this year. His parents teach at Prospect Hill School in Pelham, where he and his nine year old brother Jack are students.

Bob Seligman

2011 Rockland County Light The Night Honored Patient

In May 2007, about two weeks before his 57th birthday, Bob Seligman of Suffern discovered a large tumor in his upper right groin. He went to see his doctor the following day and was soon diagnosed with a non-aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin?s Lymphoma. On June 8th , he spent his birthday at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern meeting his oncologist, Dr. Sushil Bhardwaj, for the first time and learning about his cancer. No one was allowed to wish him a happy birthday that year. Bob was initially treated with Rituxan, a chemotherapy medication developed by research funded by LLS, which stabilized the growth of the tumor for three years. In the spring of 2010, however, the tumor began to grow and Bob was treated with five weeks of daily radiation which killed the tumor and restored his leg to normal. Two months later, a PET/CT scan showed that the lymphoma had spread to multiple places throughout Bob?s body. He was then administered R-CHOP therapy over a four-month period consisting of eight treatments, which immediately began eliminating the tumors. Within two months, most of the cancer was found to be gone.

Unfortunately, Bob lost his battle on Saturday, September 3rd, 2011. Bob has been through a tremendous fight and has kept such a strong and positive attitude throughout his battle. He was an active member of the Light The Night planning committee and was named Volunteer of the Year in 2010. Bob was also a former sports writer for The Journal News, as well as an award-winning freelance writer for numerous national and regional golf and sports publications, Bob is an avid sports fan and loves golf. He will be missed and will always be remembered as a man who was relentless to beat this disease.

Melissa Dimataris

2011 Rockland County Light The Night Honored Patient

Melissa Dimataris of Blauvelt was just over half way through her freshman year at Rockland Community College when she started to notice a persistent sore throat, bruising, and aches. She thought it was strep throat, but quickly received the diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). After two weeks, however, the lump had not gone down and so she had a biopsy. Melissa immediately began treatment at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. She has regular inpatient stays as well as outpatient treatments, and has been unable to continue with school because of the protocol.

Melissa has experienced many negative side effects from her treatment. She wears a face mask in public to guard against infections, spends many days in bed both at home and in the hospital, and has lost most of her hair. Her courage in the face of this disease, though, has been an inspiration to all those around her. She was a Performing Arts major before the chemotherapy forced her to take the year off, and was actively involved with a local theater group called Stage Left Children?s Theater. Her friends at Stage Left rallied around her and joined the Light The Night Walk in 2010, becoming Rockland?s highest fundraising team. Melissa is always trying to use her gift to inspire others, and has taken the stage at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and the Light The Night Walk itself.

Melissa is in remission, but will continue to receive treatment for another year. However, her doctors say she will be able to return to school in the fall and resume a normal routine. Her plan is to finish her first two years of college at Rockland Community College, and then transfer to a musical theater program.

Timmy Corcoran

2011 Orange County Light The Night Honored Patient

2011 Light The Night Honored Patient Timmy Corcoran of Pine Bush discovered a lump on his neck in August 2008, the summer after he graduated from Pine Bush High School. At first the doctors told him it was an infection and prescribed antibiotics. After two weeks, however, the lump had not gone down and so he had a biopsy. After waiting two long weeks for the results, Timmy was diagnosed with Hodgkin?s Lymphoma at the age of 18 years old. He and his family then went down to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan for further testing, which indicated that Timmy was actually in Stage 4 of the disease, making the situation that much more urgent.

For the next six months, Timmy and his family traveled back and forth to Memorial Sloan-Kettering several times a week for intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Since mid-March 2009, Timmy has been in complete remission. He still continues to be checked regularly and has remained strong and healthy.

Timmy now works out at the gym once or twice a day and enjoys listening to music. He is a stronger person both mentally and physically as a result of what he has endured. His two older sisters, Maureen and Mary, also live in the area with their families and are active volunteers and participants in the Goshen Light The Night Walk.

Jayne Hesse

2011Orange County Light The Night Honored Patient

Jayne Hesse was originally diagnosed with uterine cancer in December 2006. She had surgery followed by radiation treatment through July 2007. One year later, she went to the dentist for a regular checkup. Her gum was accidentally cut during the checkup and she got an infection. She was in so much pain that she went to her regular doctor who recommended blood work, which came back abnormal. Further testing resulted in a diagnosis of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL), a direct result of the radiation treatment she had received the year before. At the age of 44, Jayne was now faced with cancer a second time and a new round of treatments, beginning with blood transfusions and three different types of chemotherapy.

After seven weeks in the hospital, Jayne continued to receive chemotherapy daily until December 2008. From January - April 2009, she was hospitalized for one week each month for more aggressive chemotherapy treatment. Jayne then entered the maintenance phase for two years, which concluded with her final treatment in April 2011. Since that time, she has remained in remission and is enjoying life again with her family and friends.

Jayne has two children: John Paul, who is 24 years old; and Kelly, who is 21 years old and was a senior in high school when she was first diagnosed. She and her family enjoy camping and fishing, and are active volunteers with the local volunteer fire department. Jayne also loves cooking and baking, especially for a crowd! She babysits for local families and likes having lots of kids around. In addition to serving as Honored Patient this year, Jayne is a member of the Goshen Light The Night Walk Planning Committee.