Family seeks support for sister with cancer

Monroe native diagnosed after loss of job, insurance

BY MARY ANNE ROSS Correspondent

The Shahinian family is finding out exactly how much it costs to save a life. So far, it’s over half a million dollars.

Rosemarie Shahinian David Rosemarie Shahinian David The life the siblings are trying to save is that of their sister, Rosemarie Shahinian David.

Growing up in a rural section of Monroe in the 1950s and ’60s, this family of eight brothers and sisters played together, argued often, but always looked out for each other.

Now they are taking care of Rose. The oldest of the four girls in the family, she was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer. Unfortunately, shortly before becoming ill, Rose had lost her job. That left her and her husband Ron, who works in construction, with no health insurance.

The couple had just moved to Florida when she started to get back pains. First, she saw a chiropractor, with the problem attributed to a strained muscle, but as the pain worsened she went for an MRI. The scan revealed that not only did she have cancer, but the disease had spread, causing tumors on her spine.

“It was stage 4 kidney cancer. We told her to come back home,” said her sister Karoline Breese of Monroe. “We knew she would need family, and we thought the doctors up here would be better.”

Most of the Shahinian siblings have stayed in

Monroe over the years; only one brother had moved out of state. Breese took on the task of finding some kind of assistance to help pay for her sister’s medical care. “I scoured the Internet, contacted cancer agencies. I even called Sen. [Frank] Lautenberg. Every place I tried I hit a wall,” she said. Rose, 59, went to Fox Chase Cancer Center in

Philadelphia. The hospital agreed to treat her on an outpatient basis, and the drug company Pfizer provided the chemotherapy medication through its compassionate care program. But soon, Rosy began having falls.

“There were more tumors. She fractured her spine in two places,” Breese said.

Rose needed a kind of surgery Fox Chase did not provide. The family was referred to another hospital that told them they would have to pay $75,000 up front before she could receive care.

In the meantime, Rose’s brother Sarkis had been doing some research and found a doctor at the University of Maryland who was an expert on dealing with the kind of surgery Rose needed. The doctor told the family not to worry about his fees. The hospital did need to be paid $20,000 though. There was no time to waste.

Sam Shahinian, Rose’s 84-year-old father, put the expense on his credit card.

After the surgery, Rose, unable to walk, stayed at her nephew’s home. She needed around-the-clock care and physical therapy. Her husband, parents, brothers, sisters and children took shifts.

“It’s taken weeks, but now she can use a walker. We just moved her down to my sister Pat in Monroe. She’s a nurse,” Breese said.

The Shahinian family is pleased with the progress Rose has made, but know there is still a long road ahead. She will need surgery to have the cancerous kidney removed and then more chemotherapy. In the meantime, the bills are piling up.

The family is doing what they can to raise funds. It recently had a bingo fundraiser at the Holy Trinity parish center in Helmetta, and in December, they will be publishing a cookbook of family and friends’ recipes.

The biggest fundraiser is a dinner and dance set for Nov. 7 at the Regency at Monroe clubhouse, located at 61 Country Club Drive, off Route 522. The event runs from 7 to 11 p.m., and is $40 per person.

For more information call Karoline at 732- 521-4548 or Pat at 732-521-4642. Those who cannot attend the dance but would like to make a contribution to the Rosemarie Shahinian David Benefit Fund should also contact Karoline.