ROBBINSVILLE: Family, friends come together for ailing tree farmer

By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
   ROBBINSVILLE — In an instant this summer, the lives of Kevin Scibilia and his family took a dramatic turn.
   Reporting to the hospital for mysterious bruises, Mr. Scibilia, 46, of Sharon Road, soon found himself diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a form of cancer. The next day, he began a treatment that would ravage his system.
   As a result, the tree worker and owner of the Lazy Susan Tree Farm, also on Sharon Road, has found himself unable to work. But thanks to his friends and family, the farm will be open for business this season.
   ”Kevin has a big family, and we’ve had a lot of family and friends’ support since the day he was diagnosed,” said his wife, Susan, 40. “They got together and said, ‘Kevin can’t do it this year, but we’re going to manage the farm this Christmas season.’
   ”It would be great to have the farm up and running so we can pay our bills. It’s just out of the goodness of everyone’s heart.”
   Ms. Scibilia said about 30 people have volunteered to help out. They have been preparing the trees since June, when her husband was diagnosed, and will now cut, prepare and sell trees and wreaths at the live tree farm on weekends until Christmas. Helpers are coming from as nearby as within the township and as far as six hours away in New York state.
   ”That’s the only way we’re able to do it,” Ms. Scibilia continued. “Usually my husband, Kevin, does everything, but his treatments are so intense and debilitating that he hasn’t been able to do anything this year.”
   Mr. Scibilia also expressed his appreciation via an e-mailed statement. “I am facing the toughest challenge of my life,” it said.
   ”Being out of work has left me with great concern for the welfare of my family. People have gone above and beyond to help us. I thank my family, friends and the community for their support. I am looking forward to returning to my farm and selling Christmas trees for many years to come with my children and grandchildren.”
   With Mr. Scibilia unable to work and Ms. Scibilia occupied with her husband and the couple’s three children — 7-year-old Lance, 5-year-old Drew, and 3-year-old Anna Joyce — the farm will provide their income, along with donations from community members. But that’s not the only aspect of their lives their neighbors and loved ones have come to help with.
   Friends and relatives have also taken up mowing the lawn, preparing meals and hiring a housecleaner, and have even sent anonymous cash donations to buy the family’s three children Christmas presents.
   ”It’s one of the blessings, if there are any, of Kevin having leukemia,” Ms. Scibilia said, “that from day one we have had people just swoop us up and carry us on their backs.”
   One of the people helping out is Maureen Scibilia, 45, of Hutchinson Road, Upper Freehold. Her husband, Keith, 49, is Kevin’s older brother, and the couple is running the tree farm this season. “He’s been undergoing chemotherapy; he’s had chemotherapy through spinal taps; he’s had bone marrow biopsies,” Maureen Scibilia said of her brother-in-law. “It’s like going through the ringer, really.
   ”Leukemia comes on in a flash, so we had no idea,” she explained. Despite blood work coming out normally a short time beforehand, Kevin Scibilia developed mysterious bruises that led to another blood test. That subsequent test showed an extremely high white blood cell count, which is indicative of the disease.
   ”He went to the hospital and the next day, boom, you start treatment,” which her brother-in-law has been undergoing at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick.
   Maureen Scibilia added that a number of students from Allentown High School heard about the situation and have also volunteered to help.
   ALL affects .12 percent of the population, with about two-third of those cases in children, according to the Web site for the National Cancer Institute.
   Susan Scibilia expressed hope as her husband undergoes treatment. Five bone marrow donors are currently being explored as potential matches, she said, and if one of them is a match, the donation process could begin in early January. Should that not happen, the most difficult part of the chemotherapy course is expected to end by February.
   ”Our doctors have told us people can return to work after that phase,” she said. “Our hope is that by next fall he’d be recovered enough that we would (run the farm) ourselves.
   ”Obviously no one can predict the future, but if that doesn’t happen we have such a great community of support that we’d have people helping us again.”
   Indeed, Susan Scibilia said that outpouring of support has helped keep her family going. “I can’t even tell you how graced we are by it and how blessed we are by this,” she said. “It might be trite to say it, but it’s nice to see how much people love you and care for you and to see it in action. And it really is even more meaningful with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming, that that really is the meaning of the season.”
   The Lazy Susan Tree Farm is located at 184 Sharon Road in Robbinsville, between Route 130 and Gordon Road. It will open for the season tomorrow, Friday, and then hours will run from 9 a.m. to nightfall Saturdays and Sundays through Christmas. The farm can be reached at 609-208-0784, or visit its Web site at www.lazysusantreefarm.com.