By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
In the late summer of 2011, Kristy and Vincent Biviano of Millstone were looking forward to their life with three rambunctious boys, including newborn twins Michael and Billy.
Today, the Bivianos are worried for one of their youngest sons. Toddler Billy has been diagnosed with a an inoperable, slow-growing tumor is the size of a golf ball.
The family’s life has evolved into an exhausting series of doctor’s visits and care checks. Friends and family have mobilized to help, particularly with fund-raising events.
On Saturday, March 9, friends Deanna DeRoner, Rebecca Newman and Cindy Sahns are hosting a pancake, eggs and sausage breakfast for the Bivianos at Applebee’s restaurant on Route 206 in Hillsborough from 8-10 a.m.
To buy tickets, mail $10 per ticket in a check payable to the Biviano Family to Rebecca Newman, 6 Maple Terrace, Hillsborough, NJ 08844. Tickets will be mailed back before the event. Questions? Email [email protected].
The Biviano family will also be a beneficiary of the Hillsborough-based Steps Together united walking and running team that will participate in the Steeplechase Distance Run on Sept. 29 in Hillsborough.
Brother Joey is a healthy, active 7-year-old trying to understand what’s going on with his brother. The other twin, Michael, is climbing, runs the halls, tries to snatch Joey’s toys and babbles words.
But Billy needs to push a cart or reach for furniture to move around the room. Billy’s “behind in his milestones,” making sounds, not words, his father said.
Billy’s tumor is not the like normal ones. Doctors tell the Bivianos it’s like a spider’s web, wrapped around important parts of the brain.
”Doctors don’t know how to handle such a rare disease,” said friend Carolyn Tighe, whose older son went to preschool with Joey. “I think they are taking it one day at a time, step by step, especially because he’s so young.”
Kristy Biviano is a receptionist at a doctor’s office in Kendall Park. Vincent works for Epic Construction in Somerset as a project manager.
”I try to take as much off my wife’s plate as possible,” said Mr. Biviano. “She needs to focus on his immediate needs. I try to handle outside correspondence, insurance swordfights and things like that.”
When blood cell counts allow, Billy goes for chemotherapy every Thursday (he started Jan. 4) chemo for 10 weeks. He faces a year of such treatment, taking breaks now and again, before another MRI assessment. Then it’ll likely be a regimen of four week on, two weeks off — a cycle to be repeated eight times, said Mr. Biviano.
The regimen takes a toll. The family has taken Billy to the ER twice with fever during chemotherapy. (The Bivianos worry when Billy’s temperature rises more than 100.5 degrees.) He tested positive for flu while in hospital.
Billy is home and playing, sleeping more and eating less, especially after chemotherapy zaps the energy out of him. After treatments, Billy is on anti-nausea medicine.
At 24 pounds and 31 inches, Billy “looks like a linebacker,” says his dad, even though Billy has dropped a pound since chemotherapy began.
”My whole intent, to be honest, is for prayers for him,” said Mr. Biviano. “I’m a big believer in the Big Guy upstairs, and he’s not interested in money. He wants to be given a prayer.”
The Bivianos have started a Facebook page to update family and friends; answering emails and telling people how things are going can in itself be exhausting, Mr. Biviano said.
As best as doctors can tell, the slow-growing brain tumor is inoperable, especially in a child. The tumor is behind where optic nerves cross behind the eye and it’s intertwined with normal brain matter, said Mr. Biviano. Billy’s too young for radiation or proton therapy, his father said.
Anyone wishing to host a fundraiser for the Biviano family and have it detailed by Steps Together. His info is at www.steps-together.com/billy.

