The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Kenrick connection makes a difference
NORRISTOWN >> The relationships DeCicco-Scannapieco DeCicco-Scannapieco formed through her years at Holy Saviour Grade School and Bishop Kenrick High School didn’t vary all that much from the norm. As girls, she and her friends enjoyed slumber parties and dabbled in talk about boys. As teenagers, they hung out at the mall and discussions about boys became more serious. Approaching senior year, they anticipated the day they’d meet each other’s husbands and children. Through all their “girl talks,” not once did anyone say, “When we reach our 50s, one of you will recommend a cancer hospital and totally change my life.”
As it turns out, DeCicco-Scannapieco could have. She followed her future husband to New York, where in 2001, she had her first encounter with breast cancer— a diagnosis of carcinoma in situ
and subsequent lumpectomy and five years of Tamoxifen. The cancer returned in 2010 necessitating another lumpectomy and radiation. Shortly thereafter, DeCicco-Scannapieco moved back to Norristown and in 2014 was once again told she had breast cancer.
DeCicco-Scannapieco will never imply her cancer journey was any more challenging than someone else’s. However, if she did describe her journey with a sense of self-pity and deep sadness it would be justified, given the circumstances of her life at the time. During her third bout with cancer, DeCiccoScannapieco’s brother-inlaw was dying of cancer, her sister contracted a fatal illness, both of her parents got sick, she divorced, and she lost her job.
“I could have asked ‘why me?’ but that’s not who I am,” said DeCicco-Scannapieco. “I won’t sugar-coat it; cancer scared the heck out of me. My first reaction was that I just received a death sentence. My next reaction was to get a grip and resolve to fight hard. I didn’t deny my fears—I found a way to draw strength from them.”
Given the various illnesses in her family, plus having one daughter who lives and works in NY and one in the Norristown area expecting a baby, DeCiccoScannapieco wasn’t going to be able to lean on family for support. “It didn’t mean I was alone—my parents and children were incredibly supportive. But I had to put myself in a situation where I would receive the support of a family from someone other than my literal family. I looked for a hospital that would inspire me to get healthy.”
“Those doctors where I had my mastectomy told me I could get the chemo cocktail anywhere and suggested a hospital closer to home. That’s when I realized this particular hospital looked at me as a cancer patient, not a person with cancer, so I searched for a hospital that understood the difference.”
After her sister passed away in 2011, she traveled back and forth between NY and PA, receiving radiation and taking care of her mom who was declining thanks to Rheumatoid Arthritis. When DeCicco-Scannapieco returned to Norristown she reconnected with many of her school friends and rebuilt relationships— one of which changed her life by changing the direction of her cancer treatment. This friend’s daughter went to school with the daughter of the President and CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia (CTCA). The friend encouraged DeCicco-Scannapieco to look into CTCA.
“I didn’t have to look into it all that much! I immediately knew this was the place for me and found that family of care I needed. I understood why Nanette steered me to CTCA and did my best to embrace every blessing that came out of where my path and relationships had taken me.”
The team at CTCA certainly witnessed this. “DeCicco-Scannapieco is a great example of our holistic approach to cancer treatment in action,” said Dr. Sramila Aithal, Hematologist and Medical Oncologist at CTCA. “With the guidance of our team, she took advantage of our support services with incredible enthusiasm. Nutrition, occupational therapy, spirituality, psychology, Reiki — DeCicco-Scannapieco took all the steps she could to achieve a good quality of life while receiving the highest standard of medical care possible to treat her cancer and to maintain that lifestyle after treatment.”
“I spent a lot of time in the chapel and doing activities with other patients”, said DeCicco-Scannapieco. “I really learned how to interact with people who were sicker than me and struggling. Being able to step outside my own problems and support someone else is vital and empowering.”
DeCicco-Scannapieco experienced this first-hand with her brother-in-law who was fighting throat cancer. “It was incredibly hard watching someone I love die of the same disease I was fighting, but I am not one to run away. When I visited him in the hospital and at home, humor was everything. One day we made a game of oneupping each other’s cancer troubles - who had lost more eyelashes, whose nails were blacker. Finally, I took off my wig—I was bald, he had hair, I won! I’ll always appreciate that moment. It was fun, but also very real, loving, frightening and an acceptance. The emotions were intense to the point of being painful, but for me it was very healing.”
Today, DeCicco-Scannapieco is cancer free, a Reiki master and keeps up many of the other healthy living practices she started. She continues to live a life that recognizes, embraces and appreciates every experience and person as an incredible blessing. “I know my friends and family get tired of me hugging them, but they understand where it’s coming from—and that it’s not going to stop!”
Recently, DeCicco-Scannapieco
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— Machiell DeCiccoScannapieco