Cuddle My Kids helps families fighting cancer

Local families with children battling cancer share stories at YMCA event

WEST GOSHEN >> Take a glance at a dozen families having fun and eating pizza around the gazebo at the West Chester YMCA waterpark on Sunday and you would never know that each family is fighting cancer.

Cuddle My Kids, located in West Chester, a local, nonprofit, regularly brings together families for support and a chance to talk.

Marianne Sarcich was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2016 and underwent a mastectomy in September of 2016.

She said Cuddle My Kids gives her “so much emotional healing.

“I’m able to socialize with people who understand what I’ve been through. It takes the weight off of me.”

Halloween in the Sarcich house is as big a holiday as Christmas and Marianne thought her daughter might be left out because of mom’s diagnosis.

“It was breaking my heart,” she said.

But the non-profit came through and helped daughter Anna celebrate Halloween.

Amanda Martin was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in June 2017.

“The group brings people with the same vocabulary, experiences and fears together,”

she said. “We talk about our experiences and work through the process.”

Melanie Ottersen lives with her granddaughter Kyleigh and as a cancer survivor said she has to stay positive. She was diagnosed with stage 4 triple negative breast cancer about a year ago.

“You kind of have to make yourself positive because depression is a deep, black hole to dig yourself out of,” she said. “The group is encouraging and helpful.

“It gives my granddaughter some support and she meets other kids, grandparents and parents in similar situations going through the good and the bad.”

Ottersen was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“But it is what it is ...” she said.

Judy Phillips is the program’s coordinator.

She said that peer support is vital.

“You want to be the best parent you can be,” she said. “With opportunities to see other families going through the same, we don’t feel so isolated.

“It’s great to talk about what’s going on and hear what each of us is going through.” — Abby Goetcheus, cancer survivor

“You can connect with other people going through the same thing.”

Abby Goetcheus is a cancer survivor with stage 1A breast cancer. She said that through Cuddle My Kids her children are able to talk with other kids having similar experiences.

“They don’t feel like they’re alone,” she said. “It’s great to talk about what’s going on and hear what each of us is going through.”

The monthly family gatherings are only a small portion of the organization’s outreach.

Cuddle My Kids visits homes, works at education, supplies cancer comfort kits and “busy bags,” works with those who have lost a family member, teaches art and journaling and coordinates cancer care plans.

For more information, call 484-301-3047 or go to www.cuddlemykids.org.

BILL RETTEW - MEDIANEWS GROUP Cancer survivor Melanie Ottersen and granddaughter Kyleigh enjoy the sun and pool at the West Chester YMCA.

BILL RETTEW - MEDIANEWS GROUP Cancer survivor Marianne, left, Anna and Paul Sarcich, with Cuddle My Kids Program Coordinator Judy Phillips.

BILL RETTEW - MEDIANEWS GROUP Cancers survivors meet during a great day to play at the West Chester YMCA. Abby and Cheri Goetcheus, left, and Mason and Arden Goetcheus, along with Amanda and Kiley Martin.