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Teen's Cancer Battle 'An Amazing Journey'

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By GEORGE WILKENS

gwilkens@tampatrib.com

Published: December 17, 2008

PLANT CITY - It's a parent's worst nightmare: a child suffering a seemingly innocuous sinus infection is ultimately diagnosed with a cancer so rare, doctors worldwide report 300 or fewer new cases annually.

For Plant City teen Emily Evans and her parents, however, not only was the battle with rhabdomyosarcoma an apparent success, it created a greater appreciation of the incredible love and support of family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, former classmates and strangers.

"We've been able to count our blessings daily," said Emily's father, Jerry Evans. "It's been an amazing journey."

That journey has gone full circle, the family of four again reunited at home, ending nearly a year of splitting time between Plant City and New York's well-known Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a cancerous tumor originating in the soft tissues. In Emily's case, a fast-growing tumor ballooned in her sinus cavity and attached itself to her soft palate.

The tumor was removed during surgery at Lakeland Regional Medical Center three weeks before Emily, 16, began treatment at Sloan-Kettering, the day after Christmas in 2007.

After completing the last of a dozen three-week chemotherapy cycles there, late last month she returned to Plant City and a welcome-home party with 150 guests.

A DVD produced by Jerry that premiered at the party documents the happy moments during Emily's ordeal. The 10-minute slide show set to music also features dozens of photographs of friends and family hoisting signs encouraging Emily to get well and hurry home.

Support for Emily came in more substantial ways, too.

Plant City residents launched fundraisers, spawning donations from those who know the Plant City High student and many who did not.

Nia Ramo, co-owner of Nia Bella's boutique, made her downtown business a drop-off point for donations, and earmarked 10 percent of each purchase for the "Emily Fund."

A woman who lost her daughter to cancer in 2006 came forward to offer emotional support to the Evans family, as did a Plant City girl who battled lymphoma in recent years.

Jerry's Plant City High Class of '75, which was planning a mass birthday party for former classmates turning 50, made the event a fundraiser for Emily, netting $3,000.

The employers of Jerry and his wife, Cindy, allowed each to work remotely so one parent could always remain with Emily in New York, the other in Plant City with older daughter Caity.

Cindy's employer provided a furnished corporate apartment six blocks from the cancer center, without charge, for nearly a year.

Cindy's New York City-area relatives regularly stocked the apartment refrigerator and pantry and delivered prepared meals.

"We were well taken care of - for everything," Jerry said.

Most important, Emily's parents cite their daughter's upbeat attitude throughout the ordeal, from diagnosis to repeated chemotherapy, while being far from home.

"She's an incredible kid with incredible spirit," her mother said.

"The journey's not over yet," however, and doctors wait five years before they use the term "cured," Cindy Evans said. Emily must receive monthly chest X-rays in Tampa and, every three months, return to Sloan-Kettering for several days to undergo scans.

"You never think you're going to be touched by it, but it seems like everybody is touched by cancer," Cindy added.

The ordeal was made more bearable through the support of so many, "everybody, from family and friends from the South and family up North, too," said Cindy. "People were with us every step of way and we felt their prayers and we felt their love."

To view Emily's photos, story and comments by visitors to the Caring Bridge Web site, visit www.caring bridge.org/visit/emily evans.

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4433.

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