A fighter for Katrina kids needs help fighting Leukemia

Ibby in New Orleans

Many of you know Steve Caputo, a Plainfield attorney whose practice includes real estate transactions. When I worked with him back in my real estate days, I also learned he was a deeply spiritual person who devoted a great deal of time to the Catholic Diocese Metuchen. He is also one of TWO people I know who are Princeton graduates.

Yesterday, I learned that Steve's daughter Elizabeth, known to all as 'Ibby', has been diagnosed within the past few weeks with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and is fighting the disease from her stomping grounds in the Cape Cod/Boston area.

Steve has been kind enough to share some of his and Ibby's emails reflecting the news and its impact on Ibby and her family. You will find them posted HERE.

Below, Steve shares how the rest of us can help both Ibby and those who face the fight against leukemia.

You can help by signing up for a walk this weekend -- or making a contribution if you cannot walk --

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night^® Walk
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Colonial Park in Somerset
Check-in starts 5:30 PM
Walk begins at 7:00 PM
Food will be served before the event
Sign up here: "Team Ibby"
Make a donation here: "Ibby Is Super"

-- Dan

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Good morning.

I have returned from Boston where we visited our daughter, Ibby, for the past four days. My wife’s family had a wedding up here this weekend so Ibby was able to see all of her uncles and aunts and many cousins. That was uplifting for her but also exhausting. Happily, she had rebuilt her strength enough so that we could take a fifteen minute walk outside the hospital with Mary, Sarah, Sasha, Steven, and me. For a moment we were able to act as if everything was normal, she was fine, and the sunny day were no different from any sunny day. When we returned to the hospital, of course, it was time to hook her up to the IV tree and give her antibiotics, more platelets, and fluids.

I hadn’t seen Ibby in a week and she has changed tremendously. She is pale—almost gray. She has about 30% of the energy level that she had last week. She is still not eating much. Her head is completely bald except for a few stragglers and they are white or gray. Even her eyes look weak and tired. She has a pretty round head. She is receiving two blood transfusions and platelets every day. They are watching kidney and liver function very carefully. She has undergone many tests to develop baselines so that they can monitor her progress after the Bone Marrow Transplant. On Friday she signed up as a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a wonderful charitable group that does research on finding a cure and will provide her certain services and resources throughout the process.

The need for cures is critical: Every five minutes, someone in this country is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone dies. Leukemia is the leading cause of cancer death among children and young adults under the age of 20. Leukemia is threatening to take away our Ibby. Her form of Leukemia, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, is virtually impossible to cure without a bone marrow transplant.

I am very troubled about the way Ibby looked. Where did my wild and crazy, indefatigable Ibby go? For the moment she is no longer a Tiger but, instead, a mere kitten. She is so weak that I don’t think she could take another chemo session without resting and regaining her strength for a week or two. The doctors are hoping to release her from the hospital for about 10 days so that she can build up her strength before the next chemo sessions and BMT transplant. Mary and I met with her transplant doctor who indicated that there are definitely acceptable bone marrow donors—both in Europe. The process has been underway for at least a week contacting them, finding out if they are physically able to donate and willing to donate, and making arrangement for the donations. The Bone Marrow Transplant is scheduled for around October 30, 2007 if all goes well. That is very good news.

Ibby is aware of all of the prayers being said on her behalf and is grateful for the loving support all of you have given her.

Some of you have said you feel helpless. Many of you have asked how you can help Ibby. We have figured out a way.

You will recall that in Ibby’s most recent email she told a story about comparing her own suffering to the pain and suffering of others. She said that during a panic attack while curled up in a fetal position, “my higher-self kicked in and I realized how lucky I am: I'm suffering in a hospital, where people are nurturing me, where they are fighting for my survival, where I can get drugs like Valium, where I'm consistently being loved and supported by family and friends. I thought about all the other people in this world who are also suffering - experiencing intense claustrophobia in their pain. Most don't get the perks I get. I shared this thought with a nurse much later on in the day and she advised me not to think about other people's suffering. I did not say this to her, but I think ignoring other people's suffering is like ignoring the inevitability of death. Blink. It's still there.”

So, how do you honor and celebrate a person who has worked with Mother Theresa’s nuns in the Calcutta House of the Dying and in a Leper colony, who volunteered in the streets of New Orleans after Katrina to make the lives of children better, who attacked Mayor Nagin in a letter to the editor of the New Orleans Times Picayune over racist clean up policies, who designed an art therapy program at NOLA’s Ochsner Hospital to lessen the suffering and hasten the recovery of pediatric cancer patients, and who has, in her short life, consistently put others lives and needs second to her own?

We have the answer! The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night® Walk.

This walk is to raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society which funds research and provides services for people with blood related cancers. (Yes, this is the same group that is providing services to Ibby).

The walk is on October 6, 2007 at Colonial Park in Somerset. The check in starts at 5:30, the walk begins at 7:00. Food will be served before the event.

This works like all the "Walk for..." charity fundraising events. There is no participation fee but people are asked to get their financial supporters.

My fourteen year old daughter, Sarah, has formed a team for everyone to join. It is called Team Ibby. Our goal is $15,000. So far donors have been very generous. We believe that with the support of the Montgomery fencing team, Medeo Fencing, Montgomery High School, St. Charles Borromeo Church, and other groups that plan to walk for Ibby, we will have a few hundred walkers.

Not everyone needs to walk; if you can’t walk you can donate and support the fund raising goal.

Here is the link where you can join: http://teams.lightthenight.org/TeamIbby

Here is the link where you can donate: http://www.active.com/donate/ltnWestfi/2032_ibbyissuper

For planning purposes we need for you to join the team if you intend to walk. LLS has to have enough food and drinks for everyone.

Invite your friends and relatives. Invite cancer survivors, your church youth group, and anyone who wants to pursue a noble cause.

Let’s lift up Ibby as a beacon of support for all others who suffer from Leukemia and Lymphoma. Ibby can have a positive effect on the lives of others—especially those suffering from cancer—from 300 miles away. Let’s turn our lemons into lemonade.

We will have someone recording the event and recording personal messages to send to Ibby.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Our entire family is comforted by your support.

Best regards,

Steve Caputo

Sarah Caputo, Team Captain

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