By KAJ PATEL
When Sarah Dawidowicz was a sophomore at Sacred Heart University in 2012, she was just like every other teenage girl. She stressed over midterms and finals, joined the sorority where she felt most comfortable, and struggled to figure out how to make her laundry smell just like it did at home.
But Dawidowicz’ life was completely altered when halfway through her semester she began to feel ill. Her friends and loved ones told her she was just a burnt out college student, but after continuous pain towards her eyes that lasted months and affected her everyday life, doctors admitted Dawidowicz’ to a hospital and took her for a brain biopsy. It was then that doctors told her that she was suffering from primary central nervous system lymphoma. After being diagnosed, Sarah knew she was going to do what she could to fight the cancer and help raise awareness and money for the cause, if she could get better.
Sarah’s Journey
For the next four months, Dawidowicz was in and out of the hospital every week undergoing various tests, blood transfusions, and chemotherapy. By her fifth month after her diagnosis, Dawidowicz went in for a stem cell transplant. She was unable to leave Robert Wood Johnson Hospital for the entire month, which she felt “was really rough cause I had my phone and saw all my friends going out and doing fun things while I was stuck in this hospital having my teenage years robbed from me.”
Dawidowicz raved about the care she was given during her time at Robert Wood Johnson. “I wouldn’t be here without the help of all of those people for all that time, they saved my life,” she said.
CNS Lymphoma
Primary Central Nervous System lymphoma is a disease in which malignant cancer cells form in the lymph tissue of the brain and/or spinal cord. Having a weakened immune system may increase an individual’s risk of developing CNS lymphoma.
In order to detect and diagnose the disease, patients receive tests that examine the eyes, brain, and spinal cord. In Dawidowicz’ case, once she began to lose control of her eye movements and they began to cross regularly, her parents decided to take her to the emergency room where she was given a brain biopsy and doctors found a tumor for CNS lymphoma.
The treatment of the disease usually works best when the tumor has not spread outside of the cerebrum and the patient is younger than 60 years, which both was true in Sarah’s case.
Sarah is unfortunately not the only teenager whose life was severely affected by cancer. Statistically in the last adolescent figure, which was done in 2014, an estimated 10,380 children younger than 15 and about 5,000 adolescents between ages 15 and 19 were diagnosed with cancer in the United States alone.
Fighting Cancer
Numbers such as those are the ones college students across the country are trying to fight with their annual Relay for Life events. Ramapo College Relay for Life takes place in the Bradley Center gym where different organizations set up tables across a make-shift track. The tables are there to collect any donations for cancer research, while the track signifies a day in the life of a cancer patient and students are asked to walk it throughout the night.
This year at Relay for Life Ramapo College’s 37 teams and 667 participants raised over $50,000 for cancer research.
The night is also to honor survivors, such as Dawidowicz, with a candlelight vigil and remembrance slide show. She stayed the entire night from start to finish, ten hours, while walking with her sorority sisters and friends throughout different organizations on campus and hanging out at the various tables around the gym.
“Relay for me is one of my favorite parts of the night. We all get together to raise awareness of this horrible disease, but seeing everyone come together gives me such a rush,” she said.
Since coming to Ramapo College after she could no longer attend Sacred Heart University, Dawidowicz was able to become a part of the same sorority at Ramapo that she had joined at her last institution.
Theta Phi Alpha, Sarah’s sorority, was one of the many Ramapo organizations that came together that night to pay tribute. Alpha Phi Omega, the service fraternity on campus, singlehandedly raised $8,644 for Relay.
“A lot of people aren’t aware of how much time and effort goes into planning Relay for Life months before the event, but every minute of that work is worth it when you see the look on the survivors’ eyes the moment we announce how much we raised for cancer research,” said Daniella Luciano, one of the many people who had a part in the planning of the night.
Katrina Federico, philanthropy chair for Delta Phi Epsilon sorority at Ramapo College said, “I ran for my position in the sorority specifically because of Relay For Life. We recently lost a sister to Ewing Sarcoma, a type of bone cancer, so I want to do everything I can to fight this horrible disease. Sarah gives my sorority hope; we all say that Marissa’s spirit lives on through survivors such as her.”
Organizers planned multiple fundraisers in the months leading up to Relay for Life, including a semi-formal Kick Off Dance in the college’s pavilion. The $5 admission fee per ticket went towards the donations that Ramapo College sent to cancer research after Relay for Life.
To Sarah’s Future
Dawidowicz was officially told in the summer of 2014, two years after being diagnosed, that she had finally beaten her cancer. Events to remember cancer survivors, such as Sarah Dawidowicz, help make her transition back to a normal life easier. Almost four years later, she still goes into Robert Wood Johnson every so often for tests and to make sure that the cancer has not come back.
She will be attending graduate school at Boston College next fall to obtain her masters in social work, but she also hopes to make incredible memories and meet new people.
“Cancer does not define who I am. Yes, it was a part of what happened to me and a part of my journey in life but I will never be the girl who let cancer win. Cancer doesn’t get to win. I win.”
[SOUNDSLIDES: Watch Sara Dawidowicz and her personal Relay for Life]
PHOTO/KAJPATEL
Your story was well-written and did a really great job sharing Sarah’s journey with cancer. I especially liked how you didn’t generalize the disease, either, by just saying that “she had cancer” and gave background information on the specific kind that she had. I also really liked your assets that you included in your story. I didn’t have any questions after reading, though, because you basically answered all of them.