(L to R: Myself, Marc, and his brother David in our Grandmother's driveway, taken in 1998)

This is the newspaper article for Marc's fundraiser. I know that we all have money troubles but even a dollar will help out. Spread the word if you can. Thanks for taking the time to check this out.

FUND RAISER TO HELP CANCER PATIENT PAY FOR STEM CELL PRODECDURE
By Robyn Adams, Waterbury Republican-American

It started with a persistent cough. Marc Dziezynski, 21, went to the doctors and was told he had bronchitis. But he wasn’t getting better.

“I’d hear him coughing in the morning and at night,” said his mother, Celine, on Saturday.

She told him to go back to the doctors. He did. The doctor took an X-ray of Marc’s chest.

“He went for the X-ray and they sent him right to the hospital emergency room. They thought he had an extremely large heart and the EKG was showing he was suffering a heart attack,” Celine said.

It wasn’t his heart.

Marc had a very large tumor behind his heart and in between his lungs that compromised his entire respitory system. He was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes. The cancer is called recurrent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and as the name implies, there is a possibility is will re-occur.

“We were numb,” said Celine, the wife of James Dziezynski of the Buck’s Hill neighborhood, “It was like we were dropped on our heads. We kept waiting for good news and it got worse and worse.”

The doctors told Marc’s family that he could have had it since birth. And as every mother would, Celine looks back when Marc was growing up, wondering if she missed something she should have picked up on.

James, called Jim, is the manager of the dairy section at Stop and Shop on Chase Avenue. He has worked for Stop and Shop for 30 years. Celine, whose maiden name is Bosse, married Jim 25 years ago. She works at Stop and Shop as well and is the cafeteria manager at Wilby High School. The have another son, David, 15, a junior at Wilby High.

Celine and Jim are from large families. Both of them have seven brothers and sisters.

They have a lot of support from their families and co-workers.

On Thursday, a ziti dinner fund raiser for Marc will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 PM at the VFW hall on Wolcott Road in Wolcott.

“All the credit goes to Stop and Shop for putting the dinner together,” said Kris Dziezynski, who is one of Jim’s three sisters.

Because of the tumor’s location and possibility the cancer would spread if doctors operated, Marc began a regiment of chemotherapy in July. His last chemotherapy treatment was Oct. 15. But the treatment is not over. His doctor has recommended a higher dose of chemotherapy. That will begin next month.

The purpose of high dose chemotherapy is to kill any remaining lymphoma cells as up to 60 percent of the people treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma will have a relapse within two to three years after finishing treatment. Normally, the dose of chemotherapy given is limited because very high doses kill the bone marrow and leave the person without an immune system. To administer the high dose, stem cell is collected from the patient.

There are few stem cells in the blood. But because chemotherapy causes the blood counts to drop, the bone marrow produces large amounts of stem cells that flow into the blood.

On Monday, Marc will begin the stem cell procedure at Yale New Haven Hospital. He will receive daily injections of a medicine that will stimulate the bone marrow to produce stem cells. The blood will be taken from one of Marc’s arms, stem cells separated from the blood, then the blood will be returned to his other arm.

Celine said it can take two to six days to collect enough cells.

After the stem cells are collected, then they are frozen. On Nov 10, Marc will begin with the higher doses of chemotherapy for seven days.

Within 24 hours of the last dose of chemotherapy, the stem cells will be returned to his body. Then, Marc and Celine will stay at a hotel five minutes from Yale because he won’t have an immune system. Within 12 days of the stem cell transfusion, Marc’s blood counts will begin to recover and his immune system will begin to recharge.

“I always wondered when you see someone going through this how they did it,” Celine said. “But you just go along and do the best you can.”

Marc would have graduated early from Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H., with a degree in computer science and a minor in music. He plays assorted instruments. But the bass guitar is his number one love, his mother said.

“He was always an excellent student and almost had a 4.0 grade average in college,” Celine said.

Celine said her son wanted to return to college after treatment. But doctors have told him it would be a year before he can return. “He didn’t agree at first. Even his advisor told him that 100 percent of his energy has to go toward getting better.”

While the stem cell procedure is costly, Celine said the family isn’t worried about cost but rather seeing Marc recover. The money will come from somewhere. Insurance will cover most of the expenses, but not everything.

So, whatever is received from the dinner will be a big help.

The cost for the dinner is $15 for adults, free for children. Donations would also be appreciated. Checks payable to Marc Dziezynski should be sent to People’s Bank, 240 Chase Ave, Waterbury CT 06704 or directly to Marc, Celine, and Jim at 246 Chesnut Hill Ave, Waterbury CT 06704-1611.