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Alyssa Paige Tudor

Support big ally in fight vs. cancer

By JOHN C. PYNAKKER/The Daily News
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 9:25 PM CDT



PATIENT: Alyssa Tudor, 3, peers through a heart-shaped opening. The Laughlin resident was recently diagnosed with cancer and is receiving medical care in Las Vegas. Contributed



LAUGHLIN - Monday, June 23, 2008 is a day that will stick in Rojeana and Brian Tudor's minds forever.

That was the day they found out their 3-year-old daughter Alyssa has Stage IV Neuroblastoma, a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in nerve tissue of the adrenal gland, neck, chest or spinal cord.

The odyssey began when Alyssa complained to Rojeana, who is a certified nursing assistant at Silver Ridge Village in Bullhead City, and Brian, who works for Nevada State Parks, that she had a pain that felt like “a bone in her butt.”

“We took a trip to the emergency room,” Rojeana said. “We thought maybe she had fallen, so they did an X-ray, didn't find anything, gave her pain medication and it went away for a couple of days.”

Within a couple of days, Alyssa began having pain in her legs. A visit to the Valley View Medical Center emergency room was next, and they were sent immediately to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.

“The first night up here, it was Friday night, they did more X-rays and blood tests,“ Rojeana said. “They diagnosed her with a bladder infection.”

The next morning, when the pain was worse, Alyssa returned to the hospital. Alyssa was then given an Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and the tumor was found. It was wrapped around her spinal column and was inoperable. Rojeana, who has dealt with difficult medical situations like this with the elderly, now had to deal with it with her own infant daughter.

“It's so much different when it hits home like this,” Rojeana said.

The couple, who lives in Laughlin, has had a large amount of family who has come to Las Vegas to support them and Alyssa, including Alyssa's aunt Christine Zito who runs a Web site for Alyssa to keep the extended family and friends updated with her progress. Brian's mother Evette Struther quit her job at the Colorado Belle to help.

“She (Evette) supports us so much, as well as taking care of Alyssa whenever we have to leave the hospital,” Rojeana said. “Our whole family has been tremendously helpful. There is just a lot of emotional support.”

Alyssa recently finished her first round of chemotherapy. According to her family, she will need somewhere from one to two years of chemotherapy treatments, with the treatments coming every 21 days and lasting about five days. She will not be allowed to leave the hospital until her blood counts return to normal. That can take from a week to three weeks.

Due to the proximity to her spinal column and nerves, the tumor has rendered her unable to move her legs. This for a girl who loved riding horses and going fishing. The goal is that the chemotherapy will shrink the tumor, taking the pressure off of the nerves and allowing her to walk again. A MRI was scheduled for this week to see the effect of the chemotherapy.

While she comes off as a bit of a tomboy, her mother says that she could also be a princess at times. “I always ask if she's cute,” Rojeana said. “She says nope, she's beautiful.”

Rojeana says that when it comes to explaining to Alyssa what is happening, she and Brian are straight forward with her.

“She knows she's in the hospital because she's sick,” Rojeana said. “We've explained that the tumor makes it so she can't move her legs. We've explained that the medicine is chemo, and that the medicine could make her hair fall out and her not feel good. We don't hold anything back, we just explain it in layman terms.”

Having to come to grips with what is happening, and the possible eventuality of it is tough, but explaining that to your own child is heartbreaking.

“We don't have a choice,” Rojeana said. “I can sit here and sob, but it's not going to do anything to help my daughter.”

Rojeana said that the first few weeks were really hard, but having family around is helping. Friday will mark six weeks that the Tudors have been at the hospital. For a family on leave from work, the experience is taxing not just emotionally, but financially.

One foundation in Las Vegas stepped up and paid July's utility bills for the Tudors, but there are so many other bills that may have to wait. “We're taking it day by day,” Rojeana said. “If it (a bill) goes late, it's late. We don't know how it's going to be when we get home.”

To get updates on Alyssa's progress, or if you want to send Alyssa notes of encouragement, visit

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/alyssatudor

There is also information on the Web site in the journal on how to help the family financially.

“We appreciate the support and all the prayers that we've been given for Alyssa,” Rojeana said.








Fired up: Smiling face, tale stirs cycle group to action

By ALICE POPOVICI/The Daily News
Sunday, August 17, 2008 10:04 PM CDT


BULLHEAD CITY - All it took was the picture of a smiling little girl and the story of her battle with cancer.

Mike Ricci knew he had to something to help 3-year-old Alyssa Tudor and her family.

In June, Alyssa was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer that affects children. Doctors said the tumor was wrapped around her spinal column and was inoperable.

As soon as Alyssa was hospitalized in Las Vegas, parents Brian and Rojeana took a leave of absence from their jobs to be with her. Her grandmother, Evette Strother, quit her job at the Colorado Belle to help out.

Alyssa is doing better and has returned to her home in Laughlin, according to a family blog. But she will have to return to Las Vegas periodically for treatment.

It's sad to hear about anyone dealing with cancer, said Ricci, a Mohave Valley Fire Department firefighter.

“When children get it, it kind of hits a special spot for us.”

Ricci, who is president of Riders of Fire, a charitable motorcycle club for firefighters, brought the idea to the other members.

“I got with the guys and we all agreed right off the bat,” Ricci said. “We all said - ‘Hey, what about a dinner?'”

They're asking community members to bring their appetites and pocketbooks to a dinner fundraiser for Alyssa, held from 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Mohave Shrine Club, 2580 Miracle Mile.

The cost is $5 for the spaghetti dinner, garlic bread, salad, and Texas coffee cake for desert. There will be a raffle, a silent auction and a 50/50 drawing as well as a free performance by local group Oliver Twisted Magic, who will provide face painting, balloons and a magic show. Tips for the entertainment, along with all proceeds from the dinner, will go to Alyssa's family.

“Everyone should show up and spend five bucks because it's a good cause,” said Don Midgely, a member of Riders of Fire. “We want to raise as much as possible.”

That way, the Tudor family can focus on Alyssa's recovery rather than worrying about bills waiting at home.

Founded locally in 2003, Riders of Fire is open to active, retired and volunteer firefighters. The members said this is their first charitable event, and they want to reach out to others who may need help.

“We want to get involved with the community,” Ricci said.

When people are facing problems, he hopes they'll remember the Riders of Fire and ask for help.









GREAT NEWS UPDATE!!!!:

From the family website:


Alyssa's MRI test results are in:

50% of the cancer has left her spinal cord, so that is why she is getting feeling back into her legs ... makes me cry ... Alyssa has been responding to the cancer resiliently ... but the cancer on the outside is not shirking because those are the mature cells that the Chemo-treatment will not kill and they can be removed by surgery ... the important things is that the place that the cancer needed to be killed is dying and that is in the spinal cord.

Alyssa is well on her way in her journey in fighting this cancer … I can’t say enough how in awe I am of Alyssa and her courage and her determination in fighting this awful cancer … she is truly my hero. Brian and Jeana have just been so strong and this has been so tough on them as well as Evette, Gamie, who has quit her job to be with her grand-daughter and her son and daughter-in-law. It is amazing what family can do during a time like this. The road will be long and tiring but it has lots of hope … so that is why I encourage you to stay in touch, write on the guest book and continue to give when and if you can. The family can not say ‘Thank you” enough for all you love because it has been overwhelming.







Thank you Mary for the heartfelt story and the many resources you've shared at:





'The Legacy of Hope" site was an inspiration by Mary of:

And so many thanks for sharing your talent and time,
for those of us who weren't blessed with either.










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