Leukemia

Naomi Smith, a four-year-old Glendale resident with leukemia, was granted a wish to visit three Florida theme parks by the Kids Wish Network, a national children's charity. Naomi was two when she experienced cold-like symptoms that wouldn't go away. Her pediatrician discovered that Naomi suffered from acute lymphocyctic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. Frequent blood transfusions followed and during that time, when Naomi began a strict regimen of medications, her twin sister Sophie comforted her the most.

Lolita Harper LA CRESCENTA -- Zachary Haberl is not your average 5-year-old. He has undergone radiation three times a day, for the last four days. He will then be subjected to two more days of intense chemotherapy. However agonizing the treatments may seem, Zac understands they are necessary to prepare him for his bone marrow transplant Wednesday at the City of Hope hospital in Duarte. The combination of radiation and chemotherapy is designed to kill all his existing bone marrow.

Shayan Reodica Jr. has spent more of his life in the hospital than he has at home. His parents are hoping to end that trend by finding a bone-marrow match to help the 7-month-old boy beat leukemia. His mother, Jessica Reodica, who works at the call center at Glendale Water and Power, is hosting a match event Wednesday with her family at First Baptist Church in Glendale. They will host a second event Thursday at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills. "The leukemia is in remission now," Reodica said.

After a five-month hospital stay, grueling chemotherapy treatments and a cord blood transplant, 11-year-old Patrick Aghaian is back at home and leukemia-free. Patrick was diagnosed in June with acute myelogenous leukemia, an aggressive kind of blood cancer, said his father, Edwin Aghaian. He is still recovering his strength, and he’s being home-schooled this year, but “the big nightmare” of combating the disease is over for now, Aghaian said. As he watched his son undergo treatments for leukemia, Aghaian said he learned about the medical research that was still needed in developing treatments and cures for blood cancer like his son’s.

As of July 13, former Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station Sgt. Randy Rousseau is still in the hospital recovering from his third round of chemotherapy treatments in his fight against leukemia. "He is trying to let his immune system go up," Deputy Keith Gibbons said. Rousseau was originally diagnosed with leukemia two years ago. Since then he has been in and out of the hospital, receiving treatments and battling infections. He returned to work in March 2005 but suffered a relapse and was admitted back to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center.

Runner earns funds for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society After he ran and finished the Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 11 in Hawaii, C.J. Foster of Glendale is in training again to run the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on June 4. He runs as a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training to raise funds for the society. He finished the December event in five hours, 51 minutes and earned $4,200 for the society. This time, the minimum he has to raise is $2,100. His employer, California Pizza Kitchen, 101 N. Brand Blvd.

Claudia Peschiutta LA CRESCENTA -- Zachary Haberl is an expert on drugs with names he can't even spell. He knows all about medical procedures he's too young to read about. The 5-year-old has been fighting leukemia for nearly three years and is waiting for the bone marrow transplant that could get him to 6, and beyond. Linda Haberl of La Crescenta knows she is unlikely to find a matching donor for her grandson in the area, but she and others are putting on two local blood drives to help Zac and others with leukemia.

Jordan Serwin was 2 when his parents learned the La Cañada Flintridge boy had leukemia. He was 6 when an unusual treatment, a transplant of blood cells from an umbilical cord and placenta of a woman in New York, stopped the disease and set his life on a normal track. "We went from having little hope that he would live to be 7 to finding the needle in the haystack," said Meghan Flanz, Serwin's mother. Serwin is now 20, and a man who lived a few houses away from his family, Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D- La Cañada Flintridge)

Gary Moskowitz The guest of honor this weekend at R.D. White Elementary School was a llama named Chester. Chester, on loan from the Los Angeles-based Studio Animal Service company, was available for pictures and petting Saturday during R.D. White's annual Harvest Festival. Chester appeared in the Eddie Murphy movie "Daddy Day Care." The school's Parent-Teacher Assn. organized and sponsored the festival, which included food, games, a silent auction and karaoke.

Gary Moskowitz SOUTHWEST GLENDALE -- Jerry Mietus, 46, understands the brevity, and beauty, of life all too well. Mietus, hospitalized for acute leukemia and about to begin a second wave of chemotherapy treatments, married Cynthia Aguilar in his hospital room on Valentine's Day. The couple met in 2000 in Chicago and had planned to be married this year, when Mietus began to get sick and was diagnosed with leukemia....

Naomi Smith, a four-year-old Glendale resident with leukemia, was granted a wish to visit three Florida theme parks by the Kids Wish Network, a national children's charity. Naomi was two when she experienced cold-like symptoms that wouldn't go away. Her pediatrician discovered that Naomi suffered from acute lymphocyctic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. Frequent blood transfusions followed and during that time, when Naomi began a strict regimen of medications, her twin sister Sophie comforted her the most.

Hundreds of people attended a blood drive on Sunday for Matthew Fernandez, a 5-year-old leukemia patient and preschooler at Saint Finbar's Catholic Church. Michelle Ramos of Burbank - whose son attends school with Matthew - helped his mother Ana Fernandez enlist people to donate blood for Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, where he is a patient. The event was widely publicized on local media, and on Sunday, Eddie “Piolín” Sotelo of 101.9 La Nueva FM showed up. But with a sore throat and fever, Piolín was unable to give blood.

Shayan Reodica Jr. has spent more of his life in the hospital than he has at home. His parents are hoping to end that trend by finding a bone-marrow match to help the 7-month-old boy beat leukemia. His mother, Jessica Reodica, who works at the call center at Glendale Water and Power, is hosting a match event Wednesday with her family at First Baptist Church in Glendale. They will host a second event Thursday at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills. "The leukemia is in remission now," Reodica said.

SOUTH GLENDALE — A 25-year-old Glendale man is expected to be arraigned today in connection with stealing a collection jar for the funeral of a 6-year-old boy who died last week from leukemia, officials said. Arthur Madoyan was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of burglary after being identified as the one who stole the donation jar Sunday afternoon from the El Mexicano Meat Market at 836 S. Glendale Ave., police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Store owners Emilia and Ramon Parra set out the collection jar, which contained $300, last week in an effort to help Eduardo Morales-Peña's family gather enough money to pay for his funeral.

Jordan Serwin was 2 when his parents learned the La Cañada Flintridge boy had leukemia. He was 6 when an unusual treatment, a transplant of blood cells from an umbilical cord and placenta of a woman in New York, stopped the disease and set his life on a normal track. "We went from having little hope that he would live to be 7 to finding the needle in the haystack," said Meghan Flanz, Serwin's mother. Serwin is now 20, and a man who lived a few houses away from his family, Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D- La Cañada Flintridge)

The slide was too hot for Asher McGarrah on Friday, so instead he'd lob a book of stickers and watch it glide down and land at the base of his tree house. Moments later, the 5-year-old climbed up the slide, up a ladder, pivoted and dashed into the sleeping quarters on the second floor, where he discovered a nifty cubby for his tree-house tools. "I like the view," he said, overlooking the single-family home. "I imagine there was an ocean. Sometimes I spy on my parents. " The two-story structure — complete with climbing rope, a slide, a deck and a lounge chair — was presented Friday by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles and the volunteers who made Asher's initial crayon drawing a reality.

Glendale High School?s annual Unconcert lets choral talent express themselves in nontraditional ways. ?UnConcert: This is It!? is a tribute to Michael Jackson with performances at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 and 19 in the auditorium. Pre-sale tickets are $8 per person; $10 at the door. The PTSA meets at 6 p.m. March 1 in the remodeled school library. Everyone is welcome. The program celebrates Founders Day and includes elections for 2010-11 officers, said PTSA President Sydney Swainston.

Anna Ziouzina and her mother Luda Ziouzina aren’t related to Jim Meyer, but they are family. The ties between the Ziouzinas and Meyer started to form 17 years ago, when Luda Ziouzina and her husband brought their 3-year-old daughter Anna to the United States from the then-Soviet Union so that she could be treated for leukemia. Luda Ziouzina’s brother-in-law, who lived in Glendale, along with the Glendale-Crescenta Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, helped bring the family to Southern California.

After a five-month hospital stay, grueling chemotherapy treatments and a cord blood transplant, 11-year-old Patrick Aghaian is back at home and leukemia-free. Patrick was diagnosed in June with acute myelogenous leukemia, an aggressive kind of blood cancer, said his father, Edwin Aghaian. He is still recovering his strength, and he’s being home-schooled this year, but “the big nightmare” of combating the disease is over for now, Aghaian said. As he watched his son undergo treatments for leukemia, Aghaian said he learned about the medical research that was still needed in developing treatments and cures for blood cancer like his son’s.