LIHU‘E — Not so long ago, Kaua‘i doctors told Jessie Sam Fong her best option was to have her last remaining kidney, riddled with cancer, removed, meaning she would be on dialysis the rest of her days. Thank goodness her
LIHU‘E — Not so long ago, Kaua‘i doctors told Jessie Sam Fong her best option was to have her last remaining kidney, riddled with cancer, removed, meaning she would be on dialysis the rest of her days.
Thank goodness her sons sought a second opinion.
The second opinion sent Sam Fong and son Mel Rapozo to Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic, where six tumors were removed from the kidney.
She said she almost gave up, in so much pain her first three days in Minnesota in December, when doctors told her of the worst-case scenario, and that she’d likely be on dialysis for three days after the surgery.
When she woke up after the surgery, she looked around her hospital room and saw no signs of any dialysis equipment.
“It is a miracle. I never thought I’d see Kaua‘i again,” she said.
The walking definition of “survivor,” Sam Fong, 69, has endured 40 surgeries, most of them major, including the latest, which involved removal of one of her ribs in order for the surgeons to get to her kidney.
Her other kidney was removed, also due to cancer, she is a breast-cancer survivor, and her remaining kidney is working fine, she said.
“My kidney function is very good,” she said.
“I first give glory to the Lord, because He was there guiding their hands,” she said of the surgeons.
Her medical insurance didn’t cover all of the expenses, like the charge of $550 a day to hold her nursing-home room for her while she shuttled between the home and hospital.
“We’re poor now,” she said, but alive.
“I’m here to tell the story,” and to give thanks to lots of people, including sons Gerald Rapozo and Mel Rapozo, and the American Cancer Society, to name a few.
“Without my two boys I couldn’t have done it. I must give credit to their wives,” Divina (Gerald’s wife) and Patsy (Mel’s wife), because they could have said “it’s us or your mother,” and they didn’t, she said.
Her bouts with cancer have given her rare insight into the work of the American Cancer Society, and she can’t quit singing the nonprofit agency’s praises.
“The cancer society has been so supportive,” offering moral support locally and nationally, she said. “It’s just amazing, amazing,” she said of the ACS support.
“The cancer society does care,” and a lot of people are not aware of available ACS services, she said.
“The American Cancer Society has been fabulously supportive,” offering options for cancer patients, Mel Rapozo said.
His mother is “cancer free,” and the kidney is “functioning perfectly. It’s a miracle,” Mel Rapozo said. “I’m super pleased with the results.”
While the cancer is gone from the remaining kidney and the kidney is fully functional, Sam Fong understands her road to recovery will be long.
“It’s going to be a long process,” she said of her recovery, estimated to take between six months and eight months and involve at least one more trip to Minnesota, in January.
In addition to her sons- and daughters-in-law, her primary caregiver (after his preschool studies in the morning, of course) is Ian Rapozo, 4, her grandson and Divina and Gerald Rapozo’s youngest child.
He takes grandma on her daily walks, vocally pushing her to complete the route when she tires, she said.
To defray medical expenses, her sons are organizing a three-man scramble golf tournament Nov. 1, with registration at 11 a.m. and a shotgun start at noon at Kiahuna Golf Course in Po‘ipu.
A new Harley-Davidson motorcycle from Kaua‘i Harley-Davidson is being offered as a hole-in-one prize, and two lucky linksters will get to putt for the chance to win $5,000. Hole sponsorships are $100 each, and all prize donations are welcome, Mel Rapozo said.
Those not interested in golfing but still wishing to help out may send donations to Benefit for Jessie, 3236 Inouye St., Lihu‘e, HI 96766.
For more information, call Mel Rapozo, 245-3539 or 645-0243.
• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com.
