Julianna Fitzpatrick traveled to Atlanta in September 2004 for what she knew were her mother’s final days.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1986, Fitzpatrick’s mother had survived for 18 years with the disease, before dying Sept. 29 at the age of 67.
Ten days prior to her mother’s death, however, Fitzpatrick herself was forced to deal with cancer in an even more personal way. She was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a form of cancer that affects the body’s lymphatic system.
"With everything that was happening with my mom, my illness was so secondary. Having your mother die is so much more traumatic," said Fitzpatrick, 33, a sixth-grade teacher at West Springfield Elementary School.
Just a month and a half after her mother’s death, Fitzpatrick began her own biweekly chemotherapy treatments in early November. An elementary teacher for over 10 years, she was crushed when doctors informed her she wouldn’t be able to teach at West Springfield this school year.
"When I first was told I couldn’t work, I was really upset," she said. "There’s only so much change you can tolerate at one time. Only in the past two months, I’ve come to accept the fact that I’m not coming back this year."
Fitzpatrick has been out of her former students' sight, but definitely not out of mind. On Monday, April 25, nearly 200 parents, students, and staff from West Springfield took part in a "wellness walk" in the neighborhoods around the school. The 1-mile circuit took less than a half hour to complete, but helped raise money for the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society and show encouragement for Fitzpatrick.
"The kids have really rallied around their teacher," said Pamela Muller, a fifth-grade teacher who helped to organize the walk. "I think the kids look up to her because she has been such a positive influence and she’s never said ‘Why did this happen to me?’ Yesterday on the phone she said to me, ‘Have fun at the walk, kicking cancer to the curb.’"
THE WALK was part of the school’s "Community of Caring" program, and Muller said as word spread about the event, other former parents who had survived cancer, or lost a family member with cancer, began to come forward and show support.
"We’re hoping this is going to jumpstart an overall awareness," said Muller, who added that she has been inspired by Fitzpatrick’s positive attitude throughout her six-and-a-half month chemotherapy process.
"If I were in her situation, I would have a different perspective. She’s really been so positive."
Students at Monday’s walk said they were excited about boosting their teacher’s spirits by participating.
"It helps to do it, just thinking about her again," said sixth grader Bobby Bradshaw. "She encourages us to do better things."
One of the ways the school kept in touch with Fitzpatrick was through a Web site they set up to show her pictures of school events and her former students, many of them fifth graders she had taught last year. They also got to see pictures of Fitzpatrick, including several of her with her hair dyed pink in advance of the inevitable baldness due to the chemotherapy drugs.
"I’ve always wanted to try having pink hair, and you can’t do that in the real world, so why not try it out?" said Fitzpatrick, who said her strategy — which also included a platinum blonde dye job — backfired when she didn’t lose all her hair.
"I’m not as bald as I was supposed to be," she said.
Hodgkins Disease, or Hodgkins lymphoma, is a cancer that starts in the lymphatic tissue, the system of the body that are part of the body’s blood-forming and immune systems. Usually it attacks the lymph nodes, small organs located in several places throughout the body which store white blood cells. A variety of treatments for the disease exist, including chemotherapy.
"Sometimes your mind wanders to the dark place, but I had no choice in any of this, so you just have to make the best out of it," said Fitzpatrick. "You just have to have a serenity about it."
With her last chemotherapy treatment completed on Monday, April 18, Fitzpatrick is currently waiting a month, when she will undergo a CAT and PET scan, to see if the cancer is completely in remission. She said the example of her mother has helped her in her battle.
"Some people really make it part of their identity, they make the battle a part of who they are, and that’s a wonderful way to deal with it. My mom didn’t want to deal with it that way," she said. "It was almost incidental, you just sort of survive it and … try to go on being as normal as possible."
Fitzpatrick, whose husband is a sixth grade teacher at Glasgow Middle School in Alexandria, wasn’t allowed by her doctor to be at the walk, but she hopes to attend her students’ graduation in June.
"She’s the best teacher I ever had," said Donnie Cantrall, another former student. "We want to see her by the end of the year."