Vol. 117 No.5 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 50¢ “You take every day and live it to the fullest. I've learned a lot from this experience. They don’t know a lot about childhood cancer. I've always wanted to go into the medical field. Now, I'm thinking about researching childhood cancer. Maybe my experience will someday help others.” Beth Carey is playing basketball Lake-Lehman High School after battling cancer. An inspiration for all Seth Carey remains upbeat during a battle against cancer By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor LEHMAN TWP. — Speaking with a maturity that belies her young age, Beth Carey calmly talks about the last seven months of her life as though she’s dis- cussing the time she had at summer camp. And not like a 15-year-old who has been battling cancer. “Hearing her talk about it, she makes it sound as though it was a walk in the park,” said Cheryl Carey, after listening to her daughter’s interview with a re- porter. “But that’s how she’s handled this situation. She’s been poked and prodded, but through it all she kept tell- ing us that she would be OK. She’s amazing. Words cannot express how ve- ry proud we are of her.” Last January, Carey went to the doc- after a nearly sleepless night be- cause of severe pain and swelling in her elbow. An aggressive player who fre- "quently dives to the floor, she thought it might be an injury she received while playing basketball for the Lake-Lehman freshman team. And when x-rays didn’t show any damage, she was sure of it. “I didn’t think it was a big deal,” said the daughter of Mike and Cheryl Carey of Dallas. “I didn’t have any idea.” On April 3, the Carey’s family doctor sent Beth for an MRI. When the results showed something suspicious, she was sent to the Hershey Medical Center for a biopsy. The result: non-Hodgkin's lympho- ma, a type of cancer that affects the lymph glands and bone marrow. It can also affect the brain and spinal fluid. “My first thought was that I was go- ing to lose my daughter,” said Cheryl Carey. “My second thought was ‘how to do tell your teenage daughter that she has cancer and she’s going to lose her hair.” The oncologist told Beth Carey that only one in 100,000 adolescents have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. But he also told her it was very treatable with short, but intense, chemotherapy treatment. Carey underwent four sessions of che- motherapy last summer. The first two included a dose of 10 different drugs. She was also given two chemotherapy FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK pe Beth Carey lost her hair after receiving chemotherapy. It's growing back and is almost 2 inches long. treatments to take home. “I never realized teenagers got can- cer,” she said. “I always heard about young kids and older people getting it. It was strange to hear.” Although the chemotherapy did its job by killing the cancer, there were ad- verse side affects. Carey became very ill following her second treatment and spent four days in the hospital, receiving two pints of blood and antibiotics. She also lost her shoulder-length hair, at first in little strands. And then in clumps. Carey wore a wig while her hair began to grow back. She no longer wears the wig, instead sporting her brand-new, thick hair that’s 1% inches long. Carey’s battle against cancer — and her hair loss — have been an inspiration to her teammates. Especially Lauren Spencer. In early December, the Black Knight junior had 10 inches of her hair — which hung down to the middle of her back — cut off so she could donate it to Locks of See CAREY, Page 9 An entire community comes together for blood drive in honor of Lt. Cleary American Red Cross event nets more than four times the units donated last year. BY GENELLE HOBAN and DAVE KONOPKI Post Staff DALLAS - First Lt. Mike Clea- ry always felt the Back Mountain was a special place. Protecting the way of life in this community is one of the reasons he joined @- military, said his father. And last weekend’s turnout at Red Cross is another example of why the 1999 Dallas graduate felt the way he did about the Back Mountain. Almost 200 members of the community went to the Gate of Heaven Church to donate blood in memory of Cleary. The 24- year-old platoon leader in the 3rd Infantry Division was killed Dec. 20 during an ambush near Sa- marra, Iraq. Cleary and his men were returning to their unit after successfully destroying a large cache of weapons in a bomb fac- a blood drive for the American 5 See CLEARY, Page 9 FT ——— FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Charles Rado, Civic Briefs PESTA Ya 3 Dallas, donates CHURCH iid vinasonaaissovrirns 6 blood while Don Only Yesterday.............. 4 Holdredge, Pat SCAOO! cineisoiiioniinisicasmrite 5 Suraka and SPOFES wus atinsis ites issbormssios 7 Jessica Ohl A wait for their turisintine. v How To Reach Us EAB BES AERIS PEOPLE PROFILE An active voice to help others BY GENELLE HOBAN Post Correspondent Editor’s note: This is the fust of a series of occasional stories that will feature Back Mountain residents who are active mn the dif- ferent aspects of our community. If you have a story suggestion, e-mail editor Dave Ko- nopki at dkonopki@leadernet or call him at 829-7248. TRUCKSVILLE — From attending munici- pal meetings to writing books to working part-time at his consulting business, Thomas Dombroski is a very active member in the Back Mountain community. After turning his business over to his chil- dren approximately seven years ago, Dombroski be- gan regularly attending Dallas School Board meet- ings and Kingston Town- ship supervisor's meet- ings, as well as various meetings at the county lev- el. “When I turned my YY™El things over to the children A! 7 was able to spend more ** time in the community,” he who: Thomas said. “I always wanted to Dombroski help in the community, es- Ade: 75 pecially with the senior citi- 9% zens.” Hometown: About 15 years ago Dom- Trucksville broski, a resident of Trucks- ville, said he saved the Dal- las School District a lot of money when the teachers were trying to rush through a 14 percent increase. “I saved them $8 million which was used to build Family: Mar- ried for 49 years to his wife Nancy. The couple has four children, five grandchildren and one great- grandchild. Occupation: Partially retired from the con- sulting busi- ness, author, and a former chemical engi- neer. Wycallis Elementary and the balance was used up in the middle school expan- sion,” he said. “I was a big part of implementing Act 72, as well.” Dombroski was also an instrumental part in imple- menting the dual enrollment option in the Dallas School District. “It took a year and a half, but now students can work on college courses while they are still in high school,” he said. “I came up with the idea for dual enrollment from my neph- ew who lives in Florida who earned 67 col- lege credits while in high school.” Most recently the 75-year-old was in- volved when the Aqua Pennsylvania Water Co. took over in Kingston Township. “I'm concerned about the senior citizens,” 4 he said. “The company put out a falsified me- mo and I filed a formal complaint because the company was trying to ramrod the me- ters into homes up there.” Dombroski said his mission is to prevent senior citizens from being forced out of the Back Mountain because of high property tax- | es. At the county level Dombroski lends his helping hands to the Valley Crest committee, the ongoing reassessment, and as the chair- man of the Wyoming Valley Flood Protection See DOMBROSKI, Page 9 P sand V Inside The Post 10 Pages, 1 Section News: 675-5211 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711 Advertising: 829-7101 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000
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