THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9509290197
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Sarah Anne Hall has been forced to put some of her dreams on hold, but she's looking to join the three out of four people with Hodgkin's disease who are cured.
``If you have to have cancer,'' says the 21-year-old woman, ``this is the one to have because of the cure rate.''
Her physician, Dr. George Savides, calls the Hodgkin's cure rate ``a success story.'' Still, Hall had to leave her job at Main Street Day Care Center and drop her night classes at Paul D. Camp Community College. ``But I'll go back,'' she vowed.
Hall, 21, was born and raised in Suffolk, where she intends to stay after college and teach in elementary school.
Before that, though, chemotherapy. It is under way and will last from six to nine months, followed by six weeks of radiation, five days a week.
Hall said she has a growing tumor, the size of a softball, between the heart and lungs.
The treatment will mean loss of her long, blonde hair, ``but I can always get some wigs,'' she said. ``Maybe, after, my hair will grow back with some curls.''
Hall's family and friends hope to raise enough money to pay the medical bills - expected to be between $10,000 and $15,000, said Cathy Stancell, who works at Central Fidelity Bank with Sarah's mother, Sarah Gray.
``Fourteen antibiotic pills cost nearly $50, and I have to take about six a day,'' said Hall.
She learned of her affliction with the disease while her husband, Thomas, was between jobs.
He since has been hired by Holly's Inc.
``A lot of people want to help Sarah Anne,'' Stancell said. Central Fidelity is handling money raised in her behalf. The Suffolk Ruritan Club has donated $250 and is including Hall in next year's budget, and Bethlehem Christian Church has a Sarah Ann Hall Fund. Contributions are tax-deductible.
``Sometimes, I wonder: why me?'' Hall said. ``We've been married just a year . . . '' She and her husband moved in with his parents, Dudd and Mattie Hall, of Cedar Street.
Most painful so far, Hall said, was leaving the day care youngsters she loves. She can't see them because of her weak immune system. ``I miss my kids greatly.''
When the kids found out about her illness, they filled a box with pajamas, bath oils, teddy bears, books and balloons. Money gifts, she said, ``go straight to the bills.''
Hall's father-in-law has lung cancer, her grandmother had breast cancer and her grandfather had brain cancer. ``It's been around me. Otherwise, it would've hit me harder emotionally.''
She has two dogs, a rabbit and a bird. ``As long as I can still be with my animals, I'm OK,'' she said. Among her favorite animals are horses at Chesapeake Training Center, where she works in exchange for lessons and rides.
``I really enjoy riding,'' she said. ``I go at my own pace. I try not to sit and watch TV. I do something around the house.''
She walks her dogs and tries to get outdoors as often as possible.
Hall knows there are hard times ahead. ``I don't let it get me down.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Sarah Anne Hall had to leave her job at Main Street Day Care Center
and drop her night classes at Paul D. Camp Community College.
Graphic
HELPING OUT
Contributions to help with medical bills may be made at these
Central Fidelity Bank locations in Suffolk: 201 N. Main St., 907 W.
Washington St., and at Farm Fresh.
Bethlehem Christian Church also has established the Sarah Ann
Hall Fund.
by CNB