THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230662
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: 64 lines
Friends will gather Saturday to celebrate the short but happy life of Molly Page. And one that those who knew her will never forget.
``Molly was extremely optimistic, always had a smile, always saw the bright side,'' says Dr. Pamela Gray.
``In the depths of a severe case of lupus, Molly organized the Eastern Virginia Chapter of the Lupus Foundation and ran it from her bed for many years.''
Its membership, increasing steadily since Molly Page's death in 1990, has doubled, to 280.
A 7 p.m. fund-raising dinner for the chapter will be held Saturday at the Holiday Inn Executive Center, on Greenwich Road off the Norfolk-Virginia Beach Expressway at the Newtown Road south exit.
Tickets are $35 each or $60 per couple, with a cash bar opening at 6:30 p.m. The Flute Choir of the Governor's Magnet School and the Hurrah Players will entertain.
``Keep it light,'' President Lillie Wilson told the speaker - me. ``Tell a story or two that made her smile.'' I agreed.
In our chats, her laugh always made it easy to tell a few.
The daughter of Walter Page, chief judge of Norfolk Circuit Court, Molly earned a degree in nursing at Duke University.
Hospitalized two years later, she organized the chapter to aid other victims. She spread awareness of lupus, arranged lectures by East Coast experts, talked on radio shows and helped educate medical students about patients.
``I'm the only one at our meetings in a wheelchair,'' she once said. ``If the others see me in a wheelchair, they feel they can do things, too.''
Her activities for them gave her life meaning in much the same way her nursing had, Molly said. ``I like being needed. I like having someone depend on me.''
Nobody can say lupus won't stop invading or a cure won't be found, she said. ``There's always hope.''
At the last century's turn, most lupus patients died of their disease. ``Now many are productive, have families and every hope of living a normal life span,'' Gray noted.
Lupus inflames organs and destroys tissues. The agent that triggers the gene in humans has not been identified, Gray added.
Researchers have isolated in mice the gene that causes lupus, she said, and with genetic manipulation cure the mice. That potential is available to humans.
``The problem is that it can't legally be done with humans,'' Gray said. ``People fear the technology. They have yet to come to terms with the medical advances.
``Since we can't legally manipulate genetic material with humans, we rely on treatment that suppresses a patient's immune response.'' Therapies include exercise, diet, rest, medication, shunning sunlight, ``and the most important thing Molly had - a positive outlook.''
Her hope, for others, is nearing. MEMO: For reservations to attend the fund-raiser, call 490-2793 or
485-5805. ILLUSTRATION: Molly Page had a smile no one will forget. A
fund-raiser for the local Lupus Foundation will be held Saturday in
her honor. by CNB