Claire Fonanella

Dear  Prayer Line members.   It was exactly a year ago I wrote to you, asking for your prayers for my 17 year old granddaughter, Claire Fontanella, who lives in So. Carolina with my daughter Danielle's family.  You may recall Claire was diagnosed with an invasive fast growing melanoma in the center of her back, and it had in fact, entered some of her lymph nodes in her armpits.  This was not a sun-caused melanoma but rather a fast growing kind frequently associated with adolescents and young adults.  Because my son-in-law has family in New York, they were able to take Claire to specialists at Sloan Kettering Hospital and stay there during the surgery.  The doctors removed the main growth on her back, but the ones in her lymph nodes were too small to remove.   She has been on an oral chemotherapy for a full year now, and has CAT scans every three months.  One week ago she saw her surgeon and the oncologist in New York and they found no sign of the cancer anywhere, even in the lymph nodes!  Claire is a freshman at No. Carolina State in Boone, NC.  She is no longer on the medication and will need to get follow-up CAT scans every 6 months for the next two years.  

I'm sharing this with all of you because our family is so very grateful for all your prayers and thoughts re. our Claire.  And we realize how fortunate we are for this positive outcome, and for being part of a loving, caring parish family. Thank you all so much.   Charlene and Bill Brannan and our family