Chemotherapy

A soothing touch and sense of inner peace is what volunteer therapists at Spa Gregorie’s in Newport Beach hope to impart to their cancer patients. Massage therapist and co-founder Johnette du Rand started Spa Gregorie’s Greet the Day program in 2003, offering patients undergoing chemotherapy complimentary spa treatments at a four-hour “Spa Day Retreat” at one of their locations. The spa works with physicians and oncologists at cancer treatment centers, and patients must have a referral from the center along with a doctor’s release before they may participate in the spa day program.

NEWPORT BEACH — Hoag Cancer Center now has a small library, thanks to a group of Newport Elementary School students who collected close to 100 books, then donated them to the center today. The book drive began about a month ago after a pair of children noticed that the patient reception area didn't have anything for them to read. They'd been waiting for their mother, who was undergoing a serious round of chemotherapy for breast cancer, which had spread throughout parts of her body.

NEWPORT BEACH — Julian Dunn, 7, did a warm-up dance in his living room Friday morning to his favorite song, "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," by the '80s funk group the Gap Band. Julian, who has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for an aggressive form of cancer, was gearing up for a special visit at his Newport Beach home. The Game Bus, a converted school bus filled with video game consoles and big-screen TVs, stopped by to treat Julian and his friends to an hour of fun. Julian was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2008.

There wasn't a big match to be played on Tuesday, but a member of the UC Irvine men's volleyball team remained nervous for an important event dealing with the Anteaters. If you were at the celebration ceremony to honor the UCI team's national championship you wouldn't notice he was a bit anxious. But you could understand his excitement. There he was, Kevin Freeman, in his No. 1 gold jersey standing with his teammates at UCI. It was a big day for him. "I was happy to be with everybody," Kevin said a day later.

Wiggin Out, a salon in Newport Beach, can use clients' own locks to craft post-chemotherapy hair extensions.Let's make one thing clear: Newport Beach's Wiggin Out Salon is not a wig store. In fact, owner Constance Walsh had a specifically anti-wig agenda when she opened her salon. "It was created so that women wouldn't have to wear wigs," Walsh said. Her idea was to provide a service for women who have undergone chemotherapy and lost their hair. Walsh and her three employees can craft hair extensions by cutting a clients' hair and saving it for when she finishes treatment.

Jennifer Kho Bouncing up and down and yelling "Yay, yay, yay! Out, out, out!" Hannah Butler, 8, anticipates the end of her chemotherapy treatment. She is friendly and high-spirited, and has battled bone marrow leukemia with endurance and energy for more than two years. Hannah goes to the doctor for blood tests every two weeks, takes daily chemotherapy pills and has regular spinal taps, biopsies and shots in her legs, spine and chest. She has a catheter in her chest for chemotherapy injections and sometimes she can't leave the house for weeks at a time because her immune system is weak from medication.

Steve Virgen Water is a symbol for rebirth, and for cleansing. This has been true in Amy Catlin's life. She began swimming when she was 8 and showed great promise at age 12, but something happened to her that altered her life. Before, her challenges were all about beating a time on a stopwatch. But suddenly she took on tests of will and overcoming a life-threatening illness: leukemia. Catlin, a Corona del Mar High junior, seemingly used the water as a source of strength and refuge from her battles with leukemia and other ailments.

Roger Carlson NEWPORT BEACH - It's one thing to envision yourself on a trail, suddenly confronted with a tiger in your path, holding your ground and staring it down without a twitch. Surely, it's not easily done. Linda Isle resident Paul Salata not only looked the tiger in the eye, but sent it away laughing. The 74-year-old ironman has spent a great deal of his life doing for others. And he has provided Newport Beach with the unique reputation surrounding his favorite pastime, Irrelevant Week, honoring the last player taken in the annual National Football League draft.

ROGER CARLSON The Big Easy didn't seem to be all that easy, at times, over the past nine months. But I have to tell you something: It's a lot easier right now. A few days ago my chemotherapy doctor told me he'd like to see me in three months for a checkup and gave me my graduation diploma by way of a doctor's order to get rid of this thing inbedded in my chest called a port-a-cath. The device is a little button that makes it a lot easier to apply the medication that has made me whole.

Deepa Bharath There's one thing Costa Mesa Police Officer Dave Makiyama can't do very well. Quit. Give up. Take it lying down. The 43-year-old officer, who was a training officer and tactical team leader for the department's SWAT team, learned he had cancer in May 2003. "It was a shock," said the mild-mannered officer, who returned to active, full-time duty on July 6. Makiyama went to the doctor after he observed a lump on his chest that was growing larger.

There wasn't a big match to be played on Tuesday, but a member of the UC Irvine men's volleyball team remained nervous for an important event dealing with the Anteaters. If you were at the celebration ceremony to honor the UCI team's national championship you wouldn't notice he was a bit anxious. But you could understand his excitement. There he was, Kevin Freeman, in his No. 1 gold jersey standing with his teammates at UCI. It was a big day for him. "I was happy to be with everybody," Kevin said a day later.

NEWPORT BEACH — Julian Dunn, 7, did a warm-up dance in his living room Friday morning to his favorite song, "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," by the '80s funk group the Gap Band. Julian, who has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for an aggressive form of cancer, was gearing up for a special visit at his Newport Beach home. The Game Bus, a converted school bus filled with video game consoles and big-screen TVs, stopped by to treat Julian and his friends to an hour of fun. Julian was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2008.

NEWPORT BEACH — Hoag Cancer Center now has a small library, thanks to a group of Newport Elementary School students who collected close to 100 books, then donated them to the center today. The book drive began about a month ago after a pair of children noticed that the patient reception area didn't have anything for them to read. They'd been waiting for their mother, who was undergoing a serious round of chemotherapy for breast cancer, which had spread throughout parts of her body.

She knew sign language and would often sign while she played the piano and sang. It was the epitome of multitasking, and even though her students were just kindergartners, she tried to pass on these attributes to them through the years. But on Monday, Andersen Elementary in Newport Beach "lost a legend" in Carol Jewell, who taught at the school for more than two decades but died of cancer after a two-year battle, Principal Mary Manos said Tuesday. Jewell was 68. "It's so sad," Manos said.

Cancer made 11-year-old Tommy Conforti and movie producer Frankie Smith friends. Tommy has acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The disease attacks the body’s white blood cells and weakens the immune system. Smith, who lives in Corona del Mar, was diagnosed with the same disease when he was 14. He and Tommy met through one of Tommy’s neighbors, who suggested the two cancer survivors get to know each other. Now, the two trade sarcastic jokes and talk about movies together like brothers.

This corrects an earlier version of the story. Christine Shively didn’t know the bald woman she saw coming out of the hospital’s cancer ward last summer, and she hadn’t crocheted in more than 30 years. Still, with time on her hands, and the woman’s image fresh in her mind, Shively went home, brushed up on her skills and began crocheting brightly colored “chemo caps” she would then donate to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Knots-Of-Love, the organization Shively founded in her Newport Beach home, was born within days.

A soothing touch and sense of inner peace is what volunteer therapists at Spa Gregorie’s in Newport Beach hope to impart to their cancer patients. Massage therapist and co-founder Johnette du Rand started Spa Gregorie’s Greet the Day program in 2003, offering patients undergoing chemotherapy complimentary spa treatments at a four-hour “Spa Day Retreat” at one of their locations. The spa works with physicians and oncologists at cancer treatment centers, and patients must have a referral from the center along with a doctor’s release before they may participate in the spa day program.

After her most recent haircut at Holiday Salon in Costa Mesa, Jojo Stassel, 9, left thinking she looked a bit like her younger brother, but still feeling really good about it. Two weeks ago, Jojo and her friends Claire Olmstead and Olivia Zehnder — all of Newport Beach — made good on a pact they formed more than a year ago to each donate 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit that provides hairpieces to children with medical...

Wiggin Out, a salon in Newport Beach, can use clients' own locks to craft post-chemotherapy hair extensions.Let's make one thing clear: Newport Beach's Wiggin Out Salon is not a wig store. In fact, owner Constance Walsh had a specifically anti-wig agenda when she opened her salon. "It was created so that women wouldn't have to wear wigs," Walsh said. Her idea was to provide a service for women who have undergone chemotherapy and lost their hair. Walsh and her three employees can craft hair extensions by cutting a clients' hair and saving it for when she finishes treatment.

ROGER CARLSON The Big Easy didn't seem to be all that easy, at times, over the past nine months. But I have to tell you something: It's a lot easier right now. A few days ago my chemotherapy doctor told me he'd like to see me in three months for a checkup and gave me my graduation diploma by way of a doctor's order to get rid of this thing inbedded in my chest called a port-a-cath. The device is a little button that makes it a lot easier to apply the medication that has made me whole.