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April 2013
SCIARA
CONTINUED from page 1 chemo, Sciara started seeing signs of hair loss and had Austin shave her head. She ultimately decided to go without a wig. Her aunt made her a hat that said “No Hair Day” to protect her head. “I wasn’t ashamed, and I wanted my boys to see faith and courage,” she said, “and just because I looked different, I was the same person inside.” Sciara didn’t want her illness to affect her children negatively and was grateful to finish chemo before Christmas.
‘I just wanted to be a mom and take care of my boys.’ – Pam Sciara “My sons weren’t used to seeing me laying on the couch not feeling good,” Sciara said. “I wanted it to be as normal as possible when they were out of school for Christmas break. I wanted us to celebrate and not worry about cancer.” But their break was short lived. In January 2011, the second round of her treatment began: radiation therapy. Sciara drove herself to the Shelby Cancer Center every weekday for seven weeks for radiation. During treatment, Sciara took a leave of absence from working as a substitute teacher and for an after-school day care at Chelsea Park Elementary. “My youngest didn’t like seeing me like that,” she said of Vincent, so she felt it best not to worry the other children. Her husband worked extra hours to make up for lost income, and her friends brought the family meals. “You truly find out who your friends are,” Sciara said. When she was finally deemed cancer-
280 Living free, the suffering wasn’t over. Sciara had a hysterectomy shortly after radiation therapy as a preventative measure for relapse. The tissue expanders she had implanted after her double mastectomy caused issues throughout her treatment and finally collapsed, as her tissue kept rejecting reconstruction. In one year, she’d had seven surgeries. She had had enough. “I just wanted to be a mom and take care of my boys,” Sciara said. “I didn’t want them to have another summer with me constantly at the doctor.” After reconstruction failed, she settled for using a prosthesis. “Breasts aren’t as big of a deal as my life,” she wrote in a journal entry. On May 16, 2011 as a part of Relay for Life Chelsea, Sciara participated as a first time cancer survivor and held a sign during the Survivor’s Lap. Going around the track and telling her story with other survivors made a lasting impression on her. Two years later, in February 2013, Sciara found herself standing before the Chelsea Relay for Life Kickoff Party telling her story again. She spoke about the mammogram that changed her life and God’s help through it all. At 43, Sciara believes she has a purpose to share her story and to advocate getting yearly checkups and mammograms. Relay for Life Chelsea will begin at 6 p.m. on May 3 at Chelsea High School and run until 10 a.m. the next day. Sciara will be there with her team “Pam’s Purpose,” walking and sharing her experience with others. Relay for Life of Oak Mountain will be held at 4 p.m. on April 26 at Heardmont Park Stadium. For more on either Relay event, visit relayforlife.org or contact Paula Johnson at 918-3212 or paula. johnson@cancer.org. Relay for Life of Oak Mountain will be held at 4 p.m. on April 26 at Heardmont Park Stadium.
Author shares stories of the wild outdoors with LPMS students
Liberty Park Middle School students pose with Watt Key, author of Alabama Moon.
Watt Key, author of Alabama Moon, visited Liberty Park Middle School recently to share his experiences. Key, a native of Point Clear, Ala., spoke to students about growing up by the bay with a swamp across the street. The oldest of seven children, he told many stories about his interesting childhood. He attended a school where there were only nine boys in his class. He also used a boat to get around, didn’t watch a lot of television and had a pet grey squirrel named Smokey. As a child, Key was very interested in trapping animals. He explained that he ate, skinned or kept animals he caught. With one of the hides, he once made a squirrel purse for his mother with the tail hanging down. Key told students his mother knew he was proud of his accomplishment, so she took the purse to church. Key attended Birmingham-Southern College but was discouraged in his writing classes. He said that his grammar skills were not the best and that he hadn’t read a lot of the books that the other students had read. He did decide to write on his own. “It is kinda of like playing a guitar; if you enjoy it you are going to do it anyway,” he said.
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He said he completed his first novel as a freshman in college but did not get a book deal until he was 34 years old. In the meantime, he worked as a computer programmer. His book, Alabama Moon, came from an experience he and his friends had as college students. During interim term, Key, 19 at the time, decided to design his own course. The topic was “Surviving in the Woods.” He and two friends spent two weeks in the swamp trying to survive. They bought bows and arrows from yard sales and only took ponchos, sleeping bags, a hatchet, candles, matches and a skillet into the wild. They did not take a tent and only had the clothes on their backs. The nearest store was five miles away. Key described to students how for food they used the bow and arrows and shot a water moccasin and five little pigs. He also killed an armadillo and cut off its shell. Their other food consisted of pine needle tea, pine bark and toasted acorns. By the last day Key said he was so weak he could barely stand and had lost 15 pounds. Key’s visit was coordinated by LPMS Librarian Jean Deal. - Submitted by Liberty Park Middle School.
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