CANCER VIGIL IN D.C. STIRS HOPES THOUSANDS CONVERGE TO REMEMBER LOVED ONES.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- A local woman who took her teenage son to Washington, D.C., this week gave him more than a civics lesson.

Pamela Sprott, who has a rare, incurable form of cancer, represented the Santa Clarita Valley at an event designed to spur lawmakers into funding cancer research and programs.

Sprott, 56 -- who two years ago was diagnosed with a type of cancer that afflicts maybe four in a million -- and her 14-year-old son Jonathan Sprott, took their places among 10,000 others from around the country who flocked to the capital. Some were survivors, others were volunteers, researchers or doctors. More than 100 hailed from the Los Angeles area.

The hand-picked ambassadors paid a visit to every member of Congress.

``The people really put a face on cancer,'' said Eric Beikmann, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society. ``It's the faces of people who are living with cancer, people who have had this disease and people who have devoted their lives to eliminating it as a major health concern.''

Jonathan was wowed by the sights, but escorting his mom to an adult get-together Wednesday topped a moonlit tour of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial and FDR Memorial.

The pair were among thousands who held aloft glow sticks that danced like tiny fireflies around the Capitol's reflecting pool. Thousands of luminarias -- votive candles sitting inside paper bags anchored with sand -- encircled the water's edge.

``Every single luminaria is for someone who has cancer or died from cancer or is affected by cancer severely,'' the Valencia High School 10th-grader said. ``We saw two of our friends' luminarias. This is really amazing to see.''

The two-day Celebration on the Hill was sponsored by the organization's Cancer Action Network, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group.

An aide for Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, toured Sprott, her son and three other ambassadors from this district around the White House and the Capitol. On Thursday, McKeon's office said the legislator would have met with the group had he not been tied up in Congressional meetings.

The celebration stretched over Tuesday and Wednesday but the Sprotts arrived three days early and stayed three days afterward.

``It's a once in a lifetime trip for my son and me,'' Pamela Sprott said. ``I'm terminal. I don't know how long that term is. I've dodged a couple of bullets already and I'm continuing to dodge those bullets.''

After a hysterectomy to remove benign fibroids in August 2004, doctors told Sprott she has uterine leiomyosarcoma, a soft-tissue cancer. The disease migrates through the bloodstream, often lodging in the lungs, liver and blood vessels. There is no cure, only remission, and it may return anytime, anywhere.

Sprott learned later her prognosis was grim -- that she would be lucky to live two more years. She found doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and UCLA Medical Center willing to treat the aggressive disease, and has endured five rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and surgeries, including one where doctors removed 36 lung nodules. She participates in a drug trial and plans to undergo more surgery.

``No one is immune to cancer,'' Sprott said, recalling her lack of awareness about the disease before it took hold in her life. ``You never want to hear the words, `You have cancer.' It will immediately change your life.''

The visitors swapped stories at the National Mall as they milled around the temporary Wall of Hope memorial -- sprawled over four city blocks -- pieced together from 5,000 purple and white banners bearing life stories, signatures and messages scrawled by people in this special tribe.

Sprott was touched by legislators who shared testimonies at Tuesday night's rally. The memories of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., about his mom reached Jonathan's ears, while his own mother had reflections on the speech.

``(Obama) broke into tears over the death of his mother, who had uterine cancer,'' Sprott said. ``He was awesome.''

At a breakfast held for the California delegation, Sen. Dianne Feinstein shared how her former husband died of cancer as did her current husband's parents, Sprott said.

``It is touching to see so many Californians travel across the country to share their stories and fight this fight,'' Feinstein said Thursday.

Feinstein sponsored the breast cancer research postage stamp. The six cents charged above the postal rate are donated to fund research. Feinstein authored a bill she plans on reintroducing in January that would fund basic cancer research, help repay loans for researchers and increase the starting pay for National Cancer Institute researchers.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., was among 310 members of Congress who signed the Cancer Promise: a vow to make health care reform a priority.

Nearly 1.4 million people nationwide -- almost 137,000 of them Californians -- will learn this year they have cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. About 564,000 will die from this disease this year; 54,000 in this state.

Jonathan was tickled by how the California folks arranged the luminarias to spell out ``hope,'' but his eyes are wide open to loss.

``I was just thinking there are so many people who died from cancer, I'm always going to worry about it,'' he said. The music director at the church where Jonathan sometimes plays piano on the holidays was among the victims remembered with a candle.

Sprott was fueled by the camaraderie, and said she has grown closer to her husband and son since she became ill. A newfound friend Sprott credits with saving her life by linking her with specialists -- Kathy Goldring Fromberg -- fought the disease for nine years before she died in July.

When Sprott became an ambassador in February she dedicated a luminaria to Fromberg with the words ``In honor of ...''

``I fell in love with her. She was such an inspiration,'' Sprott said.

In the darkness Wednesday night, Sprott silently gazed on those words, replacing them in her soul with ``In memory of...''

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Pamela Sprott and her son, Jonathan, represented Santa Clarita Valley at a two-day cancer rally in Washington, D.C.