Fund, benefit set up for cancer patient

By Denise Dick

Patrick Reagan’s wife, Megan, grew up in McDonald.

Family of a Central Ohio man with Mahoning Valley ties hopes the community offers help in the man’s battle against a rare cancer.

Patrick Reagan, 32, suffers from Ewing’s sarcoma, a bone cancer that usually affects children. He was diagnosed at 25.

After surgery and rounds of chemotherapy, the father of two daughters thought he had it beat.

“Three months short of five years later, it came back and they found seven tumors in his lungs,” said Patty Guarnieri of Boardman.

Her husband, George, is the uncle of Patrick’s wife, Megan.

Reagan underwent several more rounds of chemo, but the tumors have persisted.

The latest battle marks the third time the cancer has emerged.

Patrick and Megan live in Newark, near Columbus, and he is a Cincinnati native. Megan, whose maiden name is Malcomson, grew up in McDonald. Her parents, Charles and Theresa Malcomson, still live in the village — and she has family in Struthers and Cortland, too.

Patrick has been accepted into a clinical trial at a Houston hospital. That treatment, which won’t be covered by insurance, requires him to travel to a Houston hospital every two weeks for at least a year.

“He’s feeling better now,” Megan said of her husband. “He just had his first treatment on Wednesday.”

The treatment is an insulinlike antibody and, unlike chemotherapy, doesn’t leave patients feeling ill, Megan said. Reagan returned to work a day after his first treatment.

Doctors are optimistic about his prospects with the treatment, she said.

“They’ve had good results with it in the past,” Megan said.

A temporary apartment close to that hospital while Reagan undergoes the infusions isn’t feasible, Guarnieri said, because he plans to continue working at his job as an engineer.

The Reagans met while attending Ohio University in Athens. They were dating when he was initially diagnosed and married six years ago while the disease was in remission.

The couple’s daughters, Avery, 4, and Amelia, 2, understand that their father has to travel twice monthly to Texas, but that’s the extent of their knowledge of the situation, Megan said.

“With the chemo, it was really hard on them,” she said.

Their father was in the hospital for about a week, and when he returned home, he was too weak and nauseated to play with them.

Family members have established an account, the Patrick Reagan Benefit Fund, at Cortland Bank branches, to help the couple. Besides the costs of treatment, the Reagans also face the expense of airfare.

“If someone has air miles that they could donate, that would be great,” Guarnieri said.

To donate air miles, call Guarnieri at (330) 782-7210.

“I just want to say thanks to my family and friends for all of their support and prayers,” Megan said.

A benefit and jewelry sale for the couple is planned for 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 8 at Salon Stefano, 123 W. Liberty St., Girard.

“In a few patients, they’ve seen complete eradication of the disease,” Megan said. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”

denise_dick@vindy.com