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Christina's Garden
Photo
Sitting by the garden planted by the late Christina Camardese Savage are, from left, Donna Savage of Boardman, her mother-in-law; Jack Savage of Liberty, her husband, and Amy Camardese of Liberty, her mother. Jack Savage is building two websites in tribute to his late wife, www.christinasgarden.org, and www.managecancer.org, to help cancer patients fi nd resources. He also plans to develop other programs to help cancer patients.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
LIBERTY
Cancer robbed Christina Camardese Savage of her life but not her story as a young woman with determination, courage and a passion for gardening.
That story lives on in the legacy she left with her husband, Jack Savage, and family and friends. A website, www.christinasgarden.org, currently under construction, will chronicle her 10-year battle with brain tumors. The site is so named because Christina had an interest in gardening since childhood, said her mother, Amy Camardese.
A companion website, www.managecancer.org, also under construction, will provide cancer patients and their families with information and links to resources to help with finances, medication and doctor’s appointment schedules, communication, support and education.
Jack Savage, a lawyer, has put his career on hold to work on this project.
Savage said Christina was having migraines that led to her diagnosis. She was a senior at Miami University of Ohio, and they were dating.
The week of Thanksgiving in 1998, Christina had an MRI, was diagnosed with a brain tumor and went to the Cleveland Clinic where she had surgery a week later. “Two weeks later she was like ‘Wonder Woman,’” her husband said. “No one would guess she had just had surgery.”
But, he said, that was her way — taking the tragic news, feeling sad and upset for a time and then “doing whatever we had to do and move on.”
“The tumor was described as low-grade and slow growing,” Camardese said, noting that the surgery didn’t get the whole tumor. “She went five years, and everything was OK.”
Christina and Jack married July 1, 2000, under the shadow of cancer. She had a second surgery in April 2001, and radiation followed.
Christina worked for the Ohio Bicentennial Commission, E Auction Block, the American Cancer Society and became a certified personal trainer. “That was her dream job,” Savage said. Christina had graduated magna cum laude with a degree in exercise science from Miami University. He and Christina both graduated from Liberty High School.
Overall, Christina had five surgeries for brain tumors, radiation and took four different types of chemotherapy. Savage said many people who knew Christina didn’t realize what she was going through because of her upbeat demeanor. “She bounced back after the surgeries and treatment,” her husband said, but noted that didn’t happen the last time. “She didn’t come back as she had before,” he said.
The last tumor was diagnosed as aggressive.
Christina died Jan. 27, 2009, a week before her 32nd birthday Feb. 3.
“She was fighting until the end,” her husband said.