You're Better, We're Cooking!

Delia Ottani returned to the joys of her life after treatment for lung cancer at Stamford Hospital's Bennett Cancer Center.

At her company picnic in August, Delia Ottani played volleyball for four hours - impressive in itself, but especially considering that the 50-year-old Trumbull resident's right lung was removed just a few months before, her lung cancer diagnosis in January. Mrs. Ottani said the diagnosis was a shock, but she knew she'd be fine because of what Dr. Steven Thau, pulmonary specialist said when he gave her the news. "When I learned I had cancer, my first thought was, oh no, who will take care of my mother? She's 86 and lives in Massachusetts and every Wednesday I go up and spend time with her. Dr Thau's answer was, 'I guess you'll just have to get better to get back up there so you can take care of her yourself'. What a wonderful answer! From that point on, I was obviously very upset but I knew I was going to be okay."

Treatment began immediately at the Bennett Cancer Center, where Mrs. Ottani says the help of lung cancer coordinator Melissa Ronk was invaluable. "I thought what on earth will I need a coordinator for? How could it be so complicated? But it turns out you have one appointment after the next. I looked at each as a step in the right direction -- you get through that, then you go on to the next one. Melissa was so helpful to me through the entire experience." Mrs. Ottani received a total of four chemo infusions, each of which took 10 hours - two before and two after the surgical removal of her right lung. She was in the hospital for only three days. "After having my lung removed!," she says, "it's really pretty amazing."

A particularly poignant memory that she shared involved a difficult moment, the winter evening when she had just finished her first arduous chemo treatment. "I was standing there waiting for my husband to pick me up," she said, "and I felt awful and sick and tired. One of the janitors came by - I later made a point to find out his name, which is Terry - and gave me a kind look and asked if I was okay. I said yes, but of course, I really didn't feel that way. He told me not to worry, that I was going to be fine. And it made me feel so good! I went back to thank him later and tell him how much that small moment had meant to me - I just never, ever felt alone." She notes that she is grateful for the support of her family, including her husband Tony, who attended every appointment with her, and of her three children. "I was surrounded by love and that helps you get better too."

Mrs. Ottani made some changes to her life when she returned home --- including a switch to green, natural cleaning products and tossing out the scented candles she'd always enjoyed having in her home because she needed to eliminate dangerous environmental chemicals. But she resumed her normal activities quickly, including returning to work. "It was important to me to keep doing what I do - cleaning and doing laundry and even during the worst days, when I was sick after my chemotherapy, I made the effort to get up and spend time with my four-year-old grandson when he came to visit. We cook together whenever he visits - the days I was really sick, I couldn't cook with him and I didn't cook with him if he had a cold or anything either. I told him we didn't want to spread our germs. One day when I was better and we were baking again, he turned to me and said … 'look, you're feeling better, we're cooking!'"