Turning to island friends in need

Published 6:00 am Saturday, May 17, 2003

One evening last October, former islander Carimay Madayag Marquez Siyam and her husband, Freedom Siyam, were driving along Seattle’s Second Avenue, trying to find a parking space.

The couple were on their way to a show by Musiq, one of their favorite performers.

“The last thing I remember was thinking, ‘Gosh, can you find a parking lot?’” Siyam said. “We never made it to the concert.”

Their lives changed in an instant as 27-year-old Siyam had a seizure; she learned the next day that she had a brain tumor.

Siyam underwent surgery and then intensive radiation. Now her friends and relatives are planning a May 31 benefit to help defray the couple’s mounting medical expenses.

Siyam has decided not to have chemotherapy, a treatment that might leave the young woman infertile, and the effectiveness of which would be uncertain.

“The chemotherapy doctor said there are no studies done on the type of cancer I have,” she said.

While the chemotherapy would have cost $2,500 per month, the MRIs she has elected to have every three months, instead, are also expensive at $600-900 dollars per treatment.

Siyam, who earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Washington State University in 2001, was a nurse at Swedish Hospital when she fell ill. However, since she had only been on the job for three months, she wasn’t eligible for insurance.

But her mother-in-law, Erlinda Cupp, also a health care professional, was able to mobilize friends who work at Swedish to donate vacation time to increase Siyam’s hours and make her eligible for benefits – a solution that got the nod from both the hospital and Siyam’s insurance agency.

Because she had had a seizure, Siyam’s license was revoked for six months. Unable to drive, Siyam grappled with isolation as she struggled to accept her cancer.

“It was pretty bad in January, February and March,” Siyam said. “It was pretty depressed knowing I had brain cancer. But the past three weeks I’ve been getting out a lot more.”

Doctors have told her that the tumor may recur. But it is slow-growing, notes Siyam’s mother, Anita Marquez, a special education paraprofessional in Bainbridge schools for 20 years.

Marquez has also had to come to grips with her daughter’s illness.

“As a mother, you don’t expect this to happen to your kid,” she said. “People ask ‘Is she OK?’ I just tell people, ‘I’ve never prayed so hard.’”

With Siyam’s family on both sides deeply rooted in Kitsap – her grandfather, Toribio Madayag, was a well-known island strawberry farmer and one-time president of the Filipino American community association – her daughter has lots of support, Marquez says.

Siyam has returned to her job, working part-time with oncology and HIV patients.

Her spirits also received a boost when the Filipino American community decided to put on the benefit.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Siyam said. “My husband and I, it’s something we’re really grateful for, getting this extra help.”

——-

Join Bainbridge’s Filipino American community in a benefit to raise funds for Carimay Madayag Marquez Siyam during her recovery from cancer, May 31 at the Filipino American Community Hall.

The evening opens with a social hour from 5-6 p.m., for guests to view the raffle and auction items, which include a Mariners ticket package and baskets by local merchants.

The dinner event, including a sumptuous Filipino meal, will begin at 6 p.m. and will feature traditional Filipino dance by Mark Salanga. Tickets are $12. For more information, or to make a donation to a Washington Mutual benevolent fund set up for Siyam, call 842-5428.