Seventh-grader Diana Magana, for whom Spring Grove School will hold a fundraiser dinner this Thursday. Magana was diagnosed with osteosarcoma - a cancer of the bones - last August.
This Thursday night, Spring Grove School will be hold a fundraiser dinner for seventh-grade student Diana Magana, who has osteosarcoma.
Diana was diagnosed with osteosarcoma - a cancer of the bones - last August. She had a knee replacement surgery in November and in February she had an extensive lung surgery, from which she is recovering.
The funds raised from the dinner will help her family with bills and gas, said Diana's mom, Mariela Alfaro. The dinner will include pasta, salad, rolls and beverages for a family of four. The cost is $20 per family.
"We didn't even know (the fundraiser) was going on" until recently, Alfaro said.
Diana was diagnosed two months after she had suffered an injury. If she had not hurt herself, the family might not have known she had osteosarcoma, her mother said. She had a big bump on her knee and was in pain, and they decided to take her to the doctor.
Diana is currently getting chemotherapy treatment four times a week, her mother said. She goes three weeks out of a month, then has three weeks off.
Doctors saved her leg, but she won't be as active as she once was.
"I can't play basketball anymore," Diana said.
It has been hard on Diana and the rest of the family, her mom said. Everything just changes your life once this happens, she said.
"She's very strong," Alfaro said.
The mother had to quit her job so she could be with Diana and her husband is in the agriculture business, so when there is bad weather he is out of work, Mariela said. Mariela takes Diana to Stanford for her medical appointments and has to travel to Mountain View for the chemotherapy sessions, Alfaro said.
Once Diana recovers fully from the lung surgery, the family hopes she can go back to school.
The fundraiser is Thursday night from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and take-out is available. For tickets call Spring Grove Elementary School at 637-5574.
Kristen Tolleson Kristen Tolleson covers San Benito County and education for the Free Lance. Contact her at ktolleson@freelancenews.com or (831) 637-5566, ext. 335.
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