Childhood Triumph Fuels Fundraiser for Cancer Cure

Hermosa Beach resident Adrienne Slaughter was 14 and a competitive tennis player when she started experiencing a strange pain in her right knee.

The doctor discovered that she had osteosarcoma, a malignant bone tumor that usually develops in teenagers as their bodies go through the rapid growing process. 

"It doesn't have a high cure rate, and it's commonly misdiagnosed," Slaughter told Patch.

Her first reaction and question to the doctor after hearing the news was, "Will I ever play tournament tennis again?"

"I didn't think about life or death at all,” she said.

Two weeks after Slaughter had experienced the first pain in her knee and consulted with a surgeon, she had to get her right leg amputated in order to stop the cancer from spreading—and even that didn't stop Slaughter's determination to return to tennis.

"I just wanted to get back on the tennis court, with or without a real leg,” she said.

Crediting her faith and support from family and friends, Slaughter was given a prosthetic leg and diagnosed as "cured" from osteosarcoma five years after her surgery, during her third year of college.

She was already volunteering as a public speaker one year after the surgery, getting invitations from several corporations like Coca-Cola, Georgia Power and Delta Air Lines, to talk about her experiences with cancer.

When she reached her 25th year as cancer-free, Slaughter wanted to start helping other children survive the disease. Together with the Woman's Club of Hermosa Beach, she started the fundraiser "" in 2006.

"The first fundraiser was for Cure Search, and we managed to raise a little over $5,000," Slaughter remembered. “We've been supporting a different group every year. The second and third year, we helped Ronald McDonald House and St. Baldrick's Foundation. Last year, we managed to raise $10,400 for the Sunshine Kids Foundation."

Cancer seemed to be a part of Slaughter’s past.

She was considered "cured" and returned to playing tennis, as well as snow skiing and rock climbing. But then Slaughter went to get her first mammogram 28 years later. She got diagnosed with the initial stage of breast cancer.

"It was very scary, but I've always tried to see the sun behind the clouds," she said. "The doctors didn't think the cancer was hereditary. Instead they suspected that it developed as a result of the radiation therapy I got when I was a teenager."

The breast cancer was at the zero stage, so Slaughter didn't have to go through the chemo and radiation therapy again. But she did end up getting a double mastectomy done.

"I went through over 20 hours of surgery in total," she said. "But again, I got incredible support from people, including the South Bay community and local clubs. Friends seemed to be coming out of the woodwork. There have been a couple of very special, supportive members of the Woman's Club, who are cancer survivors themselves. They would give advice and check in on me as I went to medical appointments."

The right mental attitude is one of the key things you need to get through cancer, Slaughter said. When she visits children with cancer at hospitals, she shares her experiences in order to give them hope.

"When you're young, you think you're the only one who's got it," she said. "So I'll tell them, 'hey, look, I grew my hair back—you'll get it back too.'"

A fundraiser Saturday at the Kiwanis Hall will support the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center at Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach.

The founding medical director of the center, Jerry Finklestein, and Renae Furlow (who heads the center's fundraising efforts) will attend the local event, as well as families and children who have survived cancer.

"We'll have a full cash bar… is supplying the catering for the third year in a row, since the guests have loved their food at our previous fundraisers," Slaughter said. "Since it's a family event, we'll also have an arts and crafts table for the kids. After the dinner, Michael Paul Morgan and the Rogues Rock 'n' Blues Band will be playing, and everyone will be able to dance and celebrate life."

A large silent auction will also be featured.

The money from the fundraiser will either be going to a general endowment for a new facility at the Miller Children's Hospital that's opening in 2012, or it will go to the Parent's Against Cancer group to help families of children with cancer get transportation to medical care.

Tickets are available online before 12 noon, but later must be purchased at the event, which kicks off at 5 p.m.