Community rallies around Trinity senior with cancer

Most teenagers celebrate their 18th birthday surrounded by family and friends.
Mitch Zavallo spent his 18th birthday, Jan. 11, receiving his first round of chemotherapy.
The Trinity High School senior was recently diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma of the bone, a rare cancer that begins in the bone, rather than the lymph nodes. The cancer is aggressive and, because of its origin, is more likely to reoccur.
His mother, Hollie Anderson Zavallo, said Mitch has a long road to recovery, but an outpouring of support from the community made a world of difference in buoying her son’s spirits. So much so, in fact, the family is looking forward to a spaghetti dinner being held in the teen’s honor.
“He’s afraid. He’s anxious,” Zavallo, of South Strabane Township said, “but so many people have reached out to him. It’s overwhelming.”
The fundrasier, A Miracle for Mitch, will be held Feb. 22 at Bentleyville Fire Hall, 900 Main St., from noon to 6 p.m., and will include entertainment and raffles. Tickets can be purchased by calling Lori Spina at 724-986-8279 or Jane Ann Vittone at 724-366-3918. Tickets will also be available at the door.
Organizers aren’t setting a monetary fundraising goal.
“This is more about support than actually fundraising,” Spina, of Fallowfield Township, said.
Zavallo said the family’s “nightmare” started over the summer, when her son began to complain about knee pain. It was sporadic at first, but eventually began to keep the teen up at night. So, she made an appointment for her son with an orthopedic surgeon, who prescribed physical therapy.
“They had him for a month, and he wasn’t getting better, so they sent us for an MRI,” she said. “That’s when they found white spots on his bones.”
It’s been nothing but a whirlwind of doctor appointments since the discovery, and the holidays were anything but enjoyable as they waited for information, Zavallo said. But help from family and friends made it bearable. Zavallo said Trinity School District has been extremely supportive, and continues to work with her so Mitch can graduate with his class in the spring.
In the meantime, Mitch will continue to undergo chemotherapy. He’s expected to receive 18 weeks with six to eight hours of treatment occurring every three weeks. Zavallo said doctors are concerned the cancer may spread to his brain, and additional chemotherapy to his spinal cord was added this week.
While her son’s future is unknown, Zavallo hopes to one day pay it forward.
“I just hope, when it is all said and done, that we can help someone the way the community has helped us,” she said. “It’s just been so unbelievable.”