She’s leading the fight against cancer

A 10-year-old Glen Ridge girl, with a rare syndrome predisposing her to certain cancers, is a leader in a campaign for pediatric cancer research.

Zoe LeRoy, a fifth-grader at Ridgewood Elementary School and cancer survivor, was diagnosed in 2020 with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). She will require lifelong monitoring, but together with three other youngsters, has been chosen as an ambassador for the annual tri-state area Stop & Shop pediatric cancer campaign.

In 2015, her mother, Eva, a pediatric dentist and breast cancer survivor, was diagnosed with RMS and although Zoe was, her brother Alex was not. The steps to Zoe’s diagnosis began with a visit from a relative.

“It was my uncle who noticed it,” Eva said recently, sitting with Zoe in their living room. “We hadn’t seen him for a while and he wondered if Zoe had something in her cheek. He’s our closest relative.”

Alerted, Eva discovered a small lump. Zoe was taken to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City, for an MRI. These became frequent procedures although they are now annual.

“It was a cancer,” Eva said. “Her treatment was surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.”

Zoe was six and had surgery within two weeks, two days before her birthday.

“They buckled me in,” Zoe said about the radiation treatment. “I got to choose the mask. There was a panda on mine because I like pandas.” She thought everyone in her third-grade class knew she was receiving treatments and that maybe she got a little worried during hers.

“There was so much going on,” she said.

“The day after the surgery she was in pain,” Eva said. “She asked if she was going to die.”

“I heard a lot about that, about people dying,” Zoe said. “So I was worried.”

To her mother’s surprise, Zoe said she has been keeping a diary. She read aloud her entry for Jan. 25.

“Really bored right now,” she read. “I don’t know what to do. Today was chill, homework, shower, TV; just the norm. I hope Ella goes to gymnastics today because she doesn’t go these days. I like it better when she’s here because there’s someone to talk to.”

Daniel Wolk, the external communications manager for Stop & Shop, said two ambassadors were selected by Sloan Kettering to be representatives for his company’s Help
Cure Childhood Cancer Campaign which occurs during March.

“We really appreciate them being our ambassadors to raise money for pediatric cancer research and treatment,” Wolk said. “Both children had cancer and were treated at Sloan Kettering. Our ambassadors can be in treatment or survivorship.”

The other child, a boy, is not in survivorship, he said, because survivorship is considered two years after treatments end. Both children were diagnosed in 2020, but the boy’s cancer recurred.

The campaign is underway in Stop & Shop stores in N.J., N.Y., Conn., R.I. and Mass. In addition to Memorial Sloan Kettering, donations benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Mass. There are four pediatric ambassadors who were treated at these hospitals.

As an ambassador, Zoe recently opened F.A.O. Schwarz, the Fifth Avenue toy store, and visited Top of the Rock, the Rockefeller Center observatory. She said she and her mother would go to the store after her MRIs.

“It was something to look forward to,” she said.

Eva also periodically gets MRIs and blood work.

“Zoe and I spend a lot of time at the doctors,” she said.

The girl received 20 days of chemotherapy, mostly in NYC, but sometimes at the hospital’s Montville branch. Eva said she hated to say it, but during the Covid shutdown, traveling in the city was easier. There was less traffic. Treatment caused Zoe to lose her hair.

“She won’t let me cut it anymore,” Eva said. “Maybe a millimeter. She hasn’t had it professionally done.”

“They’d cut it off so much,” Zoe said.

“Not if you told them,” Eva said.

During Covid, Zoe said there was not much interaction with other children at the hospital, everyone was in their own little rooms and the play area was closed. She found the pandemic-forced virtual schooling to be a helpful break during her treatments.

“This is a lifetime thing,” Eva said. “That’s why we’re doing the campaign. We’re hoping someday cancer won’t be a scary word.

“With this syndrome,” she continued, “it’s not just one cancer, but a certain number of cancers throughout Zoe’s life.”

Eva said the same is true for her. “When we told Alex, he said, ‘Oh, she’s going to be fine because you’re fine,'” Eva said. “It gave him hope. My husband Ben doesn’t show concern. He wants to remain positive. It wasn’t our first rodeo with cancer. But it’s always harder if it’s your child and not yourself.”

She said “Boo,” a pomeranian, was a Make-A-Wish gift given to Zoe two Halloweens ago.

“It’s a teacup pomeranian,” Zoe said.

  Cancer, Glen Ridge, Stop&Shop