Dec 6, 2004 By Lori Goodwin, For The 6 min read

Alexandra Schaney acts like a typical 4-year-old. She wants to go play with her Polly Pockets, get her fingernails painted, and when asked what her favorite color is, she says, “All of them. That’s why I love rainbows.” She misses her Aunt Chris and wants to talk to her on the phone, but then she puts her mother, Kelly, on the phone so she can go play. She then gets back on the phone and, in the midst of laughter at her youthfulness, says, “What can I tell you about my cancer?”

She is not a typical pre-schooler.

Alexandra has a rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor of infants and children that develops from nerve tissue. The cause is unknown, as it’s not hereditary, and the disorder occurs in approximately 1 out of 100,000 children, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Alexandra’s parents, Clint and Kelly Schaney, are originally from Uniontown and now live in Charlotte, N.C. Kelly Schaney said her daughter was diagnosed in April after they noticed some symptoms in February.

“Alexandra was having some leg pain, but we just assumed that it was from an inch growth spurt she recently experienced,” Schaney said. “We knew something was wrong when Alexandra would break into cold sweats and scream in pain.”

After many, many tests with results that ranged from an infection to dead muscle tissue to pulled ligaments, the result presented itself: cancer. A tumor had spread from her chest and into the bone and bone marrow of her legs, and another had developed in her eye. The tumor in her eye has pretty much gone away, but the ones in her legs remain.

“You never expect this to happen to you, let alone your child,” Clint Schaney said. “We just try to make her smile and happy.”

“This thing just turned itself on, and Alexandra had to grow up real fast and deal with it and take it,” Kelly Schaney added.

Since Alexandra began chemotherapy in May, Clint Schaney has taken on the role as smile maker and provider, working as an automotive technician with Volvo, while his wife has become nurse and daytime playmate.

Because Alexandra’s white blood cell count has been so low, she can’t go to school, so a teacher brings over books and work for her to complete.

She’s really not even able to go outside, so Kelly Schaney quit her job as a nurse to be with Alexandra on a full-time basis.

“We have to be very imaginative, so we make up games and rides,” she said.

As a way to make Alexandra feel better, the whole family, including Clint Schaney’s sister Christine Schaney, who lives in Uniontown, had their hair cut short when Alexandra lost her hair because of chemotherapy, and Clint Schaney shaved his off completely.

Kelly Schaney says she is working up to doing the same with hers.

Clint Schaney even built Alexandra a beach on their back porch, complete with sand, a pool and a picnic, because she couldn’t go on vacation. And they play school with Alexandra and switch role as teacher and student.

And Alexandra playing a teacher is fitting, because her parents both said at different times how much she has taught them, not only about the disease, but also about life in general.

The couple said that the little, trivial things don’t matter anymore. They just go with the flow. They also said that Alexandra’s cancer has brought their family closer together, so, as Clint Schaney said, “something positive (could) come out of something negative.”

So after eight rounds of chemotherapy, including one just a week-and-a-half ago, the next step in Alexandra’s treatment is a stem cell transplant, which Kelly Schaney said will give Alexandra about a 60 percent chance of beating the nueroblastoma.

The transplant will cost the Schaneys $1 million per procedure. Alexandra needs two of them, and their insurance doesn’t cover the costs.

That’s where Christine Schaney comes into the picture.

She, along with her boyfriend, Bill Humberson, is the local fund-raiser of the family.

“When you’re 394 miles away, you would love to be there to help, but you can’t be there all the time,” she said. “So I am doing my part here in Uniontown. It’s all about Alexandra.”

Christine, who works at Commonwealth Marketing, is organizing a fund-raiser Dec. 12 at the Stone House Restaurant in Chalk Hill to raise money for Alexandra’s stem cell transplant.

“Fred and Rhonda Zeigler, the owners of the Stone House, have really opened up their establishment for me, and I would really like to thank them,” she said.

The fund-raiser, a Christmas merchant sale, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., featuring items from Boyd’s Bears, Home Interiors and Pampered Chef, a Chinese auction and several other vendors.

In addition, Chris Abbondanza from the Povertyneck Hillbillies will be there to sign autographs.

The event is open to the public, and the Schaneys are hoping for it to be a huge success so Alexandra can have the stem cell transplant.

Christine Schaney also said Commonwealth Marketing has been like a second family. The company has pretty much adopted Alexandra, having bought her a DVD player and television and raised money by having a dress-down day at work.

Christine says that they wouldn’t have been able to help Alexandra as much without the help of people and businesses like Commonwealth Marketing and the Zeiglers.

She also set up a savings account at PNC Bank in Alexandra’s name for those who would like to donate anything.

Clint and Kelly Schaney said they both appreciate the support of people in their old hometown. But with all of their gratitude to the people who have supported them, Alexandra is the most remarkable one in their eyes.

“I have to have a happy attitude,” Alexandra said, “because if I have a grumpy one, the cancer will stay.”

Alexandra said what does makes her sad is that she doesn’t get to go to school and see her friends or teachers.

But she is happy when she visits with her friends in the hospital.

Kelly Schaney said a lot of the same children get their chemotherapy at the same time, so they have formed a friendship, which she said helps out a lot when she has to take Alexandra to the hospital. She doesn’t put up much of a fuss.

As far as Alexandra’s prognosis, the Schaneys are hoping to have the stem cell transplant done as soon as possible. They are still waiting for a few test results.

According to them, the disease is very vague, as is the treatment and cure rate. They said they just pray, hope for the best and live day to day.

Kelly and Clint’s main decree is how tough Alexandra is, and she knows what she has to endure in order to beat the cancer.

But as far as Alexandra is concerned, “I can’t wait to see my friends, jump in the pool and go to IHOP.”

Donations can be sent to the Alexandra Schaney Cancer Treatment Fund, PNC Bank, in care of Anita Tobal, 2 E. Main St., Uniontown 15401.