MISSION HILLS : Survivors Help Celebrate New Cancer Center

Although the daffodil bulbs Christa Delzoppo planted Monday will not bloom until spring, her hopes for cancer victims have already taken root.

The 48-year-old Simi Valley resident was one of about 20 cancer survivors who planted the bulbs during the opening of the Holy Cross Regional Cancer Center in Mission Hills--a $4-million, 11,000-square-foot facility that will unite several cancer treatment services under one roof.

They planted daffodils because they have been adopted by the American Cancer Society as its symbol of hope.

The new center is among several serving patients in the Los Angeles basin, including St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and Westlake Medical Center.

“This building takes the scariness away,” Delzoppo, whose breast cancer has been in remission since 1991, said Monday.

“It’s a friendly building.”

Like many cancer patients, Delzoppo said she had spent considerable time shuffling from one location to another to see various specialists.

Combining services under one roof, she said, would make treatment easier.

“Here is where art and science and medicine meet,” Dr. Shamel Sanani told about 100 guests who attended the opening ceremony.

“The care of the community must be there to sustain health and to inspire,” Sanani said.

Cancer survivor Willis LeQuatte agreed. He used to spend 15 hours a day lying on a bed receiving his chemotherapy treatment for a growth in his chest.

At the cancer center, comfortable chairs and potted plants help take away some of the sterile hospital atmosphere, he said.

“Going to the hospital for chemotherapy is a lowering of the morale,” said LeQuatte, 69, of Granada Hills. “I would think that this would improve the morale of the patients.”

At the ceremony, Delzoppo said she felt honored to have been invited--and lucky to have survived the deadly disease.

“I feel like I’m one of the privileged ones,” she said. “I have a guardian angel that’s probably bald, but he’s there.”