Kane family establishes grants for moms with breast cancer

Coming up on the third Mother’s Day without her mother, Bella DeRosa said she would do something special.

“When my mom passed, we remained as normal as we could,” Bella, 17, said. “Her traditions – Mom always did a big spread for Valentine’s Day with cookies and chocolate dipped strawberries, cupcakes. We have those memories.”

Mary DeRosa, 54, died of metastatic triple negative breast cancer Aug. 26, 2022.

She beat it the first time in 2016, but it came back in 2021, said Guy, her husband of nearly 20 years.

“In order for us to get through the day, we have to make this as normal as possible,” Bella said. “It is Mother’s Day, but it is still a regular day in life. We have to get out and live our lives. That is what she would want us to do.”

The South Elgin family stepped up to do something to help other mothers with breast cancer. They established the Mary DeRosa Charity and worked with oncology social worker Shannon Brown at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva to find a mom with breast cancer to receive a cash grant.

Brown connected them with Christina Keasler of St. Charles.

Keasler met the father and daughter team of Guy and Bella for the first time at the Delnor Cancer Center May 1 when they presented her with their first grant award of $2,000.

“She was the sweetest lady in the world and we had to keep that spirit alive,” Guy said of his late wife. “My family and I, we decided to start this charity in her memory and in her honor and share with families dealing with breast cancer as well – first and foremost, helping families in need.”

Keasler said she was diagnosed in October 2023 at age 40.

“I was always reluctant for the idea of a grant for having cancer. But when I was approached with this, it was different,” Keasler said. “It also has the purpose of honoring her memory and having other people learn about her and think about her – even for a second of their day.”

Bella was a 14-year-old freshman, her older brothers were a junior and senior at St. Charles North High School, when their mother died.

“One of the things we were grateful for was that we were able to say goodbye,” Bella said. “One of our last trips (was) to Disney World while Mom was healthy.”

Lasting memories like that are important, Bella said.

And that’s the basis for the grants – to assist another family dealing with breast cancer by helping them create positive memories.

Guy said they can’t know personally what is happening with a family facing cancer, but having a few extra dollars could be used for a little trip, a dinner out – or just paying bills.

“That’s the whole idea of why we are giving the grants,” Guy said.

Brown is also a social worker at Living Well Cancer Resource Center in Geneva, also part of Northwestern Medicine.

“Guy reached out to me that they created the Mary DeRosa Charity and dedicated it to mothers in our community receiving treatment at the Delnor Cancer Center,” Brown said. “Our goal was to foster a positive experience for affected families and what better way than in our own Delnor community.”

Brown said she sees cancer patients and family members give each other support every day.

“Bella and Guy honoring Mary’s memory and legacy through the charity by making a profound impact on others...resonates with all of us,” Brown said.

The charity requires that grant recipients be at stage 4 – also known as metastatic – which means that the cancer spread from its original location to other parts of the body.

Keasler, who is at stage 4, has had a double mastectomy, her ovaries removed, has been on chemotherapy and hormone blockers.

Dr. Perry Menini, an oncologist at Northwestern Medicine, explained that triple negative breast cancer is defined by a lack of receptors for estrogen, progesterone and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 or HER2, a protein involved in normal cell growth.

Treatment for breast cancer uses hormones to target the tumors’ hormone receptors - but not with triple negative.

“Normal breast cells that women have are estrogen receptor positive. The cells respond to estrogen,” Menini said. “Triple negative loses expressions of those genes and makes the cells more aggressive and difficult to treat.”

About 15% of women who have breast cancer are triple negative.

Guy said the Mary DeRosa Charity also supports Living Well Cancer Resource Center.

The next goal, Guy said, is research for triple negative breast cancer – once they raise enough money for it.

“We’ve not attacked this one yet,” Guy said.

More information about the Mary DeRosa Charity is online at maryderosa.org.

More information about Living Well Cancer Resource Center is online at livingwellcrc.org.

More information about breast cancer and triple negative breast cancer is available online at www.cancer.northwestern.edu.