Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

Young adult cancer survivor Tina Jezuit – i[2]y regional co-chair for Eastern Pennsylvania – has had more than her fair share of health problems. The 31-year-old Jessup resident has dealt with a diagnosis of osteo-sarcoma in 1988, which left her with a chemotherapy-damaged heart. After suffering a stroke in February of 2007, she was rendered cognitively impaired and unable to walk. After 14 months of intense therapy, the signs of her past battle are remarkably minimal.In addition to a small leg brace she wears for balance, she proudly sports a slashing red scar on the left side of her upper chest, the insertion point of a defibrillator and pacemaking device implanted just above her heart. She named the device “Charlie,” after the voice of Charlie on the TV show “Charlie’s Angels.”“Every morning I say, ‘Good morning, Charlie,’” she said, “and he says, ‘Good morning, Angel,’ by letting me know that everything’s working OK in there.”When health issues forced her to retire from her job at the Social Security Administration office on Lackawanna Avenue, Ms. Jezuit dedicated herself full time to cancer and heart-health advocacy and awareness. She’s in the process of coordinating numerous local benefits, including “Cancerpalooza,” an event that will benefit several cancer organizations, and a memorial scholarship named after her paternal grandfather, Stanley A. Jezuit Sr.She also serves as a local team leader for the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk.Two seasons.Her year, she joked, is divided into two seasons: “heart season” and “cancer season.”