Gloria Serrins is a 54 year-old mother of three beautiful daughters who lives in Mission Viejo with her husband, Phil, to whom she has been married for 31 years. Outgoing, vivacious, and completely dedicated to her family, Gloria now finds herself in a scenario that no one could have predicted.

In July, 2007 Gloria realized that something was wrong with her health. Vigorous, athletic, and normally full of energy, she could feel that something was out of synch, but didn’t know what it was. At first Gloria thought it might be the flu, but that didn’t explain the constant discomfort she felt whenever she was seated.

The discomfort caused her to fidget, and ultimately to have problems sleeping. Since Gloria always slept on her right side, it was too painful to lie down.

Trouble in paradise

Gloria and Phil were approaching their 31st wedding anniversary and he had set up a cruise to Alaska. Normally engaged and excited to be doing things with “the love of her life,” Gloria simply couldn’t muster any excitement about being away from home. The trip was extremely important to Phil so that they could celebrate their marriage, and also because Phil’s father had died at an early age after a lifetime of hard work. “I made up my mind early on that I’d take those extra minutes, hours, and days to be with my family. I miss my father every single day, and vowed that the only thing we really have in life—time—I would share with Gloria and the girls.”

Phil Serrins adores his wife, and he had sacrificed an 80-hour week career track to lead a lifestyle that would let him be there for them. Whether it was the school play, a family weekend trip, or traveling for soccer games, Phil and Gloria pulled together for thirty-one years, always in the same direction, always with the same goals in mind, always bound together by love.

Gloria vowed not to say anything to Phil about the pain because she knew that if he had any inkling, he would cancel the cruise and have her in front of a doctor immediately. The cruise was terrible, with Gloria’s discomfort descending into misery, compounded by an inability to sleep more than a couple of hours each night. Gloria was still afraid to say anything because Phil had developed a pain in his right eye during the trip and she was petrified that they would both be sick at the same time. Unable to withstand the pain any longer, she told Phil when they returned to California, after having endured almost unbearable pain and sleep deprivation on an ocean-bound cruise.

Web detective

Just as she had known he would, Phil whisked Gloria to St. Joseph’s, where a CT scan, MRI, and x-ray revealed spots on her lung. Dr. Brian Palafox was unable to conclusively diagnose, so Phil took charge. He got on the Internet and began consulting with doctors who he knew through his chiropractic practice.

Dr. Palafox affirmed that the only way to get a conclusive diagnosis was via a tissue biopsy. On Oct. 15 Gloria went in for surgery and, and the surgeon performed the biopsy and a talc pleurodesis. Subsequent immunohistochemical staining confirmed mesothelioma, biphasic type. When the Serrins learned that the oncologist recommended by Dr. Palafox only saw one mesothelioma case per year, they decided to continue looking.

Gloria was diagnosed with bi-phasic pleural mesothelioma on October 16, 2007.

Following her diagnosis, Gloria consulted with Dr. Cameron in Los Angeles, and Dr. Rusch and Dr. Pass in New York. All three surgeons determined that Gloria as not a candidate for surgery because of the cell type and advanced stage of her disease. Gloria began treating with one of the nation’s leading medical oncologists, Dr. Vogelzang at the Nevada Caner Institute in Las Vegas.

Despite an aggressive and arduous regimen of chemotherapy, Gloria consulted with Dr. Cameron again after her doctors determined that the Alimta/cisplatin regimen was not working. Unfortunately, she was still ineligible for surgery. Although a different chemo cocktail showed no progression of the tumor, it failed to show that the tumor had shrunk, either.

Chemotherapy has been discontinued, and five weeks from now she will do another CT scan to look into additional treatment. Gloria is struggling her hardest to keep the cancer at bay.

An American family

Gloria was born in 1953 in Goeppening, Germany, the daughter of a U.S. WWII army veteran and a German national. Her father, Francisco “Frank” Carillo, brought the family to the U.S. that same year, and the family relocated in southern California.

Gloria and Phil’s first daughter, Ricki-Ann, was born in1980. The family moved to Mission Viejo because Phil was studying to be a chiropractor. Gloria and Phil’s second daughter, Stacy, was born in 1981, and their daughter Lindsey was born in 1984. After Lindsey’s birth, Gloria became a full time housewife.

The dynamic and loving Serrins family has been built in large part by the unstinting love and devotion of Gloria. The unique character of each daughter was carefully nurtured so that each grew up to be a mature and responsible adult. Ricki-Ann loved being outside, and never played with dolls but liked sports, bikes, and action. Ricki-Ann played little league baseball as the only girl on her team, and later became an accomplished soccer player. Stacy loved play with Gloria’s jewelry, makeup, and clothing. At age three she entered dance school, and learned tap and ballet. Gloria would drive Ricki-Ann to soccer practice and Stacy to dance class and had to coordinate the transportation so no time was wasted. Stacy danced until she was twelve. The family never missed going to one of Stacy’s recitals.

Like her older sisters, Lindsey was always busy with sports and dance, and Gloria spent all her time taking care of the three girls. Gloria would volunteer at the girls’ elementary school until eventually she was at the school every single day. With three daughters at the same school at the same time, she helped the teachers any way she could. Gloria took care of other children as well, and when she became familiar with the kids and their parents she’d set aside Friday as the day to take her daughters and their friends to lunch at Taco Bell. The kids loved having Gloria in the classroom, and Phil would often come by the school on his lunch break. The daughters loved having their parents around at school.

Ricki-Ann graduated from the University of Maryland on a soccer scholarship.

Ricki-Ann is an assistant soccer coach at Tulane University in New Orleans. Stacy attended Santa Barbara City College where she studied art and dance. Stacy graduated from beauty college and works as an esthetician at the Montage Resort at Laguna Beach. Lindsey was recruited to UCLA for their crew team, and graduated in 2005 as a history major. She now works as an elementary school teacher in New Orleans, near her older sister. All three daughters attribute their success to their nurturing, involved, and tireless mother. Gloria’s devotion and dedication to her family, and her extraordinary toughness, are exemplified best when she says, with no trace of pride, “All three of my girls were natural childbirths. I didn’t want it any other way.”

After thirty-one years of marriage, Gloria and Phil have grown together spiritually and emotionally. They both love to garden and spend their weekends together in the yard. With numerous flowers in the yard, the centerpiece is Gloria’s rose garden. Gloria loves crafts, decorating, wildlife, and dogs. She has a blue-gold macaw that chatters gregariously in their home, and two Australian shepherds, Berkeley and Mac. She and Phil love to take their daily promenade around the neighborhood, and they enjoy walking along the nearby nature trails and wilderness areas.

“Gloria always kept things in check and kept me on track,” Phil says in disbelief, shaking his head at the catastrophic calamity that has befallen his family. “She was the one who was reasoned and even-handed with the kids. She never rushes to judgment or breezes past things. Gloria sees life, where most people just run through it. If she’s on skis, she won’t race down the mountain, but will stop and look at the trees and the animals, and even at the snow. We go to movies all the time. While the kids were growing up it was about Gloria being there to see them and raise them. We went to every school function, not just to be supportive but to be together. And now…” his voice trails off, “…this.”

*** POSTED APRIL 7, 2008 ***