Tri-Valley Restaurants, Taverns Get Behind Mom's Cancer Fight

PLEASANTON, CA — Several local eateries and taverns are getting behind a fundraising effort to help the mom of one of their own. On Aug. 20, five food and beverage companies at multiple locations will donate 20 percent of all proceeds to help local resident Deanna Sidari in her fight against cancer.

Michelle Davis, general manager at Strizzi’s in Livermore is helping spread the word about the Aug. 20 event because Sidari's battle hits home: She is the mother of a Strizzi’s employee.

Sidari's daughter submitted a letter to Patch about her mom. The unedited story is posted below. In the meantime, here's the list of restaurants and taverns participating in the Aug. 20 "Dine, Wine & Support Fundraiser" for Sidari:

Strizzi's — Livermore, Pleasanton and Fremont locations
Rigatoni's — Dublin, Castro Valley and Hayward locations
Rigatoni's Red Smoke Grill — Pleasanton
Demitris Taverna — Livermore
First Street Wine Company — Livermore

Letter shared from Deanna Sidari's daughter:

Deanna’s Cancer Fight 2019
We are writing this for our sweet friend Deanna Sidari in hopes to invite you into her life and story. Anyone who has had the opportunity to meet Deanna knows that she lives such a graceful, faith-filled life regardless of the circumstances she has faced. She is an incredible mother, Jesus-follower, and loyal friend. She loves her job as a dental hygienist and takes pride in the way she can help people. She has battled and successfully beat triple negative breast cancer twice in the last 5 years. This April after multiple doctors visits for what she thought was a respiratory issue, she found out that the cancer has returned and has metastasized in her lymphatic system, specifically near her chest and lungs and there is brain involvement. There are no words to describe the weight of another cancer diagnosis for Deanna, especially one that now is considered treatable but not curable.
She spent much of May and June finding her new ‘team’ and going over treatment options. The Lord has been so kind to provide specific people in her path who have so much wisdom about breast cancer treatment and who have shared their resources with her as she figures out the next right thing. The support from her co-workers, patients, friends, and family has been overwhelming.
After researching options and consulting with some of the best in the healthcare industry, Deanna has completed radiation 'surgery' to address the brain involvement and started a systemic treatment involving both immunotherapy and chemotherapy. It looks like she will actually be able to complete most of these treatments at the new Kaiser Cancer facility in Dublin which is just a short drive from her house - Amen! Treatments will be once a week for three consecutive weeks, with 1 week off at the end of each month. Our two biggest prayers through this systemic therapy are healing and minimal side effects (specifically no neuropathy in her hands and feet as that directly impacts her job as a dental hygienist).There is not a finite number of treatments for her to complete. As many know, with metastasized disease they are trying to find a treatment that is successful for the longest amount of time and when they see it's no longer working, her oncology team will switch gears to a new treatment plan. We keep hearing that the good in her case is that the size of her cancer is small which means it was detected early, praise God for that! The goal of the treatment is for the cancer to stop growing AND to shrink in size.
As people who trust in Jesus trying to wrap our minds around the ‘why’ of this diagnosis, we are reminded so clearly that we are going to face pain and suffering in this life BUT we have a God who walks with us through every step of it. We are asking the Lord for
complete healing for Deanna, for wisdom along the way as she makes decisions about her care, and for Deanna’s spirit to endure this with joy in the midst of suffering. What a tough thing to even type out but that is the hope, that she would keep her eyes fixed on Jesus and that He would sustain her through this journey.
If you or someone close to you has gone through cancer treatment and recovery, you know the fight she is up against. Our hope through this fundraiser is to alleviate the financial burden that treatment can bring. Stressing about finances should be the least of Deanna’s worries right now. Many people have already asked what they can do to help and we are hoping that this can be the place to do that.
To give you an idea of what she is up against, along with her traditional treatment costs and the cost of the out of pocket co-pays and medical expenses, there are a few things she will be doing as supportive care to help lessen the side effects of the disease and give her the best quality of life possible. These include things like weekly acupuncture, holistic care and strict changes to her diet and nutrition. Every bit helps, even a donation similar to the price of a cup of coffee. This fundraiser is simply an invitation to participate in what God is already doing.
There is a CaringBridge set up on Deanna’s behalf to share updates if you want to follow her journey towards recovery. Thank you!