Legacy of Melanoma Patient Lives on at the Cedars-Sinai Angeles Clinic
Patient’s Request Was to Make Treatment Easier for Other Patients Battling Melanoma
Dina Lukacs Adamcik was only 30 when she died from melanoma. While on hospice, she asked her parents, husband and closest girlfriends to continue her legacy by supporting other patients fighting melanoma by providing bags filled with practical, comforting items they would need during treatment.
Twelve years later, Adamcik’s legacy lives on through these donations, with the Cedars-Sinai Angeles Clinic and Research Institute receiving the bulk of the donations.
“When Dina first started treatment, she needed several items to make her more comfortable,” said Barbara Lukacs, Dina’s mother. “Things like a satin pillowcase, because it’s softer on a head without hair, and a gel mask to help with headaches. Dina always had a generous spirit and wanted other melanoma patients to have these simple but necessary comforts at their fingertips.”
The bags are made possible by generous donors who contribute monetary gifts items for the bags, and volunteers who help with assembly. Each bag is wrapped with a little bit of love from Adamcik herself, using ribbon she bought at a yard sale in her early 20s when she first visited her then-boyfriend’s childhood home.
Barbara and Robert Lukacs recently dropped off the latest round of donations, and several employees from the clinic were onsite to receive them.
“We are grateful to the Lukacs family for their generosity and compassion toward our melanoma patients,” said Omid Hamid, MD, chief of Translational Research and Immunotherapy and director of Melanoma Therapeutics at The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, a Cedars-Sinai affiliate. “Our team sees the impact of these gifts first-hand and we know how much comfort they bring to those who receive them.”
And although the donations were just given to patients, Adamcik’s friends and family have already started planning for next year.
“We will continue with these donations as long as possible,” said Barbara Lukacs. “Whatever we can do to help patients fight this disease and honor the memory of our daughter, we will do.”
Melanoma, also known as skin cancer, is the most common of all cancers, accounting for 40 to 50 percent of all cancer cases diagnosed each year. Symptoms include spots, sores, lumps, blemishes or markings on the skin that change in shape, size or color, skin that becomes reddish, crusty or scaly, or skin that bleeds, swells, causes pain, or becomes scratchy or tender.