Jay Alicudo, middle,
sits with his daughter Justina Alicudo, left, son Tyler Alicudo, and
ex-wife Darlene Alicudo, who has also been helping out with an
upcoming fundraiser. (Item Photo / Joyce Erekson)
Originally Published on Tuesday, November 08, 2011
The first sign Jay Alicudo had that something wasn't quite
right came in August. The former Classical High football player was
having trouble eating solid food and every day when he got home from
work he would hit the shower and go to bed.
Alicudo initially thought he might have a stomach infection, but it
got progressively worse and in late September, the Classical High
school monitor and assistant girls basketball coach got the news. He
had stage 4 colon cancer.
"It totally caught me off guard. Everything did," Alicudo said. "Now
I'm trying to deal with it, mentally and physically."
Once word of his illness got out, the outpouring of concern and
offers of help from friends, family, co-workers, students, former
teammates and classmates and even strangers swept over Alicudo like
a tidal wave.
"It's been overwhelming," Alicudo said. "It's been nice."
The last month has been a difficult one for Alicudo. As the test
results came in, the news got worse. Alicudo said the tumor was
twice the size originally thought and the cancer had spread to the
pelvic area and to the liver.
Alicudo had surgery to remove a large part of the tumor on Sept. 30,
but the recovery has been slow. He said he expected to be in the
hospital five or six days, but ended up staying 13. He has lost over
50 pounds.
Despite the setbacks, the Lynn public schools employee of 18 years
is anxious to get on with the fight and that means going on the
chemotherapy. That can't happen, however, until the wound from the
surgery heals. Alicudo has spent the weeks since leaving the
hospital at the home of good friend Jerry Costantino, who lives
around the corner from Classical on Winnepurkit Avenue. Another
friend, David Smith, lives there as well and has cared for Alicudo
during his recovery.
Over the past week or two, friends and family have gotten together
and planned a fundraiser at St. Michael's Hall on Friday, Nov. 25
from 7:30 to midnight, to help ease the financial burden a serious
illness like this can create. Among those instrumental in getting
the fundraiser off the ground are Robert Ferrari, the Lynn Police
Department Liaison for School Security and Emergency Planning, and
Justina Alicudo, Alicudo's daughter. Ms. Alicudo graduated from
Classical and Northeastern University and is now a Spanish teacher
at Classical. Jay Alicudo also has a son, Tyler, who graduated from
Classical last year and now attends Framingham State University.
Alicudo's ex-wife, Darlene Alicudo, has also been very involved in
the effort.
"The support has been unbelievable," Justina Alicudo said. "I have
freshmen who don't even know who my father is because they haven't
gotten in trouble yet, who are making him cards."
Ferrari said his friendship with Alicudo goes back many years.
"Jay and I are lifelong friends. He's been very close to our family
for a long time," he said, adding that his wife, Deb, who is a
nurse, has been stopping by to help Alicudo every night since he was
released from the hospital.
"Working in the community, I've seen over and over how people rally
around when something like this happens," Ferrari said. "It's not
just friends. Sometimes it's acquaintances and sometimes it's
complete strangers. It's a pretty big city with a small town kind of
atmosphere."
Alicudo said hundreds of people have called or stopped by or sent
along a card since he got sick. Alicudo, who played on the 1976
Classical Super Bowl championship team and was inducted into the
Classical Hall of Fame last spring, said he has heard from former
teammates and even coach Bill Wise, who has visited and been calling
a couple of times a week.
"Jay means a lot to a lot of people," Ferrari said. "You work in a
school setting like he does as a campus monitor. You get very close
to the kids. He's a mentor to many of them."
Although the St. Michael's fundraiser is a 21 and older event, the
committee realized that many of the Classical students want to help
as well. They'll have a separate dance at the school on Thursday,
December 1st to help raise money.
The Jay Alicudo Fundraiser will be held on Friday, Nov. 25, at St.
Michael's Hall on 25 Elmwood Ave., Lynn, from 7:30 p.m. to midnight.
Donation is $20. To purchase tickets or make a cash or raffle
donation, please contact Laura Durant at 781-477-7409 or Angela
Liakopoulos, 781-477-7409. For calls after 6 p.m., contact Darlene
Alicudo at 617-791-2661. Checks can be made out to the Jay Alicudo
Fund and mailed to 235 O'Callaghan Way, Lynn, MA 01905.