An Extraordinary Life: Plainfield cancer patient created trust fund for young son

Jamie Scagnelli of Plainfield and Minooka loved children and always wanted to be a mother.

Marcia Birkenheier of Plainfield, Jamie’s mother, said Jamie first began babysitting when she was only 11. Jamie was thrilled when her son Luciano “Luca” Scagnelli, now 3, was born to her and Anthony Scagnelli.

So naturally, Jamie wanted to leave him a trust fund, which she did, the February before her death on Aug. 31, 2019, at the age of 38.

In order to add to that trust fund, Jamie’s loved one are hosting the inaugural Jamie Marie Memorial Golf Benefit on Aug. 30.

“She had a big heart,” Marcia said of her daughter Jamie. “She was just a good-hearted person, very forgiving. She always wanted to make things work.”

Last year, only a small outdoor dinner was held for the trust fund because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but even that raised $3,000, Marcia said.

“People were very generous,” Marcia said. “It was very touching.”

Not breast cancer after all

Jamie’s challenges began in 2013, when she found a lump on her right breast. Tests determined it was cancer, so Jamie opted for a double mastectomy, Marcia said.

But Marcia said the biopsy did not show breast cancer cells. It showed melanoma, Marcia said, which is an aggressive form of skin cancer. Very rarely, melanoma doesn’t not show up in the skin but “in any organ or part of the body with melanin-containing cells,” according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.

So Jamie saw other specialists, including a dermatologist and an ophthalmologist, who found no evidence of cancer anywhere else, Marcia said. So a decision was made not to treat Jamie with chemotherapy and radiation. Jamie then had surgery to receive her breast implants.

“Not even a year to the date, the lump came back,” Marcia said. “Same spot, same breast.”

The implants and most of the new lump were removed. This time, Jamie received chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Marcia said. Treatments appeared to work because the remaining tumor shrunk, Marcia said. So then Jamie received expanders again for future implants and moved on.

‘An amazing drive’

The following year, Jamie’s headaches began. She now had a golf ball-sized tumor on the back of her neck and a small one behind her ear, Marcia said. Jamie had more radiation, which took care of the tumors, and she married Anthony Scagnelli on July 11, 2016.

Soon, Jamie was happily pregnant with Luca, and it appeared her dreams of raising a family were finally coming true. But when Luca was 3 weeks old, Jamie’s headaches returned and she felt dizzy, too, Marcia said.

A CT scan showed tumors in Jamie’s head, which were removed, Marcia said.

“At the beginning of the week, she had surgery on her head, and at the end of the week, she had her expanders out,” Marcia said. “Breast implants were put in to keep the cavity open.”

The implants were removed because they were metal, so Jamie could not have an MRI until the expanders were removed, Marcia said.

“The MRI showed everything was basically OK,” Marcia said.

But the tumors came back when Luca was 6 months old, Marcia said. Jamie underwent two gamma knife radiosurgeries to treat the tumors, but they kept returning, Marcia said.

Eventually, the cancer moved to Jamie’s bones, Marcia said. The cancer also moved to one of her eyes, causing her to lose vision in it, Marcia said.

“And she had such beautiful, beautiful, beautiful eyes,” Marcia said. “But she was a trooper. She had 15 surgeries in the four years she was going through all this. … She had an amazing drive.”

In fact, Jamie kept fighting until she could fight no more, Marcia said.

“She always did it for her son,” Marcia said. “And for me. … She just always did what she had to do until the end. And then she couldn’t.”

‘A gentle giver’

Jamie’s other passion was being a hairdresser, Marcia said. Marcia’s stepmother used to run her own hairdressing business at home, and Jamie loved to hang out there and watch. By age 12, Jamie could braid her hair in elaborate ways and always braided it before band concerts, where Jamie played clarinet, Marcia said.

She tried a year away at college, but it wasn’t for Jamie. So Jamie came home, earned an associate degree at Joliet Junior College and then attended beauty school, Marcia said. Jamie worked at two salons, and one of them had closed, Marcia said. Jamie loved to create pretty updos for homecomings and weddings, Marcia said.

One day before Jamie died, she said out of the blue, “I want to come back as a dragonfly,” Marcia said.

Now Marcia knows that because Jamie’s loved ones are focused on seeing dragonflies, they are noticing them more often, and Marcia said the dragonflies they’ve seen since Jamie’s death are a coincidence.

But one might think differently if he or she had known Jamie, Marcia said.

Jamie was always excited when at another’s happiness. She signed cards “I love you more” and rejoiced the weddings of loved ones and the births of their children.

And one day after Jamie’s death, at the outdoor wedding of one of Jamie’s closet friends, a dragonfly kept flying around the ceremony, Marcia said.

“As soon as that ceremony was over,” Marcia said, “that dragonfly was gone.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Inaugural Jamie Marie Memorial Golf Benefit

WHEN: Aug. 30. Check-in is 8:30 a.m. Dinner is 2:30 p.m.

WHERE: Whitetail Ridge Golf Club, 7671 Clubhouse Drive, Yorkville,

COST: $130 for golf, lunch and dinner. $30 for dinner-only

ETC. If paying for a foursome or twosome, please list the name of each participant.

RSVP: eventbrite.com or VENMO: @jamie-mariebenefit

INFORMATION: Email Jamiemariebenefit@gmail.com.