Diamond spree wish granted for Pike youth

DINGMAN — “I’m going on a shopping spree in New York’s diamond district,” exclaimed 16-year-old Joey Papaleo, who had been granted his wish by the Make A Wish Foundation. Papaleo was diagnosed with cancer in March of this year. He was 15 at the time and a little frightened and unsure of what this would mean to him. He turned 16 this past Thursday. Joey’s parents, Joe and Nancy Papaleo, immediately made a doctors appointment with Joey’s pediatrician in Milford for the next day after seeing the evidence of a problem. Joey’s pediatrician sent him to Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis, N.Y., for a cat scan the same day. The scan results were sent to Dr. Dyer of Middletown, N.Y., who is part of a five doctor team associated with the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y. Dr. Ozkaynak, a cancer specialist and part of the team, told young Papaleo that he needed immediate emergency surgery. The operation was performed the next day just two days after he spoke to his parents. Young Papaleo was in the Westchester Medical Center for a total of three days and then home to recover in his own bed. He told the Courier, “I was a little confused because a lot was happening so quickly.” “Dr. O” as the family calls him told Papaleo that he may need chemotherapy or possibly radiation treatments. After a series of blood tests results came back, which had to be sent to California for special testing, Dr. O told Papaleo that based on the test results and a cat scan taken at the hospital he had a clean bill of health. Dr. O also told him he would need to have blood drawn monthly and a cat scan every three months over the next three years. According to Dr. O this would be the critical time and had to be monitored carefully. The doctor registered Papaleo with the Make A Wish Foundation. The area representative volunteers Pat and Paul Leggio interviewed Papaleo and gave him some time to come up with his wish. Papaleo wanted a shopping trip to the diamond district in New York, and dinner at Patsy’s Italian Restaurant at 56th Street near 8th Avenue, which was Frank Sinatra’s favorite restaurant and just a few steps from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Friday morning a beautiful balloon bouquet was delivered to the Papaleos’ residence for Joey’s birthday. At around 10 a.m. a shiny Lincoln Navigator stretch limousine arrived to take Joey, his parents and his three sisters into Manhattan for his Make A Wish day. After spending time in the diamond district, Joey , with a $3,000 limit, purchased a gold and diamond Onyx ring, a gold and diamond Ruby ring, two gold bracelets, a handsome Movado watch and a pair of ½ ct each diamond stud earrings. As the expression goes today, that’s a lot of bling for a 16-year-old boy. Afterwards the family headed to Patsy’s for an over-the-top, first class Italian dinner. They had choice of the house with carte blanche unlimited dinner prices. The owner, Mr. Scognamillo, a world famous chef took pictures with the family and gave young Papaleo a signed copy of his autographed cookbook and a jar of Patsy’s spaghetti sauce which is also world famous and sold retail. The family arrived home about 10 p.m. after their whirlwind day to the city with Joey’s fancy bag full of diamonds and gold jewelry. Joey said, “This was the best day of my life and I’ll never forget it.”