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Janet and Tony Tsaggos loved music; they both played piano when they were young and they knew how much music could heal the soul. Janet worked at Northern Valley Reg. HS at Demarest with a wonderful teacher named Mark Wright who is a fantastic musician. In the late 1980s when Janet was scheduled for chemotherapy treatments which lasted the better part of the day, Mark would make cassette tapes of his music for her to listen to. Janet would visualize the chemicals pulsing through her body like PACMAN gobbling up the bad cells and ridding her of the cancer. She would lie back, eyes closed, listening to Mark’s music with her headphones and be transported out of the hospital and away from it all. She kept her tapes in a tiny backpack which her granddaughter, Lauren had used in school. Tony was there by her side for every treatment. Later when he was treated for colon cancer, Mom was by his side. They both survived the treatments and the cancer. After Tony died in 2004 and Janet’s cancer flared up in 2005, Roberta took her Mom to her treatments and kept her company. They would play cards or watch TV but Janet just liked lying back and listening to Roberta’s IPOD full of Tony Bennett songs and again visualizing PACMAN gobbling up the bad cells. Roberta would be amazed by the number of patients who were there alone without family or friends keeping them company. In the days following Janet’s death, Roberta and Lauren decided to establish the Tsaggos Memorial Fund at Englewood Hospital. They wanted to do something more for the patients in infusion - above and beyond what the hospital and wonderful infusion department staff could provide. They wanted to do what Janet and Tony had done for so much of their lives - to give back. Roberta’s idea is to provide MP3 players or IPODS for the patients to use while they were receiving their treatments at the infusion center (which is moving soon to the Berrie building). The devices would have different play lists on them with different types of music. Additionally, we could provide books on tape patients could listen to with the MP3 players. Some libraries let you download these books for free. The patients will sign out the IPODS or MP3 players just for the day. They would be able to escape the treatments by just closing their eyes just as Janet did. The donations received to date in Janet and Tony’s name have established the fund. A plaque honoring Janet and Tony Tsaggos will be erected in the new infusion department in the Berrie Building at Englewood Hospital next year. In the future Roberta plans to have events to provide another means for people to add to the fund in memory or in honor of loved ones or in memory of Janet and Tony and the good people they were. They really inspired many folks during their lives, including their family and friends. For more information about the TSAGGOS Memorial Fund you may email Roberta Tsaggos Hoag at JRTsaggos@aol.com. Donations may be sent to the Englewood Hospital & Medical Center. Make checks payable to: EHMC Foundation-TSAGGOS Fund
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