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An article about Diane appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Tuesday, January 7, 2003. A few excerpts: "A plush blanket of snow left the neighborhood outside Diane Geppi-Aikens' house in Overlea white and quiet yesterday. ... In her wheelchair, her face and belly are swollen, distorting the physical presence of this attractive, vibrant, athletic, 40-year-old woman who twice was named the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association national Coach of the Year. "With her good right hand, she places your fingers on the top of her blond head, letting you feel the rutted valley where her cancer surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital has gone in three times since 1995, attempting to rid Geppi-Aikens of those dangerous cells. Deep as it is, the scar is an old wound now. Geppi-Aikens has baffled doctors unaccustomed to a patient who so far has pushed back the time line of this deadly disease. "Now, though, several smaller tumors have taken root and, worse, a larger mass on the brain stem has led Geppi-Aikens to where she is right now: waging a vigilant battle against an incurable cancer but also summoning courage and finding peace for whatever time she has left. "Her father, John Geppi, said he was angry and hurt when the oncologist last year finally told Geppi-Aikens: 'Diane, this tumor is going to do you in.' "'I look at it like it's the last two minutes of a basketball game,' Geppi-Aikens said. 'You're down by 30 points. Everyone knows you're going to lose, but you keep taking time-outs. Everyone rolls their eyes. Why are they taking a time out? But as a coach or a player, do you say: Do you know what? We can't win this game? Or do you play for respect? I think there comes a very important time in the last two minutes of the game, you either go for it, try to win that game the best way you know how. I don't think I have a choice. For me, it's that balance right now. What can I do to win? What can I do to stay at peace, knowing that I've got a bad situation here?' "Next week Geppi-Aikens plans to fly to Anaheim, California where the NCAA will honor her with its annual Inspiration Award. Accompanying her will be her partner, Andrea Borowsky, her father and two older sisters. Her mother, Catherine, will stay home and watch her kids, Michael, 17, Jessica, 15, Melissa, 12, and Shannon, 8. "Most of all, Geppi-Aikens said, she wants to see a grandchild born. She wants to see her son graduate from Calvert Hall this spring. She wants to be on the sideline April 5, when Loyola gets its first TV game. "'I've waited 20 years for that,' she said."
Georg
Potthast
