THE ACREAGE, FL -- They had thirty-three years of happiness. It ended for Donna and Mike Perrotti when Mike was diagnosed with brain cancer.
Donna says, "The MRI was so bad, there were lesions through his whole brain."
Less than a year later in the spring of 2008, Donna buried him. For more than two decades, she and her family have called The Acreage home.
She says, "It's wonderful. It's country life."
Now, she wonders about what's around her. Donna says her husband did have throat cancer six years prior to brain cancer. She says the doctors told her the two were not connected.
She wonders if her husband is connected to the growing number of people coming forward about cancer cases. Most of them brain masses.
She was asked, "Do you think it's an extreme coincidence or more." Donna says, "I think there's more to it, when so many people in the area with some type of cancer."
The State Health Department says it has started an initial investigation.
Dr. Sharon Watkins, from the Florida Department of Health says, "We are looking into it already. Once we take a look at the rates and have more information we can determine if further investigation is necessary."
So far, about a dozen people have contacted the agency.
Dr. Watkins says, "At this point, when you look at the rough rates we don't see anything to be concerned about."
NewsChannel 5 has hired a lab to test water from one home. The home is among a cluster of three children with brain masses. The tests are in progress, and the families want answers.
Donna says, "I hope they do an investigation and figure out what is causing this, especially for the children."
The state says an initial investigation takes six to eight weeks to complete. The questions they'll ask include: How rare is the cancer? Would it not be expected in the person for a reason such as age? Are there an excessive number of cases over a period of time?
We started mapping the locations of people affected by brain tumors. We have twenty-two locations pinpointed. We have more than a dozen other people we are still getting more information from before we add them to the map.
If you know of someone who is living in this area and has developed brain cancer, please contact our newsroom at (561) 653-5700 and email us at newstips@wptv.com
