Former Emporian Lisa Spillman Mesa has been hospitalized in Tulsa, where she is undergoing treatment for leukemia, according to members of her family.
She gave birth to her second child, Logan, eight weeks ago; the Mesas also have another son, Aiden, 2.
Mesa was a standout on the Emporia High School basketball team when she graduated in 1995, and in the late 1990s was a three-time winner of the International Pancake Race, representing Liberal.
She is the daughter of Judy Welch and the late Glen Spillman and the granddaughter of Beulah Spillman and Opal Dacus, all of Emporia.
“Lisa is undergoing extreme chemotherapy right now,” said her aunt, former Emporian Cindy Baysinger, who lives in Laramie, Wyo. “The game plan is to get her into a remission, then possibly more chemo and/or a bone marrow transplant.”
Because Lisa is in the transplant unit, she cannot have flowers or plants. But, Baysinger said, she would appreciate receiving cards and e-mails.
Her hospital address is: Lisa Mesa, Saint Francis Hospital, Room 7215, 6161 South Yale Ave., Tulsa OK 74136.
The family has brought in a laptop computer and are helping her check e-mail, which can be sent to lisa_mesa@hotmail.com.