Just seven months after being diagnosed with brain cancer, 14-year-old David Fucillo of Verona Island, shown here with his dog Tasha, is cancer-free. The Bucksport Middle School eighth-grader says he hopes to write a book about his experience for other children battling cancer.—STAFF PHOTO BY CYNDI WOOD

VERONA ISLAND — For David Fucillo, the cancer diagnosis was a relief.

“Hello fellow students, this is David Fucillo. I just wanted to let you know I’m cancer-free.” — David's announcement over the middle school intercom

The Bucksport Middle School student finally had an explanation for his constant fatigue and painful headaches. Now he understood why he couldn’t work up the energy for sports, his favorite activity.

On April 6, just a few weeks before his 14th birthday, David was diagnosed with a germinoma, a cancerous tumor that had spread from the pineal area of his brain to his pituitary gland.

“I knew there was something wrong,” David said. “I wasn’t as fast as I was. I didn’t have much energy.”

He also had trouble with his vision and rapid weight gain and loss.

His mother, Trixie, also knew there was something seriously wrong with her youngest child.

“I knew this wasn’t my kid — my athletic kid,” she said. “I kept pushing and pushing.”

David, an avid baseball, basketball and soccer player, spent most of his time not in school on the couch. He received a snowboard for Christmas last year and didn’t have the energy to use it.

“It was just a tease because I couldn’t go out and try it,” David said.

Several trips to the pediatrician led to a referral to an endocrinologist, a specialist in glandular problems. Doctors suspected David’s symptoms were caused by rheumatoid arthritis and recommended he be sent to Boston for testing.

David began getting painful headaches shortly before the trip. A CAT scan at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor revealed one of his tumors. A follow-up MRI showed the cancer had spread to his pituitary gland.

David was immediately admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit for a biopsy and treatment for dangerous fluid buildup on his brain.

The prognosis was fairly good.

“If it could be any type of tumor, that’s the type they were hoping it was because it responds well to radiation,” Trixie said.

David kept his classmates informed of his condition from the start. He sent a letter to the school explaining his diagnosis and treatment. His big sister, Sarah, made bracelets for his classmates emblazoned with David’s name and the motto “Dig deep, fight, win.”

David underwent 33 days of radiation treatment in Bangor.

A series of small blue dots along his spine and on his scalp are a lasting reminder of his treatment. The tattoos were used to pinpoint radiation.

Throughout it all, even when his hair fell out and he battled nausea and fatigue, David kept his sense of humor.

“On the worst days he’d say something that would just crack me up,” Trixie said. “I’d be thinking, ‘My God, I’d still be in bed.’”

The community rallied around the family, organizing a series of fund-raisers and flooding the Fucillos with cards and good wishes. Middle school students raised more than $2,000. A fund-raiser in Frankfort, where David’s parents run a convenience store, was also successful. A friend’s mother collected donations at the Bucksport Bay Festival.

Two weeks after radiation ended, David started playing summer baseball. He also pushed himself through summer school so that he could move on to eighth grade with his peers this fall.

“He said ‘I’ve got two speeds — slow and slower,’ but he did it,” Trixie said.

A scan taken on Oct. 27 showed just a few spots on David’s brain that doctors believed to be scar tissue. The cancer appeared to be gone.

David’s parents couldn’t wait until after school to share the news. They had their son called to the principal’s office.

David made the announcement over the middle school intercom.

“Hello fellow students, this is David Fucillo. I just wanted to let you know I’m cancer-free.”

David still bears some of the lingering effects of his cancer and treatment. He still tires easily and has physical therapy weekly to help strengthen his muscles and reflexes.

Radiation killed the function of his pituitary gland, which affects growth. While his peers shoot up around him, David will have to stay at 5-foot-4 a little longer. He must be cancer-free for a year before doctors will administer human growth hormone.

David said he would like to be a coach when he grows up. That is, if he doesn’t become a professional athlete.

He said he is most grateful for all the local support during his ordeal.

“I just want everyone to know they had a huge part in this, and I thank them very much,” David said.