4/17/08
Cancer survivors gather to share stories; celebrate life
By Jerriod Grizzle

JERRIOD GRIZZLE/Manning Times

Joye Rickenbaker, Martha Stukes, Judy Hooks and Gwen Welch are all cancer survivors and advocates for Relay for Life.

“I had never had a colonoscopy before I started driving my friends back and forth to have theirs done. One day I decided with my doctor that I should get one done as well,” said 72-year-old Chuck Gordon describing how he first learned he had cancer. “I went and got one done and the doctor called me back and said he wanted to talk to me.”

Chuck Gordon had colon cancer.

“They took out one-third of my colon,” he said. “However it was a simple procedure that saved my life and I advocate that everyone over 50 should get checked out. I am glad I got checked or I could have possibly died.”

Gordon’s story was just one from the more than 100 survivors that attended the Relay For Life Survivor’s Brunch April 12 at the New Covenant Presbyterian Church where young adults, “baby boomers” and senior citizens alike gathered to share their stories of hope and survival with those who are still fighting the disease.

“It is a really good thing and we are proud people came out and we are fortunate we have these survivors,” said Relay For Life Chair Pete Surette.

The brunch was an effort on behalf of Relay to promote the registration of cancer survivors leading up to Relay For Life in May.

Keynote speaker for the event Joye Rickenbaker spoke about her battle with cancer in 2005 while being pregnant.

Rickenbaker had just found out she was pregnant with her first child when she found a lump in her breast.

“I went to the doctor and he told me that it was just hormones and so I went back again in a couple of weeks and he still said it was just hormones,” she said.

Finally, Rickenbaker went for an ultrasound and then a core biopsy where her suspicions of having breast cancer were confirmed.

“The doctor told me it wasn’t good, it stinks, it’s cancer. I realized that I had three other children at home, home-schooling two of those children and I knew I had another one that I would have to fight for,” she said. “I had to say to myself that I was going to survive and be a survivor that lived life with joy.”

Rickenbaker, still watching out for her unborn child, underwent a mastectomy and had 22 lymph nodes removed. More than half of those lymph nodes were positive.

After going through rounds of both intravenous chemotherapy and oral chemotherapy, Rickenbaker gave birth to her son Feb. 16, 2006.

Since then Rickenbaker said she has continued with her treatments to fight cancer and still does so today.

“You and I should have joy on our face everyday to be not just survivors but to live,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Rep. Cathy Harvin spoke briefly about surviving cancer and told how some useful measures in the House of Representatives could affect the lives of 7,000 women.

Harvin said that the House has set aside $2 million to give free cancer screenings to women without health insurance by partnering with the Center for Disease Control’s Best Chance Network.

“South Carolina is helping for the first time ever and it will save lives,” she said.

Surette said that the event was such a success that the workers of the event ran out of t-shirts that they were giving away for survivors that registered. He said that he was proud of the event’s success.