4/23/09
Clarendon survivors prepare for May 8-9 Relay
By Sharron Haley

SHARRON HALEY/Manning Times

Colon cancer survivor Daun Davis, right, pictured with City of Manning Finance Director Mary Prince. She is a big proponent of knowing your family history and listening to your body when it comes to cancer.

Mark your calendars for May 8, an evening of celebration in Clarendon County.

For 12 hours, the folks of Clarendon County will gather at Manning High School’s Ramsey Field to celebrate the lives of friends and family members who fought the battle with cancer and overcame the beast. Those survivors, along with their caregivers, friends and family will also celebrate and pay tribute to the lives of those who valiantly struggled with the ravaging disease, but lost the battle.

The all night event is the culmination of a year’s worth of fundraisers, including bake sales, dinners, sporting events, doughnut sales, raffles and other events to raise money for Clarendon County’s 2009 Relay for Life campaign.

Spearheaded again this year by co-chairs Pete and Janene Surette, the 2009 event is billed as a big party with games, food, music, karaoke, a DJ after midnight and lots of time to sit and reminisce. The Surettes said they also want to bring about a better awareness of the disease, the symptoms to look for, and the importance of early diagnosis while at the same time raising money for research and to help local residents fight the disease.

“Last year our goal was to raise $140,000,” Pete Surette said last week. “We ended up with $175,000. We decided to step forward this year and raise the goal to $180,000.”

The Surettes also decided to recognize Relay’s 25th anniversary with the theme for this year’s Relay.
“We’re calling this year’s event ‘Everyone’s 25 Reasons to Relay,’” Pete Surette said. “The teams are encouraged to use the theme in decorating their sites and show 25 reasons why they relay.”

Surette said the various teams will be hosting fundraisers right up until the evening of Relay.

On Friday, April 24, the City of Manning team will join forces with the Clarendon County team for a fundraiser to sell 800 dozen doughnuts beginning at 6 a.m. at the corner of Boundary and Boyce streets. To order your doughnuts in advance, call the Manning Police Department at 435-8859 or the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office at 435-4414.

Another fundraiser is slated for May. Joe George with Pro Med is chairing a softball tournament that is limited to the first eight teams to register. On May 2, the teams will square off against each other in a double elimination tournament with the winner claiming bragging rights for an entire year.

Over the course of the next several weeks, The Manning Times will be introducing you to survivors, caregivers and the friends and family of cancer victims.

Pamela Buddin, 48, breast cancer survivor

SHARRON HALEY/Manning Times

Pam Buddin, assistant principal at Manning Junior High School, is a breast cancer survivor. She continued to work through her chemotherapy treatment, even when her hair fell out.

Pam Buddin has been molding the lives of youngsters for more than 26 years, first as a teacher and later as an assistant principal at various academic levels.

Today, Buddin is an assistant principal at Manning Junior High School.

Sitting at her desk last week, Buddin read from a letter from a former student.

“She called me an inspiration,” Buddin said with a smile. “She said she was encouraged to persevere when she would think about me coming to school while I was going through my cancer treatments.”

Buddin said a self-exam led her to the doctor’s office.

“I felt a lump,” she said. “I went to the doctor and there were really two lumps. The second lump was more palpable and it turned out to be cancerous. The early diagnosis was good. The doctor said I had a higher percentage of survival.”

While Buddin credits her family for getting her through the rigors of the treatments, she also credits her “school family” with helping her get through one day at a time.

“What helped me most was coming to work on days when I could,” she said. “I didn’t want a pity party. My school family supported me.”

By sitting home every day, Buddin said she would dwell on the diagnosis.

Losing her hair didn’t stop her from going to school.

“I wore hats,” she said. “The students enjoyed seeing my different hats. I never missed school if I felt like it.”

Buddin said she had an eye opening experience while in the doctor’s office one day.

“I was sitting there waiting on my treatment when I looked around the room and saw people in worse shape than I was,” she said. “There was a husband and wife and both had cancer.”

Buddin didn’t attempt to hide her diagnosis from her students or her peers.

“I wanted everyone to pray for me,” she said. “I wanted prayer from every church.”

Along with her family and school family, Buddin applauds the people of Clarendon County.

“People here pull together,” she said. “It’s wonderful. They are there for you.”

Buddin’s advice is two-fold.

“Take someone with you to your appointment,” she said. “After the doctor said the word cancer, I didn’t hear a thing. You need someone there who can listen.”

Although Buddin didn’t detect the cancerous lump in her self-exam, she still encourages all women to examine themselves.

“The earlier you catch it the better it is,” she said. “Early detection is the key to survival.”

Ray Francis, 54, stage 3 melanoma survivor

SHARRON HALEY/Manning Times

Ray Francis, band director at Manning High School, is a melanoma skin cancer survivor. He doesn’t miss an opportunity to talk to his students about safe and healthy habits, including avoiding too much sun.

Ray Francis marches to the beat of his own band.

For more than 30-plus years, Francis has taken his love for music, especially band music, to students. The last three of those years Francis has led the Manning Marching Monarchs into statewide competitions, performing trips throughout the Southeast and even a trip to perform at President Barrack Obama’s inauguration. In the very near future, Francis said he will be releasing information on an invitation the band has to travel outside of the United States to perform.

With a full calendar, Francis had no idea that a “beautiful” multi-colored mole on his arm would result in a diagnosis of cancer in the form of stage three melanoma.

“In the 60s and 70s, I sunburned a lot,” he said. “I was outside all the time. I stay outside all summer practicing. It was nothing to get sunburned. I know that’s what led to the cancer.”

Francis said that since his diagnosis, his wife doesn’t let him leave the band room or the house without a good application of sunscreen.

“My wife sprays on something with an SPF 50 protection,” he said. “I don’t even get pink anymore.”

Francis said he didn’t keep his diagnosis from his students.

“I talk to them all the time about smoking, drinking, drinking and driving and being more aware of what they are doing to their bodies,” he said. “Every chance I get I talk to them. I’ve lost three students to cancer. Recently a student lost her father to cancer. It’s something we talk about.”

As a cancer survivor, Francis said his one piece of advice to others would be to “get checked out frequently by your spouse or doctor.”

“They need to look you over – on your back, your neck, the top of your ears, places you can’t see,” he said. “Early diagnosis is key to beating it.”

Sally A. Hogg, 64, stage 3 melanoma survivor

SHARRON HALEY/Manning Times

Sally Hogg, pictured here with her grandson Alex Ridgeway and husband, Bill, is a melanoma skin cancer survivor. She knows how important a good support system is.

Sally Hogg knew firsthand the devastation of a cancer diagnosis. She was a retired nurse with more than 40 years in the medical field when she received the diagnosis.

“I noticed a swollen lymph node,” she said. “I thought it was an infection.”

Hogg said at first the doctor treated her for an infected lymph node before he did a biopsy.

“The doctor traced it back to my arm,” she said pulling up her sleeve and showing a small quarter sized scar on her upper right arm. “I had a melanoma on my arm.”

Hogg said that although she was a Christian, it wasn’t until she was diagnosed with cancer that her faith became stronger.

“Jesus and I became best friends,” she said. “I used to take things for granted. I don’t anymore. That tree there, the birds you hear singing, I don’t take things for granted anymore.”

Hogg said her doctor referred to her as his “miracle” patient.

“He hugged me once and called me his miracle,” she said. “I asked him what he meant by that and he told me that at one point he didn’t think we’d ever been at this point.”

Sally said that while she was going through the treatments and recovery, her husband, Bill, stood right by her side.

“I believe (Bill) had it worse than me,” she said. “He had to watch me suffer. He took total care of me. He started my IVs. He changed my dressings. He was a quick learner. I give him credit. He stood right here beside me the entire time.”

Bill Hogg said he did things for his wife he “never thought he’d do.”

“You don’t know how important a person is to you until you experience something like this,” he said.

With a glance at her husband, Sally said that after the diagnosis her husband has become “very protective.”

“He did everything for me,” she said. “Everything.”

Even her grandson, Alex, helped in her recovery.

“I brought you roses and M&M’s didn’t I?” he asked. “I helped, too.”

Maryann Kenyon, 62, breast cancer survivor

SHARRON HALEY/Manning Times

Mary Ann Kenyon, a waitress at Manning’s Waffle House, is a breast cancer survivor. She found her cancer early via mammogram and credits early detection with her success in fighting cancer.

Maryann Kenyon has spent most of her adult life serving others as a crossing guard in New Jersey, to a clerk and now as a waitress in Manning

A routine check including a mammogram is how Kenyon learned she had breast cancer.

“They told me they saw two lumps,” she said. “They gave me a couple of options, and I chose surgery and treatments.”

Three surgeries later and bouts with chemotherapy and radiation, Kenyon is on the road to recovery.

Since her diagnosis, Kenyon has urged her three daughters to get their mammograms done.

“I never would have known without the mammogram,” she said. “It would have gone undetected.”

Kenyon’s advice is to get regular checkups, including mammograms.

“If I hadn’t had that checkup,” she said. “The cancer might have been found too late.”

Daun Davis, 53, colon cancer survivor

Daun Davis wears several hats for the City of Manning.

For the past 12 years, Davis has worked in a variety of positions. She is currently administration service coordinator and clerk.

Davis’ visit to her physician for a normal physical was progressing nicely when Davis happened to mention that she had this “crazy craving” for ice.

“It was unreal,” she said. “I was buying all these bags of ice. I couldn’t get enough. The doctor suggested we check out my colon and that’s when the cancer was discovered.”

Davis said she’s been cancer free for nine years now.

“I just want to thank God,” she said. “I’m cancer free.”

Davis’ word of advice is to know your family’s history.

“I didn’t know that right before I was diagnosed that my father had had a polyp removed,” she said. “Ask your parents questions. Take prevention.”

Davis also urged everyone to really “listen” to your body.

“Your body talks to you, but you really have to listen to what it’s saying.”