Cancer Survivors

Jacqueline Thompson talked triumphantly about her battle with cancer and how she has been blessed by God. “I’m standing upright on the right side of the dirt,” Thompson, 69, of Hagerstown, said Monday night at the Maugansville Ruritan building, where she was among the guests at an annual dinner to celebrate local cancer survivors. While sleet and freezing rain fell steadily outside, guests gathered around tables covered in red tablecloths, and the smell of fried chicken, lasagna and ham wafted through the room.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- A piece of blue tape on Krystyna Smith's wrist was the only sign that the smiling, dancing girl has spent her entire life battling cancer. At age 6, she is an inspiration to everyone she meets. "Krystyna represents why we absolutely cannot stop fighting for a cure," Holly Morgan Frye said. For eight years, Frye has organized a Relay for Life at Shepherd University. On Friday at 4:30 p.m., she and her army of student volunteers kicked off this year's celebration of cancer survivors.

Breast Cancer Awareness -Cumberland Valley's (BCA-CV's) Celebration of Life Survivors' Party will be Thursday, Oct. 11, at Fountain Head Country Club, 13316 Fountain Head Road, Hagerstown. Registration is at 5 p.m. Dinner will be at 6 p.m. This year's speaker is Christine Clifford, founder of "The Cancer Club" and breast cancer survivor. The event is free for survivors. The fee for guests is $30 per person. Registration deadline is Friday, Oct. 5. Call 301-791-5843.

Boonsboro resident Selena Doyle reflected Monday night on her successful battle against breast cancer. Doyle said she underwent chemotherapy, radiation and surgery in Baltimore to turn the tide against the disease. Doyle feels that if she had been diagnosed 10 years ago, cancer research would not have been advanced enough to help her. “It feels great,” said Doyle, who has been cancer free since last February. Doyle was one of about 100 cancer survivors and caregivers who attended a Valentine's survivors dinner sponsored by Relay for Life of Washington County.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- More than 1,800 people walked the track at Martinsburg High School through Saturday afternoon and evening until 6 this morning during Berkeley County's annual American Cancer Society's Relay for Life fundraiser. Many of them wore T-shirts emblazoned on the back with "Happy Birthday is a victory song," a battle cry of cancer survivors. For about 275 of them, Diana Manor included, the relay is another victory in the fight against the dreaded disease. Manor, 53, of Hedgesville, W.Va.

Cancer survivors were saluted and applauded on Friday as they took a victory lap at Fairgrounds Park in Hagerstown. It's a tradition at the annual Relay for Life, an affirmation that cancer can be beaten. Phyllis and Bernard Keating of Hagerstown got in line for the march and ended up at the front of the pack, holding the event banner, along with Kathy Keeney of Big Pool. Phyllis defeated skin cancer. Her husband has had both skin cancer and prostate cancer. He said he's been cancer-free for 12 years.

When Rita Duke was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was terrified. She didn't think she would live to see another Christmas with her children let alone live to see her children marry or become parents. "I had four children and no children were married. I had no grandbabies, no prospects of grandbabies, and I thought, 'No, this can't be yet. I have to have more time so I can have all these things.' And I got it," Duke said. Duke, along with 140 others, participated in the American Cancer Society's ninth annual Chambersburg Relay for Life at Norlo Park, which started Friday night and ended Saturday.

When Quincy Kohler of Hagerstown was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago, she needed encouragement to cope with the potentially deadly disease. cont. from front page She found that strength in the National Cancer Survivors Day Celebration. This year's celebration was held Sunday at the Family Recreation Park on National Pike. About 800 people, including 272 cancer survivors, turned out. Sponsors included the Washington County Health System Inc. and the John R. Marsh Cancer Center.

The red, white and blue color scheme newly representing the Hagerstown Suns gave way to a deep shade of purple Friday at Municipal Stadium, where cancer survivors sporting the color took a celebratory lap around the bases before the game. The minor league baseball team hosted the American Cancer Society Relay for Life to honor area cancer survivors at their home game against the Hickory Crawdads. Melissa Wheatcraft, 58, of Hagerstown, was diagnosed with lung cancer, unrelated to tobacco, in June 2011.  About a year ago, doctors told Wheatcraft her cancer was terminal.

After throat cancer took his voice box, it took David Briles three years to learn how to speak a complete sentence by burping continuously. The 59-year-old Charleston, W.Va., native never regained much of his ability to laugh again, but was determined not to use a device known as an electrolarynx in order to talk. “I didn't want to sound like a robot,” Briles said Thursday after speaking to Martinsburg High School students about the dangers of tobacco use and how it changed his life.

Breast cancer survivors, their friends and family embraced, posed and smiled for the camera during a complimentary portrait session by Kelly Hahn Johnson of Kelly Hahn Photography during the Celebration of Life survivors' party hosted by Breast Cancer Awareness-Cumberland Valley for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October the last two years.  Survivors were invited to pose with their family and friends, and each received a print as a keepsake....

Boonsboro resident Selena Doyle reflected Monday night on her successful battle against breast cancer. Doyle said she underwent chemotherapy, radiation and surgery in Baltimore to turn the tide against the disease. Doyle feels that if she had been diagnosed 10 years ago, cancer research would not have been advanced enough to help her. “It feels great,” said Doyle, who has been cancer free since last February. Doyle was one of about 100 cancer survivors and caregivers who attended a Valentine's survivors dinner sponsored by Relay for Life of Washington County.

In a way, breast cancer changed Christine Clifford's life for the better. Just 19 years old when her mother lost her battle with the disease at age 42, Clifford found a lump in her breast during a routine self-examination that led to her own diagnosis when she was 40. “My kids were 10 and 8 at the time, and I thought, 'oh my gosh, I'm going to go the way of my mom. I'm going to crawl in bed and die,'” she said. “And lo and behold, I found humor in my situation.” After her diagnosis, Clifford began drawing cartoons and writing books, which ultimately led to her quitting her “real job” and becoming a full-time author.

Breast Cancer Awareness -Cumberland Valley's (BCA-CV's) Celebration of Life Survivors' Party will be Thursday, Oct. 11, at Fountain Head Country Club, 13316 Fountain Head Road, Hagerstown. Registration is at 5 p.m. Dinner will be at 6 p.m. This year's speaker is Christine Clifford, founder of "The Cancer Club" and breast cancer survivor. The event is free for survivors. The fee for guests is $30 per person. Registration deadline is Friday, Oct. 5. Call 301-791-5843.

As the sun set Friday and the streetlights illuminated downtown Hagerstown, chrome glistened, music filled the air and the city came alive for the second annual Thunder in the Square. Featuring 300 to 350 show vehicles, including cars, trucks, motorcycles and even tractors, the event was expected to draw more than a thousand people downtown by night's end, according to organizers and city officials. “It's the second time around and we've grown this year,” said Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II, who was charged with picking a Mayor's Choice Award winner in the show.

Cancer survivors were saluted and applauded on Friday as they took a victory lap at Fairgrounds Park in Hagerstown. It's a tradition at the annual Relay for Life, an affirmation that cancer can be beaten. Phyllis and Bernard Keating of Hagerstown got in line for the march and ended up at the front of the pack, holding the event banner, along with Kathy Keeney of Big Pool. Phyllis defeated skin cancer. Her husband has had both skin cancer and prostate cancer. He said he's been cancer-free for 12 years.

No matter what is going on in someone's life, one six-letter word has the power to bring it all crashing down. Or at least it might seem like it. That word is “cancer.” “It can be pretty intense,” said Dr. Dan Cornell, director of radiation oncology at John R. Marsh Cancer Center. “Obviously, coming down with cancer can be a very difficult thing to deal with.” But the most important things when dealing with cancer, according to a pair of local survivors, is to act quickly, remember that you are not alone and always focus on the positives.

Twelve years ago, Louise Dawson of Hagerstown battled a rare form of cancer. As she emerged a survivor, she made a promise: She would do something each day of her life for someone else, even if it was just crocheting. At nearly 80 years old, Dawson crochets more than 20 afghans each year to give away. Some go to family, some to friends. Others go to organizations to be raffled or auctioned to raise money. So when Hagerstown Citizens on Patrol learned that it did not receive much-needed funding for this year, Dawson said she told the group, of which she is a member, that she would donate a few afghans crocheted with the helmets of popular National Football League teams for it to raffle.