Tumor

Courage on the court By ANDREA BROWN-HURLEY andreabh@herald-mail.com Photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer WILLIAMSPORT - Stacey Myers' basketball jersey carries a number 2, but her coach and teammates think Stacey is second to none. Stacey, a seventh-grade student at Springfield Middle School in Williamsport, played in her school's Girls Recreational Basketball League - missing only two games - despite suffering from a disease that causes tumors to develop throughout her body.

By KERRY LYNN FRALEY Staff Writer It was cramped and sticky under the too-small tent, where hundreds of people sought refuge from the rain Sunday afternoon during Washington County's annual National Cancer Survivors Day picnic. Organizers estimated the rain kept about a third of the expected 625 people from showing up for the four-year-old event, moved to Hagerstown Municipal Stadium this year. Persistent showers ruined plans to tack on a free Hagerstown Suns game after the picnic lunch and short program.

SHARPSBURG -- Josh Forsythe had hoped to attend a fundraiser held Sunday for him and another local teenager battling an aggressive form of cancer. However, Josh, 15, a Williamsport High School student, was recovering from his 13th round of chemotherapy. Family members of Katie Stains, a recent Williamsport High graduate, said she was healing from a recent surgery to remove a large tumor from her leg, but that she hoped to arrive at the truck, car and motorcycle show later in the day. The fundraiser for the two teenagers, both suffering from Ewing's Sarcoma, was held at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center along Sharpsburg Pike, about five miles south of Hagerstown.

Jana Lyn Russell, 36, of Hagerstown, Md., and Edina, Minn., died Monday, March 4, 2013, peacefully at home surrounded by family. A precious child, Jana was the light of her family and many extended friends. At the age of 2, she was diagnosed with a tumor on her brain stem and bravely withstood surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments. Despite the challenges brought on by surviving childhood cancer, Jana was ever-present with her mother in the ballet studio, in her leotard and at the barre, reminding us all that life is to be lived fully and without regrets.

HAGERSTOWN When Julie Gantz was diagnosed with large cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, nobody told the single mother of three that she was going to die, so she didn't let herself ponder that scenario. "But my tumor was this big," Gantz said, holding her handbag up to her chest. After six months of chemotherapy and radiation, the tumor was gone. That was 10 years ago. "My survivorship and this relay are the same age. That's why it's special to me," Gantz said of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, which was held overnight Friday at South Hagerstown High School.

By DAVE McMILLION Staff Writer WILLIAMSPORT - This year has been a particularly tough one for the Williamsport Volunteer Ambulance Service following news that children of two of its members were diagnosed with serious illnesses. Thirteen-year-old Sarah Roseberry, daughter of volunteer Teresa Roseberry, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in September. Six-year-old Jacob Wentz, son of medic George Wentz, was diagnosed with leukemia in late October, officials said.

Skin cancers are the most common of all cancers. The skin cancer basal cell carcinoma is more common among men and people with lightly pigmented skin. It also occurs most often in people older than 40. According to Ann Roney, program manager of the Wound Healing Center at Washington County Hospital, individuals with darker pigmentation are at low risk of developing these skin cancers. Basal cell carcinoma often appears as a single, small, firm, oval, flesh-colored bump with raised edges and white borders.

Sometimes, cancer likes to play games. Just ask Shary Iobst. For several years, Iobst was being treated for a cyst in her breast. "I had found a lump, went to my doctor and tests showed that it was a cyst," the local resident says. "I would have it drained, it would fill up, and I would have to have it drained again. " Although she knew the growth was benign, it was still a source of worry. "My mother and my grandmother both had breast cancer," she says, "so that was always in the back of my mind.

Larry Wegner's cancer nightmare started in early 1998 with night sweats. "I would wake up two, three times a night soaking wet. I had to change my shirt," remembers Wegner, 29, of Sharpsburg, who didn't see a doctor about the problem or the large lump he discovered on his clavicle soon afterward. cont. from lifestyle It wasn't until a couple of months later, when he visited the doctor for sinus drainage and chest tightness, that he found out the earlier problems were symptomatic of Hodgkin's lymphoma.

-JAN. 25, 2009 Jane (Shobe) Smith, 59, formerly of Hagerstown, Md., died Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009, at home after a long and courageous battle against a brain tumor. She is survived by her husband of 26 years, Ron Smith; and her stepchildren, Susi and Ken Smith of Crofton. She is also survived by her brother, Bob Shobe of Clermont, Fla.; and sisters, Cindy (Shobe) Quinn of Wilmington, Del., and Sharon Trovinger of Frostburg, Md. Jane worked for many years in Washington County's Department of Economic Development.