DesotoExplorer.com / Cancer survival starts on day one

Archive for Thursday, May 1, 2008

May 1, 2008

Have you ever been told you have cancer? If so, according to the American Cancer Society that would make you a cancer survivor.

The ACS says a cancer survivor is anyone who has ever been told that they have cancer. They are a survivor starting from day one. Survivors can be in the middle of their treatment, 50 years free of cancer, or anywhere in between.

Many people think that you need to have gone through radiation or chemotherapy to be a cancer survivor. Well that too is untrue. For example, if you had a mole removed, and the doctors got it all at that time, and you didn't need any further treatment, you are still a cancer survivor.

A lot of cancer survivors will not say that they are a survivor until they have gone through the treatments and are in remission. One survivor said "I can't call myself a survivor until I am free from it. Then I know I've beaten it."

It is each individual's way of coping with the situation. Everyone has their own time when they can call them self a survivor.

The bottom line is according to the ACS anyone who has heard those words "You have cancer" is a survivor to us.

That is why the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life of De Soto is looking for cancer survivors to participate in our opening ceremony June 6. Survivor registration forms can be obtained at the Cedar Creek Pharmacy in De Soto, or survivors can contact Heather Jenson, Survivor Chair, at hjhusker@juno.com or at 484-8508 to register.

Rita Jones

De Soto Relay For Life