It has been three years since the diagnosis, and, according to the American Cancer Society, three years of survivorship for one Aiken County resident.
"You become a survivor the day you are diagnosed," said Michael Brazier, ACS community manager.
For survivor Shirley Abney, the keys are attitude and a smile.
"I was diagnosed two months after my mother passed, and my birthday present the next year was a mastectomy," she said. "I have been excited ever since because they found it in time. I could have a 'woe is me' attitude, but I am a breast cancer survivor, and I am talking to people about it. Attitude has so much to do with it. So many people, once diagnosed, see it as a death sentence, but whatever time you have, you must enjoy."
Abney was no stranger to the tragedies of cancer when she was diagnosed. She lost her father, sister, best friend and two aunts to cancer and watched her mother battle breast cancer before she later died of cardiac arrest.
"I'm still here so the Lord wants me here. I think about my family members and friends who are gone, and I still keep hope alive. They may not find a cure in my lifetime, but I hope they will find one in my niece's lifetime," Abney said. "We can do this thing; we just have to do it together."
Abney became an outspoken participant in Relay For Life of Aiken two years ago at the urging of her pastor at Second Baptist Church. She realizes the importance of research and has seen the progress firsthand in her life.
"My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the early '80s, and treatment has come so far since then. My younger sister was 24 when she passed away of stomach cancer in 1978, and my father passed from leukemia in 1980. There just wasn't the treatments there are today," she said. "Joining Relay For Life has been so educational for me."
Abney now finds herself talking about her experiences and sharing the weight of the days ahead with others who have recently been diagnosed. One of the tools she has found helpful is the ACS 24-hour hotline at (800) ACS-2345. She is a familiar face at the Cancer Center in Aiken, where she finds she is inspired by talking with others.
"When I was diagnosed, the hardest part for me was that my mother wasn't here. People often tell me that once they are diagnosed, people turn away from them, but my friends stepped up to the plate. At a time like this, you need your friends to surround you. I didn't want anyone to treat me any different, just to do the same things they've always been doing. The Lord has brought me here for something. I really think he wants me to go out and tell the story," Abney said. "It has all happened for a reason. I don't know if it's to share the story or to encourage others."
She has found that her involvement in Relay For Life has led to healing for herself and others as they form bonds and become family.
"It is good to know other people who are going through what you are going through or who have been through it. You really can't understand unless you have experienced it personally," Abney said. "I have met so many people through Relay who really understand what going through cancer is all about. Relay isn't only informational; it's about gaining new friends, and it just makes you want to be a part of it."
Brazier said, "People who go to Relay and stay overnight leave with a new family. They laugh together and cry together."
This year, Abney will celebrate her birthday with ACS and serve as a guest speaker during the 2010 Relay For Life of Aiken kick-off party.
"'Happy Birthday' is a victory song at the American Cancer Society because a world with less cancer is a world with more birthdays. Join the movement for more birthdays. Visit morebirthdays.com, and declare the American Cancer Society a sponsor for your birthday," Brazier said. "A world with more birthdays is our new ACS campaign."
Abney and Brazier invite the community to help in the fight to end cancer by joining Relay For Life.
The 2010 Relay For Life of Aiken kick-off party will be held Thursday at 6 p.m. at First Baptist Church on York Street. The party will have a Western theme.
For more information, e-mail Michael.Brazier@cancer.org or call 295-3758.
Contact Rachel Johnson at rjohnson@aikenstandard.com. To see more of the Aiken Standard or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.aikenstandard.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Aiken Standard, S.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, Aiken Standard, S.C.