Cancer survivor urges others to support Relay for Life

Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of cancer survival pieces in advance of the June 13 American Cancer Society's Relay for Life of Cape Girardeau County. Holly Lintner is a survivor and relay volunteer.

Cancer touches us all, and it is important for our community to have an outlet to connect with others impacted by cancer. Relay for Life is that outlet.

After I first was diagnosed, between my double mastectomies and finding out whether I had to undergo chemotherapy -- which I did -- Dolores Bohnsack invited me to the 2013 Cape Girardeau County Relay for Life. I was relatively unfamiliar with the event, like most people seem to be in our community.

My family and I put on our tennis shoes and set out for the evening. When I arrived, I was given a purple survivor T-shirt, and shortly after the opening ceremony, the other survivors and I set out on the survivor lap.

For the first time since my diagnosis, I felt a camaraderie. I no longer felt isolated, because when you are the only one in your family who is fighting cancer, no one truly knows what you are dealing with.

After the first lap, my family members joined me on the track. I walked hand-in-hand with my boys, husband and mother in appreciation of their support.

After the survivor lap, my family enjoyed dinner, which we bought from the various teams that had set up campsites. We participated in games, enjoyed entertainment, and I networked with other survivors at various stages of their journeys.

After dark, we experienced our first luminaria ceremony.

We purchased and decorated bags in memory of my father, who passed from colon cancer; my father-in-law, who passed from kidney cancer; and in honor of me, a survivor.

The bags then lined the track with candles glowing from them as the names of all those we lost and all the survivors were read.

Then we walked the beautifully illuminated track together with all the others who had lost loved ones to cancer and those who had survived their battles.

The more I am involved with Relay and American Cancer Society, the more I appreciate that my Relay experience was so much more than a night of bonding, celebrating and memorializing for my family. It is a means to an end for cancer.

Since 1913, the American Cancer Society has led the fight against cancer by funding cancer research and by providing shelter, transportation, wigs, screening guidelines, support and, most important, hope for cancer patients. Many lives have been saved or extended because of their efforts.

For example, Tamoxifen, the daily cancer medication I take, would not exist if it weren't for American Cancer Society's funding and research.

It is my hope our community will be able to appreciate the true value of Relay, in every aspect, rather than hear Relay and think it is just another run or race.

I want every survivor and caregiver to feel welcome and excited.

I want our local businesses to want to be a part of this great community event, and I want families to come out and enjoy what our teams have to offer and the great games and entertainment our committee has scheduled.

Mark your calendars and plan on bringing your family and friends to Cape Girardeau County Relay for Life from noon to midnight June 13 at Arena Park.