LOVELOCK - Celebrating survivors of cancer is one of the special features of Relay for Life.
"One of the things I love about Lovelock is how they honor the survivors at their relay," American Cancer Society Community Relationship Manager Aimee Giller said.
"Surviving cancer is what Relay for Life is all about. That's why we relay so there will be more survivors," Giller said.
Every year the Lovelock Relay opens with the survivors' dinner. Jim Rowe has cooked a tri-tip dinner especially for the cancer survivors for the last five years at the Lovelock Relay for Life.
This year he cooked 10 tri-tips to serve to the group of 40 survivors who attended the dinner and their families. In all, Rowe said he served about 100 people with the help of his friends Dan Frazier and Paul Echerverria.
"This is a good cause and it makes me feel good to be able to support it," Rowe said.
One survivor who has touched the hearts of many people in Lovelock is 3-year-old Louie Gutierrez. He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) last August. According to his mother, Coco Gutierrez, he is doing well, but he won't be finished with his treatments until October 2015.
"He had a blast at Relay for Life. He felt like a superstar," she said.
Every two weeks the young Gutierrez and his family make a trip to Reno to have blood work done. Every fourth week he has a chemotherapy treatment.
"To watch your child go through this is beyond words," his mother said.
She was the captain of Team Louie, one of 10 teams participating at this year's event.
"I hear people say they don't want to participate or donate money because the ACS doesn't do anything locally. But I see it different. There are so many survivors in our community. If it isn't helping, what are all these purple shirts about?" Coco Gutierrez said.
Survivors get a purple T-shirt at the Relay for Life event.
Gutierrez said that without the ACS putting a cancer specialist in Reno she would have to take her son to Oakland, Calif., for his treatments. Another benefit she mentioned was the new treatments for cancer that are available. Having a bone marrow transplant used to be the only method of treating ALL. Now chemo is available to avoid having the painful transplant, she said.
Next year she will be a co-chair, along with Valaree Olivas, for the Lovelock Relay for Life.
"My goal is that my children's children won't have to worry about cancer," Gutierrez said.
Another young survivor, 14-year-old Trevor Wuth, shared his story. Wuth was diagnosed with ALL in September of last year.
"It was kind of scary. You hear about it happening to other people, but you never think it will happen to you," Wuth said.
He finished his intensive chemotherapy about three weeks prior to the Lovelock Relay for Life event and is now on a maintenance program, going to the hospital only once a month.
Wuth said he felt good about being at Lovelock Relay.
"I get encouragement from other people who are survivors. I am definitely going to kick this," he said.
His advice to others with cancer: "Keep a positive attitude. You got to be able to laugh and go on," he said.
Judy Osmun is a skin cancer survivor.
"Skin cancer used to be a serious thing. Now with all the new research and early detection you can get rid of it. I can't express enough how important it is to get regular exams every year," Osmun said.
Cancer runs in Shirley Hutzler's family. She watched her mother die of throat cancer. In 2011, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She said that she had a cough that lasted longer than her doctor thought was normal and he ordered an X-ray for her, which showed a small white spot on her left lung.
"I was a little apprehensive. I saw what my mother went through," Hutzler said.
She had a third of her lung removed and has been cancer-free for two years. She still gets X-rayed every six months, she said.
Twenty-three years ago, Cindy Plummer was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. At that time the doctor took out half of her thyroid. She enjoyed 20 years of being cancer-free until three years ago, when tests done because of a persistent sore throat indicated that there were new cancer cells on what was left of her thyroid.
Her diagnosing doctor suggested monitoring the situation for a while.
"I wasn't comfortable with that, so I went to see (another doctor)," Plummer said.
Getting the second opinion may have saved her life. The second doctor recommended taking the rest of her thyroid out. As suspected, the thyroid was found to be cancerous after the surgery.
Every survivor has a story of triumph. Some have to struggle a little harder than others to get that victory but the victory is still there in the end. Sadly, not every cancer patient is a survivor, but that is why there is Relay; to give hope that some day there will be a cure and everyone will be a survivor.[[In-content Ad]]
