Barbara and Cheryl Campbell

by Carol Crump
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 2:12 PM MDT

Barbara Campbell will take part in the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life celebration for the first time. Her sister-in-law Cheryl Campbell will be back for the sixth.

Both are cancer survivors who will be celebrating their lives and the lives of others who have been touched by the disease.

This year's Relay For Life, the American Cancer Society's annual fund-raising event, will be held at Kelly Walsh High School’s Harry Geldien Stadium on Aug. 3-4.

Teams made up of families, businesses, organizations and youth groups will take to the track at 4 p.m. Friday, and keep one member of the team walking (or running) until 2 p.m. Saturday.

Anyone is welcome to join the walk and come and go during the 24 hours, according to Cheryl.

"It's kind of like a birthday celebration," she said.

Two women’s stories

In August 1999, Cheryl said she hadn't scheduled her yearly mammogram when she found a lump in her breast. She recently had lost a 34-year-old friend to cancer, and said she kept seeing a cancer prevention television commercial that seemed to "be talking to me."

After surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and checkups, she is a long-term survivor.

"It's such a blessing," Cheryl said. "That's why my heart is in it (Relay For Life) so much: to give back, so others can be survivors."

A new friend she made during her radiation and chemotherapy treatment talked her into being a member of a team in the following year's Relay for Life.

Cheryl explained that Robin Mitchell was just finishing her treatment and her hair was growing back, when Campbell's hair was starting to fall out from chemotherapy.

"We shared a wig,” Cheryl said. “We're like sisters.”

Cheryl's sister-in-law Barbara was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last December, and soon will be going in for her first six-month checkup.

Barbara said she had coughed "for years," but kept thinking the cough was due to stress or acid reflux. During her regular annual physical examination in October, her doctor noticed nodules in her throat.

During surgery in December to remove the right lobe of her thyroid gland, the surgeon removed the left lobe of her thyroid that was pressing against her esophagus.

When cancerous cells were found inside the lobe, a second surgery removed the right lobe.

Barbara's cancer was treated with an obliterated iodine treatment, a process she described as taking two radioactive pills with water in a small room and staying home for a few days.

Her endocrinologist still is regulating her thyroid medication so the cancer won't come back, but she said, "It was truly such a small price to pay to have a cure. I was one of the lucky ones."

A wake-up call

According to Barbara, the hardest thing is being told you have cancer. She said it's a wake-up call that happens very, very fast. It's difficult to remain positive, but attitude does affect the recovery process. Barbara said Cheryl was her role model.

"She was teaching dance at the time, and she didn't miss a beat," she said.

Cheryl talked about the importance of support from others during treatment. Her hair was falling out and she wasn't sure she was up to teaching her dance classes.

One of her new students confided in her that she had lost her hair to chemotherapy for leukemia when she was 10 years old.

The 16-year-old survivor inspired her to decide, "Hey, cancer. I'm gonna show you a few things."

Now Cheryl, who is a former co-chair and entertainer at Relay For Life, is getting Barbara involved in the positive support network of the event.

She'll take part in the dinner for survivors, their family members and care givers on Friday night and the Victory Lap.

Cheryl hopes Harry Geldien Stadium will be a sea of purple Relay For Life T-shirts and the stands will be full for the Victory Lap.

"I encourage people who haven't had cancer touch their lives" to be there to cheer on survivors, who can be anyone from someone who was just diagnosed to a long-term survivor like she is, Cheryl said.

To join a team or to participate by supporting team members, e-mail Amber at awatts@fib.com, or call the American Cancer Society at 235-0044.

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