Beth Strickland stood before fellow cancer survivors, caregivers and Relay for Life volunteers at this year’s annual kick off ceremony at the Sanford Community Center Monday night and gave the speech of her life, about her life.
“My surgeon told me – you know you are a walking miracle,” Strickland said.
Diagnosed in 2007 with Stage 4 colon cancer and lesions on her liver, Strickland’s prognosis was “not good” to say the least. “I didn’t know it at the time, but my doctors gave me less than six months,” she said. Chemotherapy was her only option at first, so she took it, undergoing six months of it for the colon cancer, followed by surgery.
The surgeon found only scar tissue when he operated – the cancer in her colon was gone.
Strickland said it took a lot of prayer and support from her family (particularly Aunt Carol and cousin Patsy, who went with her to every test and treatment), church members at Jones Chapel, her friends and the community, as well as a positive attitude.
Following her colon surgery, she embarked on a round of chemo for the spots on her liver and a July 2008 scan at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta showed that the lesions on her liver were also gone.
“I kept telling myself that my dad was a lung cancer survivor and that I could survive too,” she said. And she remembers the day she got a card and refrigerator magnet from her friend Ramona Booth, with the prayer, “Dear God, Don’t give me anything today that you and I can’t handle.”
Strickland said the money raised for research and other advocacy through Relay has made all the difference to her and others like her.
The Relay for Life will be held this year on May 1 and 2 and the theme is “Main Street Relay” which encourages teams to develop business themes around “main street America.”
The Relay is also celebrating “25 Years of Hope,” commemorating the first Relay for Life, which was held in 1985.
Relay for Life chairman Robert Haggard said the relay raised $97,000 in 2008. The top five teams and the amounts they raised during that Relay were: Union Baptist Church, $16,264; Erastus Christian Church, $7,566; Williams Transco, $7,361; Breast Friends Champions, $6,237 and the EMS “Ditch Doctors,” $4,769.
A candlelight ceremony, entitled “Every Candle Has a Name,” was also held to remember those who have died from cancer.
For information on how to get involved in this year’s Madison County Relay, e-mail American Cancer Society Staff Partner, Katie Cullinan, at Katie.cullinan@cancer.org or call the local ACS office at 706-549-4893. Information on “all things Relay in Madison County” may also be found at their personal website at www.RelayForLife.org/MadisonGA
