Cancer Survivors

Retreat set for cancer survivors The Anne Arundel Medical Center Breast Center and the Annapolis community support group Stepping Out for Breast Cancer will host the fifth annual Breast Cancer Survivors Retreat Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Aspen Wye River Conference Center in Queenstown. The theme is "Hope + Endurance + Strength = Survivorship!" It is designed for those who have completed radiation, chemical or surgical intervention for breast cancer. The program will include education about new developments in breast cancer therapy, living with a cancer diagnosis and the use of complementary healing techniques.

LIVING IN an area where the word "cancer" is heard much too often, it is good to know there are people doing something about it -- namely, participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.The overnight event is designed to promote cancer awareness while raising funds to fight the disease. Relay for Life -- to be held Friday and Saturday on the grounds of Lindale-Brooklyn Park Middle School, 415 Andover Road -- is for cancer survivors and anyone who has been touched by the disease.

GUIDED BY the light of 3,500 candles, hundreds of people walked the track at Howard Community College from Friday night until noon Saturday.The event was part of Relay for Life, a national program of local events organized by the American Cancer Society.Relay for Life urges communities to come together to fight cancer. For the local event, 80 teams of eight to 15 people each registered to take turns running or walking the college track through the night and morning.At least one representative from each team had to be on the track at all times.

They call her the Energizer Bunny: Bettye Balland Griffin is one of those enviably efficient humans who can oversee two rental properties, hunt down just the right antique for an interior design client, move from a large Victorian house in Hunt Valley to a one-bedroom apartment in Parkville and still find time to make her special baked beans for a pot-luck supper.What's more, Bettye Griffin is also living with inoperable kidney cancer.On Saturday, she will join thousands of other cancer survivors, their families and friends at an unprecedented national rally in Washington to call for more money to prevent and treat the disease.

One little light to remember anothera father, a son, a cousin, a brother.One little light to honor a friendwho's fighting the fight to live again.One little light to find ways to copeto lift up our heads and hang on to hope.One little light shines from above,by lighting this light, you acknowledge love.Written by Nicole LeeProvided by the American Cancer SocietyAs darkness falls tonight, more than 200 people are expected to take the field at Westminster High School to light luminaries to honor cancer survivors and loved ones who have died of the disease.

Baltimore County's newest park has an unusual but inspiring message: "Cancer -- There is hope."The 1-acre parcel at Goucher Boulevard and Fairmount Avenue in Towson will be dedicated today, with life-size bronze sculptures, a cascading waterfall, a computerized registry of cancer survivors and a "Positive Mental Attitude Walk."The 10 a.m. ceremony for the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park will feature its largest benefactor, Richard A. Bloch, co-founder of H&R Block and a cancer survivor.

When Nancy Slaterbeck came out of anesthesia after her cancerous left breast was amputated at Johns Hopkins Hospital three weeks ago, all she wanted to do was sleep and get rid of the "unbearable" pain in her arm.But the main concern for some members of the recovery room staff seemed to be getting rid of her, the 51-year-old Towson woman told a Maryland Senate committee yesterday."

The face of Towson is changing.The former Hutzler's department store -- long a white elephant -- is scheduled for a spring transformation into a multilevel shopping center. A roundabout under construction will ease traffic into Towson's business district, which is getting brick sidewalks and decorative lighting. Nearby, the state's only cancer survivors' park is being readied for visitors.Amid all the changes, roads and sidewalks have been torn up. Orange construction cones are everywhere.

A band of some 40 cancer survivors wearing purple ribbon sashes gathered on the oval running track at Owings Mills High School yesterday evening to kick off the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life."The group walked the first lap of an 18-hour fund-raiser for cancer research, in which teams of 10 to 15 were to walk or run around the track -- one person at a time -- until noon today.Georgene Batz, 59, of Reisterstown was among the survivors. As she rounded the first turn of the track, she said she was reminded of just how much cancer had changed her life.

WHEN Janet Ruhlman joined Wings, a local cancer support group, she was not looking for a mate. She was only seeking support while she cared for her mother, who had been stricken with cancer.Like Ruhlman, Jim Rogers joined the group to find understanding. He wanted to meet with other cancer survivors, folks who could share their hope as he battled cancer of the lymph system.But what Ruhlman and Rogers found was more than hope. They found love.Rogers, who was diagnosed with cancer about 8 1/2 years ago, has outlived his first prognosis.

When Ellen Currotto was diagnosed with breast cancer, when part of her breast was removed, when she endured weeks of chemotherapy and lost her hair, when she underwent radiation, all of these months she focused on just one thing: Being done. They told her she'd get through it, but they didn't tell the retired executive assistant from Granite that after it was over she would still feel so profoundly tired that she couldn't even make it home from a short walk. As women live longer after breast cancer, the health care profession in recent years has begun to validate the concerns of Currotto and the thousands like her who survive the disease but struggle with the realities of the so-called "new normal."

Volunteers sought for breast cancer program The Center for Breast Care at Howard County General Hospital is offering a support program for women with breast cancer, matching volunteer breast cancer survivors with newly diagnosed women for insight and support through the time of the patient's treatment and recovery. Called "Survivors Offering Support," the program was introduced at Howard County General in 2006. The hospital is recruiting breast cancer survivors to serve as SOS mentors.

Volunteers sought for breast cancer program The Center for Breast Care at Howard County General Hospital is offering a support program for women with breast cancer, matching volunteer breast cancer survivors with newly diagnosed women for insight and support through the time of the patient's treatment and recovery. Called "Survivors Offering Support," the program was introduced at Howard County General in 2006. The hospital is recruiting breast cancer survivors to serve as SOS mentors.

Volunteers sought for breast cancer program The Center for Breast Care at Howard County General Hospital is offering a support program for women with breast cancer, matching volunteer breast cancer survivors with newly diagnosed women for insight and support through the time of the patient's treatment and recovery. Called "Survivors Offering Support," the program was introduced at Howard County General in 2006. The hospital is recruiting breast cancer survivors to serve as SOS mentors.

Volunteers sought for breast cancer program The Center for Breast Care at Howard County General Hospital is offering a support program for women with breast cancer, matching volunteer breast cancer survivors with newly diagnosed women for insight and support through the time of the patient's treatment and recovery. Called "Survivors Offering Support," the program was introduced at Howard County General in 2006. The hospital is recruiting breast cancer survivors to serve as SOS mentors.

Job fair planned in Clarksville Employers from major defense industry giants to government agencies will be looking for applicants at a job fair 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Ten Oaks Ballroom, 5000 Signal Bell Lane, next to the River Hill Village Center in Clarksville. The event is sponsored by the Columbia Workforce Center, a combined county-state office. Employers present are to include the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Information System Agency, the Social Security Administration, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Maryland Department of Budget and Management and others.

Columbia presents ninth BikeAbout The Columbia Association's ninth annual BikeAbout will be held at 9 a.m. May 2 at Symphony Woods in Town Center, Columbia. Bicyclists can begin the bike ride any time between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Incoming CA President Phil Nelson will make his first public appearance as the association's leader by welcoming people to the event. The BikeAbout highlights the history of Columbia and its open space with a 12-mile marked route, allowing bicyclists of all ages to enjoy a self-paced ride.

Families fight for Rosewood Center Families of residents of the Rosewood Center, a state-run home for the severely disabled that opened in 1888, teamed up to stop a plan to close the facility in Owings Mills. Celebrating life after cancer About 300 cancer survivors - "winners," one person preferred to call them - attended the annual National Cancer Survivors Day festivities in Baltimore, far more than the 50 who attended the first event 11 years ago. Pipe bombs safely destroyed Several pipe bombs were safely detonated by Baltimore County police after being found in a swampy area near White Marsh by two men using metal detectors.

Howard County's Relay for Life, an annual event that honors cancer survivors and raises money for the American Cancer Society, will be held Friday and Saturday at Hammond High School in Columbia. This year's theme is "Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back." Teams collect pledges, camp out and take turns walking or running around the track all night. Opening ceremonies are to start at 6:30 p.m. Friday, followed by a Survivors' Lap, when cancer survivors walk around the track, cheered by families and friends.

Perhaps the best news out of the National Cancer Survivors Day festivities yesterday in Baltimore was how crowded the lobby was at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. About 300 cancer survivors - "winners," one person preferred to call them - turned out with their friends and families for the annual celebration, far more than the 50 who attended the first event at Mercy Medical Center 11 years ago. It's a rewarding day for all, they said, and particularly for the medical professionals who have cared for these people.