Cancer Survivors

Country music superstar Martina McBride will sing the national anthem before Sunday's Ravens-Jets nationally televised game and she will be joined by breast cancer survivors and those undergoing treatment. It's part of the Ravens' effort to help promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. McBride's new single, “I'm Gonna Love You Through It,” offers hope and inspiration to those who have been affected by breast cancer, according to the team.  Ravens staff, family members and volunteers from the American Cancer Society will distribute 40,000 pink ribbons to fans as they enter the stadium Sunday.

When Tina Beerman was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2001, her life changed and so did her career. Beerman, a nurse for 25 years and an independent physician consultant, became clinical manager at the Center for Breast Care at Howard County General Hospital. "[My diagnosis] is the complete reason why I do what I do now," Beerman said. While working at the hospital, Beerman organized a Celebrate Life reception last May for breast cancer survivors, complete with food, a DJ, a magician, games and prizes.

For five years, Mary Kusnierz was involved with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in honor of her mother, who died of breast and colon cancer. On Friday, the Laurel resident will participate in the Howard County relay for the first time as a cancer survivor. "I'm still doing this walk for my mom, but now it's got a different meaning," said Kusnierz, 45, who successfully completed treatment for breast and thyroid cancer this year. Over 16 hours Friday night and Saturday morning, about 1,400 people will walk, jog or run around the track at Hammond High School to raise community awareness about cancer and to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

STOWE, Vt. - Twelve women, each with a piece of green yarn draped around her neck like a string of pearls. Each with a diploma in hand. Each with tears in her eyes. It's time for the women with cancer to go home, taking with them lessons learned about friendship - and about fly-fishing. "Do we have to go?" asks Joanie Bennett of no one in particular. These women are the latest graduates of Casting for Recovery, a weekend retreat for breast cancer survivors that combines fly-fishing instruction with medical, psychological and social support.

For five years, Laurel resident Mary Kusnierz supported the fight against cancer, participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in honor of her mother, who died of breast and colon cancer. She said she had given money to the cancer society for a while before a friend suggested she attend the Relay for Life in Anne Arundel County in 2000. "I went, and I was hooked," she said. " ... Instead of just writing a check, you feel like you are accomplishing something." On Friday, she will participate in the Howard County Relay for the first time as a cancer survivor.

Nancy Becraft has a T-shirt from each year Laurel has held a Relay for Life, and has witnessed the growth of the event since the first relay in 1999. "We only started out with about 11 teams," Becraft said. This year there are 40 teams, and counting. The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life is a summer fundraising and awareness event organized in thousands of communities across the country. Participants, many of whom are cancer survivors and their families or friends, form teams and spend the evening walking laps around a track and enjoying planned entertainment.

- A lazy Sunday morning. Arising later than usual. A long week of work in the books, a promising week ahead. Now living in Armenia, I correspond regularly with colleagues, friends and family back home in the States. Birds chirp as I check some emails and enter the social media labyrinth. And there I found them: farewell messages written to my friend, Anne Smedinghoff, 25, praising her brilliance, grace and kindness. She was delivering a truck full of books to schoolchildren when it happened.

After months of chemotherapy and radiation, Susan Faber had finally finished breast cancer treatment and conquered the disease. It should have been a happy occasion. But Faber felt at a loss earlier this year as she rang the gong at Johns Hopkins Hospital, a ritual all patients who finish cancer treatment at the facility take part in. Suddenly a rush of emotions exploded from inside. Faber, 48, had been so preoccupied with treatment for her stage three cancer that she never really had a moment to truly think about the experience.

More than 1,000 area volunteers - including more than 50 local cancer survivors - are expected to take part in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life tonight at Burdick Field at Towson University. The event, intended to support cancer research, education, advocacy and patient services, will open with a "Survivors' Lap" in which participating cancer survivors are introduced by name and then walk, run or use a wheelchair in the ceremonial first lap. Relay teams will continue circling the track throughout the event, expected to last through the night.

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.