PORT TOWNSEND — Cancer survivors walked the track at Memorial Field on Saturday evening to start 24 hours of fund-raising for cancer research during the Port Townsend Relay for Life.
Some 90 minutes after the survivors’ lap began at about 6 p.m., massage therapist Harmony Pinette of Port Townsend was the last survivor walking.
“Cancer taught me that I should do what I want with my life because it could end at any time,” Pinette, 54, said.
“I don’t want to own a home anymore. Now, I want to sell my house, buy a trailer and see the country.”
The Port Townsend Relay for Life continues today at Memorial Field at 550 Washington St., with a variety of activities to raise money to reach the group’s goal of $30,000.
Organizers were short of that goal by about $8,000 as of 7 p.m. Saturday, said Sandra Coca, the event’s chairwoman.
As of 7:30 p.m., 243 people had registered to participate.
Money raised through pledges or activities goes to the American Cancer Society for cancer research.
Walking through the night
Organizers hoped to have people walking all through the night.
“We raise funds for cancer research all year,” Coca said.
“This is a culmination and a celebration of all our efforts.”
About 30 people who have survived cancer took the first survivors’ lap around the track. Caregivers joined for the next lap, and health care workers on the third.
At that point different teams took over, keeping up a steady stream of people that is scheduled to end at 3 p.m. today.
All the survivors wore purple shirts and Olympic-style medal.
Darlene Quayle, a teacher for the Independent Choice for Education (ICE) program in the Port Townsend School District, was diagnosed with breast cancer in March, and was told she was cancer-free in June.
“I was lucky because they were able to remove my tumor with no radiation and no chemotherapy,” she said.
Self-examination
Quayle, 50, said she found the tumors through self-examination. They were a type difficult to detect through a mammogram.
“My breasts were very dense and had lots of cysts,” she said. “I was able to find it myself.”
Quayle said one of the biggest changes in her life was that she “is a lot more open about self-examination.”
Many participants were optimistic about their treatment, saying that caregivers often have a tougher time dealing with the disease than the patients themselves.
Sport Townsend owner Mari Friend, 66, said her thyroid cancer “is the best kind of cancer to have because it’s so treatable.”
She minimized its impact on her life.
“When I first got it I said ‘oh, darn’ but everything went so well,” she said. “When I got it again, I expected treatment to go as smoothly.”
Friend had one surgery and two radiation treatments at separate times and she isn’t fazed by the treatment.
“Radiation is easy for me because I just take a pill,” she said.
Pinette also was upbeat, saying that she was going in for a six-month checkup this week, a welcome change from the three-month frequency she had adhered to earlier.
Doctors say she is heathy enough that the frequent checkups aren’t needed.
Throughout the first two hours of the relay, the theme of the music was walking — beginning with Dire Strait’s “Walk of Life” and continuing with songs such as “Walk Like an Egyptian,” “I Walk the Line” and “Walking on the Moon.”
Today’s schedule begins with a Bedhead Walk at 6 a.m. followed by a 7 a.m. breakfast and an 8 a.m. Backwards Walk.
Several other themed walks are planned. The closing ceremony will be at 2 p.m.
Richard Hammer of Sequim had to retire in 1991 because of a cerebral hemorrhage and was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2006.
He says he is cancer-free now, but has been advised by his doctors that he should no longer exert himself physically.
“I used to dig in my garden a lot but I’m not supposed to do that anymore,” he said.
“But I do a lot of things that I am not supposed to do.”
The Port Townsend Relay For Life is the second on the North Olympic Peninsula this year, with the first being June 11-12 in Port Angeles.
The West End Relay For Life will start Aug. 6 at Forks High School, while Sequim’s event will begin Aug. 14 at Sequim High School.
For 24-hour cancer information, phone the American Cancer Society at 800-227-2345 or see www.cancer.org.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.