Friends Don’t Let Friends Fight Cancer Alone
By Dee Ann Littlefield, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist
While October is widely recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the employees of the USDA Service Center and Little Wichita Soil and Water Conservation Board in Clay County have launched their own cancer awareness campaign for the month of October: Friends Don’t Let Friends Fight Cancer Alone.
The Clay County group has become very cancer-aware in recent months with four employees, spouses or board members currently undergoing cancer treatment.
Cordelia Redman, NRCS conservation planner, is going through a chemotherapy regiment to be followed by radiation to treat Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma she was diagnosed with in July. Agrilife Extension County Extension Agent Sherri Halsell was diagnosed with breast cancer a day after Cordelia’s diagnosis. They had surgery a day apart and started their chemo treatments just a day apart as well. Halsell will also receive radiation after the completion of her chemotherapy.
NRCS District Conservationist Kenny Prewitt’s wife, Kimberli, is currently undergoing treatment for her second battle with breast cancer. Kimberli is a teacher at Petrolia High School in Clay County.
Local rancher and longtime Little Wichita SWCD board member Annie McClintock is currently receiving treatment for her second round of colon cancer.
The NRCS, FSA and Extension office staff and SWCD board members recently got together to celebrate each other, embrace the reality of cancer and encourage their friends as they continue their healing journey. They had special shirts made saying “Friends Don’t Let Friends Fight Cancer Alone” with Cordelia, Sherri, Kimberli and Annie’s name listed alongside an image of boxing gloves. Several of the staff members wore wigs to join the cancer patients in their “good hair days.”
The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 40 percent of the population has a lifetime risk of developing cancer. With 10 employees in the Clay County Service Center that is a very real statistic.
The Service Center employees and SWCD board members have been embracing the cancer battle arm-in-arm with their coworkers and friends – offering rides to appointments, chipping in to help with workloads, making dinner, and most of all offering prayers and encouragement along the way.
Prewitt has been especially understanding and comforting to his wife and co-workers afflicted with the disease. He knows what they are going through; he is a 10 year survivor of kidney cancer. With his experience and knowledge, Prewitt has become somewhat of the de facto cancer support group leader in the office.
“My cancer was a fluke deal – I thought I had a kidney infection,” Prewitt says. “I went to the doctor and next thing I knew I was diagnosed with cancer. That was a big surprise. Kimberli and I have both been tested and we don’t carry any cancer genes. We don’t know how or why we got cancer, but we did. Almost everyone is susceptible.”
All of the cancer patients agree: early detection is the key to successful treatment outcomes.
Redman encourages everyone to take even minor health concerns seriously and follow up with their doctor.
“I thought I had a lump from a sinus infection,” Redman says. “Turns out it was cancer in the lymph nodes on my neck.
“Don’t ignore symptoms,” she encourages. “Go get yourself checked even if you think it is nothing. Mine wasn’t as bad as it could be – but it could have turned that way if I didn’t get it looked at as soon as I did.”
For both Prewitt’s wife and Halsell, routine mammograms did not detect anything wrong but they both felt like something wasn’t quite right. They pursued their gut feelings with doctors until they had some answers – even if they didn’t like the answer.
“Be insistent,” Prewitt advises. “If something doesn’t feel right be insistent with your doctor – have them take a second look. And then don’t take that answer for granted – get a second opinion.
“It’s not what you want to do; it’s not what you want to hear,” Prewitt says. “But it is treatable and it is survivable.”
The cancer patients all say visiting with survivors and sharing experiences with a support group is invaluable.
“Getting a grasp of the situation early on is important,” Prewitt says. “It’s definitely not something you can do alone. You have to have that support. That’s what gets you through it.
Redman, Halsell, Kimberli and McClintock all agree.
“Having encouraging and caring people around helps you feel better,” Redman says. “Having their support makes you feel like you can fight it and makes a big difference in the journey.”
For over 80 years the NRCS, FSA and SWCDs have been partners in agriculture and conservation. The Clay County Service Center is an example of that longstanding partnership model being effective at a very personal level.
