An hour or so before the Bath/Hammondsport Relay For Life Kick-off Friday night, July 9, the unseasonably hot weather broke with a boom: a torrential downpour sent soaked volunteers racing for cover.
Volunteers then dried themselves off, some shrugged on slickers or ponchos or wrung their shirts out, and threw a birthday party to celebrate the lives of those who have survived cancer and remember those who battled and lost.
The rain and sprinkles that followed the storm seemed to add to the festive air: children darted around Firemen’s Field, boys played soccer with a puppy tearing after the ball, friends greeted each other with wide smiles and hugs.
Like Don Holloway, the technician for the opening act HepCats, maybe they just felt good to still be on the planet.
Holloway, 52, of Pine City, was diagnosed “by accident” three years ago with prostate cancer.
He had just changed doctors, and his new physician insisted on a full work up. Tests came back with high prostatespecific antigen (PSA) levels. Two more tests later, the levels stayed high, and within two months Holloway was in surgery to remove the cancer.
Trust in his doctors was an important element for Holloway, who joked he bought one doctor a new car and named two kidney stones after him.
Holloway’s religious faith also played an important role in his recovery, as well, he said. His minister was with him until he went into the operating room, a source of comfort and strength.
“It was as important as anything my doctor could do for me,” he said.
But what kept the father of two teenage boys going was the simple fact he was not going to leave them.
“My biggest fear was being away from them,” he said, choked with swift emotion. “I don’t fear death, not really. But they mean the world to me.”
Three years later, Holloway tells his eighth-grade science students about his battle with cancer during a unit on radiation.
His comparative youth at the time of the diagnosis has helped him toward a full, functional recovery, he said.
“Cancer is part of what I am,” he said. “But it doesn’t define me ... everyday I enjoy this beautiful planet.”
And he has a word of advice to men who dread the PSA screening.
“Is the prostate exam a little embarrassing?” he asked, and answered himself with a quick grin and a shrug. “Don’t die of embarassment.”
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An hour or so before the Bath/Hammondsport Relay For Life Kick-off Friday night, July 9, the unseasonably hot weather broke with a boom: a torrential downpour sent soaked volunteers racing for cover.
Volunteers then dried themselves off, some shrugged on slickers or ponchos or wrung their shirts out, and threw a birthday party to celebrate the lives of those who have survived cancer and remember those who battled and lost.
The rain and sprinkles that followed the storm seemed to add to the festive air: children darted around Firemen’s Field, boys played soccer with a puppy tearing after the ball, friends greeted each other with wide smiles and hugs.
Like Don Holloway, the technician for the opening act HepCats, maybe they just felt good to still be on the planet.
Holloway, 52, of Pine City, was diagnosed “by accident” three years ago with prostate cancer.
He had just changed doctors, and his new physician insisted on a full work up. Tests came back with high prostatespecific antigen (PSA) levels. Two more tests later, the levels stayed high, and within two months Holloway was in surgery to remove the cancer.
Trust in his doctors was an important element for Holloway, who joked he bought one doctor a new car and named two kidney stones after him.
Holloway’s religious faith also played an important role in his recovery, as well, he said. His minister was with him until he went into the operating room, a source of comfort and strength.
“It was as important as anything my doctor could do for me,” he said.
But what kept the father of two teenage boys going was the simple fact he was not going to leave them.
“My biggest fear was being away from them,” he said, choked with swift emotion. “I don’t fear death, not really. But they mean the world to me.”
Three years later, Holloway tells his eighth-grade science students about his battle with cancer during a unit on radiation.
His comparative youth at the time of the diagnosis has helped him toward a full, functional recovery, he said.
“Cancer is part of what I am,” he said. “But it doesn’t define me ... everyday I enjoy this beautiful planet.”
And he has a word of advice to men who dread the PSA screening.
“Is the prostate exam a little embarrassing?” he asked, and answered himself with a quick grin and a shrug. “Don’t die of embarassment.”
