Cancer survivors celebrate in Pocatello

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Story Published: Jun 6, 2009 at 3:37 PM MST

Story Updated: Jun 6, 2009 at 9:14 PM MST

By Wes Horrocks

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POCATELLO - It's the 21st annual National Cancer Survivors Day.

In Pocatello, survivors met at the Veterans Memorial Building to celebrate.

Some make rocking horses, or quilts. For others their passion is scrapbooks and journals.

But each is also a cancer survivor. Irma Cornwall said, "I just am not ready to die yet."

Cornwall was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. She is one of 9.6 million cancer survivors in America. Cornwall said, "I was scared to death. I thought that my life on earth had ended, and that I was bound to meet my maker."

During the next year doctors expect to see more than one million new cases of cancer across the country, meaning that events like Cancer Survivors Day will continue to grow in importance. Dr. Michael Callaghan, Radiation Oncologist at Portneuf Medical Center said, "It's not just about treatment, it's about survivor ship. It's about living after cancer or with cancer."

And because living with cancer is difficult, Survivors Day is a good opportunity for everyone to forget about their last treatment. "You get sick, you get nauseated, you get diarrhea, you get constipated, you have no energy, it's just really not a good experience," said Cornwall.

Callaghan added, "It's an experience that takes time out of people's day. There are side effects of both chemotherapy and radiation. You have people that are living their lives and in lots of ways this intrudes."

Not every survivor returns to the celebration each year, but those at the event are going to fight their diagnosis every day.

While it won't help in every case, doctors suggest eating healthy, exercising, getting regular check-ups, and not smoking to avoid getting cancer.

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