Community Cancer Center -- We really need it

Like most people, my life has been touched by cancer.

My first experience with cancer was with my father when I was a small child. Our family always had a reunion on Memorial Day weekend. Family, food and fun, which included a game of baseball.

For several days after that weekend my father had pain in his shoulder. He thought he pulled a muscle or strained something. When it did not go away he finally went to the doctor. That was mid-June.

I was very young and am not sure how quickly the diagnosis was made but I do know that my father died at age 32 on Aug.29 of that year. There was not much time to think about what was happening. It was just so fast.

It was so important to my father for us to be close to family that we moved from Lockwood, Mo., back to his hometown of West Plains. My father wanted to be close to family; wanted all of us to be close to the people who could care for us and support us during this very hard time.

There have been other family members with cancer as well. My family has been directly affected by colon cancer, leukemia and esophageal cancer. I am sure if I look to my extended family there would be more.

Cancer is a part of the lives of each of us whether we have been diagnosed with cancer or we have been touched by the diagnosis of a family member or friend.

Take a moment and think about where you wanted to be when you didn't feel well. As a child, there is no place like your mother's arms. As an adult, there is no place like home in your own bed. The last place most of us would want to be when we are not feeling well is in a car traveling up and down the highway.

My hope for this community is that no one will have to travel long distances for treatment, and especially that no one will make the choice not to receive treatment due to it being too far away or too difficult to ask family or friends to get them to the treatment facility.

My dream would be to have a Community Cancer Center right here in Marshall. That dream can become a reality with the support of the community.

When you are asked about financially supporting this project, I pray that you will consider those you love and reach deep into your pockets. This is a three-year financial commitment. No one person can make this happen alone.

The word "community" is more than a title; it is the way this project will happen.

These columns on the planned Fitzgibbon Hospital Community Cancer Center appear every other Monday.