For terminal cancer patient Janice Loughlin, Relay for Life brought hope.
“The relay makes me feel great,” Loughlin said, sitting in a wheelchair on the floor of Welsh-Ryan Arena, surrounded by her co-workers. A manager at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, she has gall bladder cancer. Chemotherapy failed and she has discontinued treatment.
“It never occurred to me that anybody I knew…” she said as she closed her eyes and laughed quietly. Her co-workers told her about the event and asked if they could walk in her name. Loughlin said it would be an honor.
Loughlin was one of more than 700 people who participated in NU’s Relay for Life at Welsh-Ryan Arena from Friday night to Saturday morning. In its fifth year at Northwestern, the event featured 76 teams who raised more than $127,000 so far, said Communication senior Lauren Greenwood, a co-chair for the event. The total is expected to reach $200,000 when the final tally comes in.
Teams took turns taking laps around the track in the name of their grandmothers, fathers and friends – people they knew affected by cancer.
Loughlin said she has had gall bladder cancer for over a year. She had her gall bladder and part of her liver removed shortly after being diagnosed. She then went under chemotherapy for several months before the cancer spread.
“Obviously, chemo wasn’t doing everything it was supposed to,” Loughlin said. “The cancer doubled in size. And then there really wasn’t anything else for us to do. So now I’m just trying to enjoy every day. Everybody should enjoy every day as if it’s their last.”
Emotions ran deep for many walkers. The mother of co-chair and SESP senior Lauren Przyborowski is a breast cancer survivor.
“She was diagnosed March 2006,” Przyborowski said. “My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer two and a half years ago and passed away shortly after my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was just one more step closer to hitting my family. It was very hard. But we all managed to stay strong for her.”
Przyborowski’s mother went through surgery and chemotherapy, Przyborowski said, and has been cleared for several months. Now, Przyborowski comes to events like Relay to celebrate her survival.
“It’s been hard, especially on nights like this,” Przyborowski said. “It gets really emotional. But she’s a very strong person and it’s inspirational to see her handle it with such strength.”
The national Relay for Life started in 1985 when a colorectal surgeon named Dr. Gordy Klatt decided the American Cancer Society didn’t get enough funding and wanted to fix that, said Kathy Stein, income development manager for the American Cancer Society. Dr. Klatt got pledges from his friends then walked a grueling 24-hour relay all by himself. His friends joined him a year after and Relay for Life grew.
Relay for Life gives people the opportunity to support cancer patients through raising awareness and money. Then the money goes to the American Cancer Society where it is spent on cancer research, detection, education and patient services.
Mee-Ow, Boomshaka, Graffiti and other student groups kept the teams entertained.
“I think people are having a good time,” Medill freshman Lauren Alexander said. “People brought board games and everyone’s keeping busy so far.”
Teams also competed in games like water pong, tug of war and karaoke. Footballs, volleyballs, basketballs and Frisbees flew throught the middle of the arena for much of the night.
“I just got done walking around for an hour,” Communication senior Christina Foley said. “You just kinda mix and mingle, meet new people.”
Some people slept on the arena floor. In the morning, participants seemed relieved to start walking back to campus, pillows and sleeping bags in hand.
Communication junior Grant Suhs, a brain tumor survivor, introduced the event. Suhs had his thyroid gland removed during cancer treatment.
“My high school did its first Relay for Life my senior year,” Suhs said. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend. That’s probably why I ended up with cancer, because I didn’t go.”
The audience laughed uncertainly. Later on, though, Suhs apologized for his “awkward jokes” and discussed the spiritual side of having cancer.
“You ask yourself, why did this happen to me?,” Suhs said. “Am I being punished for something?”
But Suhs said he thinks friends of people with cancer should ask a different question.
“You should ask yourself ‘What?’ ‘What can I do for them?’” Suhs said. “And participating in a Relay for Life is one amazing way that you can show your love.”