Relay For Life: Mother, Daughter Find Annual Event Part Of Healing Process
April 15, 2017 at 3:19 a.m.
Relay For Life: Mother, Daughter Find Annual Event Part Of Healing Process
By Deb McAuliffe Sprong-
There’s a lot of misconceptions about the Relay.
It’s not just for runners, though some do run.
Individuals don’t have to stay on the course all day.
And no, it’s not a pro-life event — at least, not in the sense you usually hear about.
The lives in the Relay have been affected by cancer.
Wendy Mang is community manager for the Lakeshore Division of Relay for Life, which includes Kosciusko County. She got involved with Relay after her own cancer diagnosis.
Mang was diagnosed with a chondroblastic osteosarcoma — bone cancer — in November 2007, and rediagnosed in May 2016. Doctors had to remove and replace her lower left jaw.
When she learned the news in 2007, she went online to look for information about cancer and came across the Relay for Life in Chesterton, where she lives.
“I had a vision of Relay, but it was so much more than I thought it was,” she said.
Mang was struck by how the event brought cancer survivors and the community together. She joined a team, started going to team captain meetings, then became part of the event planning team in 2009-11. In November 2011, she went to work for the American Cancer Society.
Her involvement with the Relay and ACS has been part of her recovery process.
“It helped me mentally, spiritually, heal, after all that I’d gone through,” she said.
Mang’s involvement has served another purpose: helping her mother after her own cancer diagnosis.
Joyce Viduka of Leesburg has stage IV colo-rectal cancer. She learned of her illness in 2010, and was motivated by her daughter to get involved with Relay for Life.
Her first Relay, she said, she “made it around (the course) a few times.”
But Viduka emphasizes that there’s so much more to a Relay event.
She enjoys seeing all the bands, DJs and various fundraising activities. “They always had different things,” she said. “It was something to look forward to.”
Those who come to the Relay can pick up information about American Cancer Society services, such as advice on how to proceed with treatment.
For instance, ACS offers personal health manager kits specific to every type of cancer. Patients can use this information to prepare for subsequent doctor visits.
“After you hear the words ‘You have cancer,’ you go blank,” Mang said, “so knowing (which) questions to ask is helpful.”
Other ACS services include the Look Good, Feel Better program.
Viduka said undergoing chemo and radiation changes the quality of your skin. In the Look Good, Feel Better program, women receive quality makeup and work with a licensed cosmetologist to learn how to adapt their makeup routine to these skin changes.
The program also teaches women who have lost their hair after chemo how to tie a turban or to choose the right wig.
“It took 20 years off,” Viduka said.
Perhaps most importantly, each Relay opens with stories from those who have survived their fight against cancer.
Being around others who have been affected by the disease — whether themselves or through family and friends — can be a powerful motivator.
“Anytime that people want to share their stories, I think that helps,” Viduka said. “Then you don’t feel like you’re so alone.”
[[In-content Ad]]
There’s a lot of misconceptions about the Relay.
It’s not just for runners, though some do run.
Individuals don’t have to stay on the course all day.
And no, it’s not a pro-life event — at least, not in the sense you usually hear about.
The lives in the Relay have been affected by cancer.
Wendy Mang is community manager for the Lakeshore Division of Relay for Life, which includes Kosciusko County. She got involved with Relay after her own cancer diagnosis.
Mang was diagnosed with a chondroblastic osteosarcoma — bone cancer — in November 2007, and rediagnosed in May 2016. Doctors had to remove and replace her lower left jaw.
When she learned the news in 2007, she went online to look for information about cancer and came across the Relay for Life in Chesterton, where she lives.
“I had a vision of Relay, but it was so much more than I thought it was,” she said.
Mang was struck by how the event brought cancer survivors and the community together. She joined a team, started going to team captain meetings, then became part of the event planning team in 2009-11. In November 2011, she went to work for the American Cancer Society.
Her involvement with the Relay and ACS has been part of her recovery process.
“It helped me mentally, spiritually, heal, after all that I’d gone through,” she said.
Mang’s involvement has served another purpose: helping her mother after her own cancer diagnosis.
Joyce Viduka of Leesburg has stage IV colo-rectal cancer. She learned of her illness in 2010, and was motivated by her daughter to get involved with Relay for Life.
Her first Relay, she said, she “made it around (the course) a few times.”
But Viduka emphasizes that there’s so much more to a Relay event.
She enjoys seeing all the bands, DJs and various fundraising activities. “They always had different things,” she said. “It was something to look forward to.”
Those who come to the Relay can pick up information about American Cancer Society services, such as advice on how to proceed with treatment.
For instance, ACS offers personal health manager kits specific to every type of cancer. Patients can use this information to prepare for subsequent doctor visits.
“After you hear the words ‘You have cancer,’ you go blank,” Mang said, “so knowing (which) questions to ask is helpful.”
Other ACS services include the Look Good, Feel Better program.
Viduka said undergoing chemo and radiation changes the quality of your skin. In the Look Good, Feel Better program, women receive quality makeup and work with a licensed cosmetologist to learn how to adapt their makeup routine to these skin changes.
The program also teaches women who have lost their hair after chemo how to tie a turban or to choose the right wig.
“It took 20 years off,” Viduka said.
Perhaps most importantly, each Relay opens with stories from those who have survived their fight against cancer.
Being around others who have been affected by the disease — whether themselves or through family and friends — can be a powerful motivator.
“Anytime that people want to share their stories, I think that helps,” Viduka said. “Then you don’t feel like you’re so alone.”
[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092