Cancer is no laughing matter. But if you fill a room with cancer survivors, a songwriter, a couple of surgical oncologists, nurses, relatives, and friends, then you’re bound to laugh a lot, to hear some songs about the disease, and even shed a few tears.
That’s precisely what happened on Saturday, June 3, when the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center at Overlook Medical Center held its annual National Cancer Survivor’s Day Celebration, and filled the Bouras Auditorium with survivors and their supporters.
The first hour of the event was unstructured, allowing guests to mingle and enjoy the fare. They helped themselves to all sorts of food provided by Overlook Food Service and renewed friendships with friends – many of whom they had met while in the hospital, during chemotherapy sessions, or, in some cases, at previous Survivor Day celebrations. There was a real sense of homecoming, complete with enthusiastic greetings, hugs, and lots of catching up.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Lee Starker, a surgical oncologist at Overlook Medical Center, who looked over the crowd and called the turnout “impressive.” Dr. Starker added, “I am in utter awe and amazement at the number of people that are here today.”
He acknowledged the disease’s reputation, saying, “cancer is a word that, when heard, strikes fear and depression,” in people. During a deeply personal talk, Dr. Starker said his experience with cancer began when he was quite young. “My father fell ill. I remember him heading off to treatments and whispering to me, ‘You are the man of the house.’ I was seven,” he said.
It was as if the room itself shuddered as he said those words – everyone there seemed to reach back into memory, each envisioning a similarly difficult moment in their cancer journey.
Pausing from time to time to regain his composure, he told of seeing what the disease did to his father, “physically, emotionally and spiritually … Like all of you, he pushed on, taking on the beast with amazing intestinal fortitude.” Thanks to a radiation oncologist who oversaw his treatment, his father survived “his ordeal, like all of you, to become an amazing member of society.” Dr. Paul Starker, Dr. Lee’s father, is chairman of surgery at Overlook Medical Center.
On what he learned from his experience, Dr. Lee Starker said, “We all have the same needs and wants. … You here today have identified the ultimate need and want for every person, which is to survive. On this Survivors Day, I ask you all to enjoy the moment, enjoy the ride. Congratulations on your amazing journey.”
The highlight of every Cancer Survivorship gathering at Overlook has always been the Timeline of Life, on which survivors pin a card with a blue ribbon on it – marking the number of years since their diagnosis. The milestones begin at ‘one month,’ and continue going up, until reaching ’30 or more years.’ As each time period is called, survivors walk to the front where they are welcomed by nurses, the staff members from the Cancer Center. Each survivor receives a boxed present and a flower. Doctors Starker and Mandel greeted each survivor, after which the survivors would pin their ribbons to the Timeline of Life.
Abe Berger of Summit pinned his ribbon at the 27-year mark – he and his wife of 62 years, Dorothy, credited this good fortune to the treatment he received at Overlook. Abe had colon cancer and the surgery, which was performed by Dr. Paul Starker, was on May 21, 1990. “There have been no recurrences,” Dorothy said.
(above l-r) Abe and Dorothy Berger of Summit celebrated Abe’s 27 years of survival following his diagnosis of colon cancer. He was one of the longest cancer survivors at the Reception & Celebration to Honor Cancer Survivorship.
Photo by Barbara Rybolt.
