As a breast cancer survivor, I always love a story of triumph, endurance and victory. Please read the story below by Suzan Clarke:
By Suzan Clarke | ABC News Blogs
(
Photo Courtesy: Dolly Stringer)
When Dolly Stringer was diagnosed with
breast cancer in April, she decided to take control and shave her head before she began chemotherapy.
Now, the Moultrie, Ga., woman believes she got cancer for a reason: to save her husband's life.
To show solidarity with Stringer, her husband, Bud, decided to shave his
head. His family members were curious about the black patch on his
newly-shaved pate.
"And I said 'you know, I'm sure that's a birthmark,' but I didn't
realize I had one so I called my mom and she said 'no, it's not a
birthmark, you didn't have one,'" Bud Stringer told ABC News in an
interview on Monday.
He decided it was a mole, but a biopsy proved him wrong: it was stage
three malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer.
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The Stringers, who have a son who's 12 and another who's 10, were stunned. They had never had any health problems before.
(Photo Courtesy: Dolly Stringer)
"I
was just really in shock and Bud was, too … and I was just devastated,
because it's one thing to have it yourself, that I could handle, but to
know that Bud was going to have to go through what I was going through,
and worse?" Dolly, 47, said.
Dolly had had several surgeries since her stage three breast cancer
diagnosis, and completed her eighth - and final round - of chemotherapy
last week. She is preparing to start six and a half weeks of radiation
treatment.
Bud's treatment will be more intense. Since his cancer is so aggressive,
his treatment will have to be as well. Diagnosed in August, he's
already had two extensive surgeries, and is preparing to start a year of
chemotherapy. Bud said he'll have chemotherapy five days a week for the
first month, and will do self-injections of chemo for 11 months after
that.
Despite their troubles, the two - married for nearly 20 years - are upbeat.
"The surgeons down at Moffitt (Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla.), they all
feel very positive about the eventual outcome, that it will be very
good," Bud said.
Dolly's prognosis is also good. She said her doctor told her she had a
"garden-variety" type of cancer. She believes her illness has a greater
purpose.
"I now know that I had to have that to save Bud's life, because he would
have been - the doctor told me that I would have been burying him
probably by Christmas" if the melanoma hadn't been diagnosed and
treated, she said, adding, "We just have so, so much to be thankful
for."
Bud, 48, agreed.
"I'm not a Bible-thumper, I am a Christian, but I really feel like God's
hand shaved my head. I really do … If Dolly had not lost her hair - or
chosen to shave her head - I never would have found this … ," he said.
Dolly said when Bud was initially diagnosed she grew very worried. He
runs a small business, Rose City Glass in Thomasville, Ga., and since
she was sick, he was the primary breadwinner for the family. Dolly is a
therapist for an addiction hospital, and although she has health
insurance through her job, she has had to work less because of her
treatment.
But the Stringers were not without support.
After Bud's diagnosis, "People started coming out of the woodwork," Dolly said.
Those supporters have done the couple's lawn, helped clothe their children, and even sent food for their dogs.
Over the weekend, members of the pair's church organized a 5K run,
expecting to raise about $5,000. They took in more than $40,000, Dolly
said. The church,
First Presbyterian of Moultrie, continues to accept donations for the Stringers.
The generosity has been overwhelming, and Dolly said it has brought her some peace.
"I could see very quickly that our needs were going to be provided for …
We're going to be okay, the children are going to be okay," she said.
"It's just been amazing. I mean every day we just we just find ourselves
going 'thank you,' and it just doesn't feel like enough."
The Stringers want to raise awareness about cancer, particularly about
melanoma. Prior to his diagnosis, Bud's head had been itching, Dolly
said. She checked his head, but he had very dark hair, so she didn't see
anything, she said.
"What we love … is that people are saying 'I went and got a mammogram
because of this and 'I went to get a head-to-toe check with my
dermatologist.'
"We even had a man that shaved his head just because he wanted to make sure," she said.
