DAYTON — It’s National Cancer Survivors Day, and the Dayton VA held a celebration and walk for survivors on Friday.
News Center 7’s Amber Jenkins was there and spoke with cancer survivors.
People came to walk with those who survived cancer, and those survivors at the VA told us their journey is everlasting.
“There’s a lot of us out there,” said Mary Beth Campbell, a cancer survivor and an Air Force Vet. “And if you wake up in the morning, even if you’re in treatment, you’re surviving it! It could be a year, a day, 10 years, you’re surviving it!”
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Resilience is a part of Campbell’s DNA.
She served in the Air Force for 4 years, but the hardest battle she encountered was Stage 3 Lung Cancer.
“It’s important to know the diagnosis is not a death sentence; it means you got a lot of work to do,” Campbell said.
But with a support system, the workload is easier on survivors.
“You need that,” she said. “I had family members that were supportive.”
“Family and friends, they didn’t know what to say, they didn’t know,” said Andretta Dennis, another cancer survivor and Air Force vet. “But I’m like, ‘it’s okay.”
Dennis said even the smallest gestures mean a lot to her during her battle with breast cancer.
“It’s typically found in women under the age of 40,” Dennis said. “I was diagnosed shortly after I turned 50.”
Dennis sacrificed her life serving her country, and doctors believe she may have been sacrificing her health during that time.
“My doctors believe it was environmental,” she said. “I was actually deployed years ago when I was on active duty. So, they don’t know if it came from my deployment or just environmental.”
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