KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Survivors of cancer were honored Sunday, June 5, in Kansas City for National Cancer Survivors Day.
“It’s just a time to celebrate, to say, ‘Hey, look at me, world. Check me out. I’m still around,'” said Sherry Snider, cancer survivor. “I think every day you survive cancer, if you are a care provider or if you are the person with cancer or know someone, you are a survivor.”
Snider knows all too well the experiences a fight against cancer brings.
“I was originally diagnosed with ovarian cancer, they told me it would be okay,” she said. “I had a mass on one of my ovaries the size of a grapefruit.”
Her cancer ended up spreading after surgery, and she needed some help, which is where Gilda’s Club in Kansas City stepped in.
“I would come down rolling in from St. Luke’s, and I could take a nap, throw up, do all the things before traveling back home which was about 45 minutes to an hour. They gave us a safe space,” Snider said.
Gilda’s Club hosted a drive-thru party on Sunday to celebrate survivors, handing out goody bags and making sure attendees felt loved.
“Being a survivor is a big deal. They are very nice about this and give you a little goody bag and recognize the fact that what people have gone through or going through is to be celebrated,” said Mary Alice Weimer, currently in treatment for cancer.
The organization wants anyone who beat the battle against cancer or is currently fighting to know they’re seen.
“I am just so thankful to Gilda’s that they … when it felt very hopeless, I always say I was born a hoper, but when it felt very, very hopeless, they breathed life into me,” Snider said.
