FirstHealth's Cancer Survivors Day Scheduled for May 29
| Date Posted: 4/14/2014
PINEHURST – There will be a change in venue this year, but otherwise the celebration of life that is FirstHealth's National Cancer Survivors Day will seem very familiar.
The 27th annual event will be held Thursday, May 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the FirstHealth Conference Center at Moore Regional Hospital (corner of Highway 211 and Page Road) in Pinehurst. Cancer survivors, their relatives and friends and the health care professionals who provide cancer care are invited to celebrate together.
“We hope that through this event we can not only celebrate with survivors but also raise cancer awareness in the community and provide hope for those patients currently receiving treatment for cancer,” says Dan R. Barnes, D.O., president of the FirstHealth Physician Group.
A program in the Conference Center's Monroe Auditorium will feature five speakers – three survivors as well as a speaker who will discuss cancer and nutrition and a speaker who will talk about cancer and fitness. Afterward, participants will be treated to a buffet meal and take part in activities that will include a photo booth.
Everyone attending the program will have the opportunity to place a fingerprint on a “Fingerprint Tree of Life,” and survivors will be encouraged to choose from among colors that represent their particular cancer diagnosis: pink for breast cancer, light blue for prostate cancer, green for lymphoma and so on.
This will be the third fingerprint tree for FirstHealth Oncology Services. The two done previously were framed and placed outside the Radiation Oncology department and in Medical Oncology. The 2014 version will also be framed and then placed on the Inpatient Oncology floor.
“They symbolize survivorship – of living and flourishing,” says Margie Thomas, clinical director of Moore Regional's Radiation Oncology department.
National Survivors Day is a worldwide celebration of life in which participants unite in a symbolic event to show that a cancer diagnosis can be meaningful and productive. The National Survivors Day Foundation defines a “survivor” as anyone living with a history of cancer from diagnosis through the remainder of life.
The FirstHealth National Survivors Day celebration is free and open to the public, but registration is required since space is limited. To register, please call (800) 213-3284 or visit nccancercare.org.
