Monique Wilson tree-lighter for Phoebe’s virtual Lights of Love

ALBANY — Monique and Fred Wilson are lovingly known as the “King and Queen of Phoebe,” Fred as the familiar friendly face who greets visitors to the hospital and gives them rides through the massive parking lot and Monique as, among other duties, the face-to-face coordinator for the region’s Young Survivors Coalition.

It’s fitting, then, for the thousands of hospital employees and patients who’ve been treated there that Monique Wilson has been honored as the tree-lighter for the Phoebe Foundation’s annual “Lights of Love” celebration. And while the annual heart-felt ceremony was altered to a virtual celebration this year in deference to the coronavirus pandemic, that does little to dampen the enthusiasm of the woman chosen to represent the cancer survivors as the tree-lighter.

“Even though we pre-recorded the (tree-lighting) event as a safety precaution and will show the ceremony later, it was still very moving for me,” Monique Wilson, who is the survivorship data coordinator at Phoebe, said. “Even filming it ahead of time, I was very nervous at first. But it was such a beautiful ceremony — even with the social distancing — that I got caught up in it. I’ll never forget it.”

Wilson was selected as the tree-lighter for the Lights of Love celebration, which is sponsored annually by the Phoebe Foundation and raises funds for cancer-related projects, as a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed in June of 2016 and is today cancer-free.

“My husband and I were coming back from a trip to New Jersey, when I felt something strange (in my breast),” she said. “When we got home to Georgia, I rechecked the spot, and it was still there. No one on either side of my family has ever had breast cancer, so one of the things I’ve learned from all this is that cancer does not discriminate … it will impact anyone.

“I called my family physician the next day, and she scheduled a mammogram. I got the phone call on June 26 that it was breast cancer. On the same day, the Carlton Breast Center called and said I needed to come in immediately for an ultrasound and biopsy. I told them I was going away for a birthday weekend, and the person who called said, ‘Did you hear what I just said?’ I told her, ‘Yes, and did you hear what I just said?’ I had my weekend but scheduled an appointment for the ultrasound and biopsy the next Monday.”

Wilson’s cancer was detected early (Stage 1) but was found to be invasive, so she began a series of 33 radiation treatments. She’s in the midst of a 10-year regimen of hormone blockers, but she is now cancer-free.

“Sure, there was some depression and anxiety during the treatment, but I never lost faith,” Wilson said.

Now, her experience allows her to give a first-hand accounting to young cancer patients as they face their own battle.

“We have women as young as 27 and as old as 49, and my having been through this gives me an opportunity to give them some honest answers that often comforts them,” she said of the Young Survivors Coalition.

In addition, both Fred and Monique Wilson participate in their “Tour de Pink,” an annual 200-mile bike ride they take part in in New Jersey to raise funds to support and increase awareness of breast cancer treatment and prevention.

“We do the Tour de Pink to raise funds for other women and even men who will be diagnosed with breast cancer and for those who have passed on,” Monique Wilson said.

This year’s virtual tree-lighting ceremony will be unveiled on Phoebe’s Facebook and YouTube channels Thursday at 7 p.m. And, since the annual Lights of Love event is a fundraiser for the Phoebe Foundation, that group’s Mandy Tedder said the broadcast will include an opportunity for the community to donate to the foundation.

Tedder said she doesn’t think the pandemic will stop supporters from giving.

“I believe people are going to come across,” she said. “This is their opportunity to be part of something extra special. This is the 37th year for Lights of Love, and while people know they can’t come out for the celebration, they can gather with their immediate family and still be a part of this community tradition.”

Funds raised through Lights of Love have been used to purchase a van that has taken cancer patients to and from treatments and to purchase radiation equipment. Tedder said this year’s funds will top off efforts to re-open the Light House, which was destroyed by straight-line winds in January of 2017. The newly built Light House, which provides respite opportunities for families of cancer patients, will be opened early next year at the corner of Second Avenue and Monroe Street.

Special Photo: PhoebeSpecial Photo: Phoebe

Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher

Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher