Phoebe to bring back two cancer events after COVID sidelined gatherings in 2020, 2021

ALBANY — After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, two events that recognize cancer survivors and raise awareness and funds to fight the disease are back on track.

“COVID came, but cancer didn’t stop,” Cathy Shoemaker, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital’s oncology survivorship nurse navigator, said.

An annual dinner for cancer survivors, canceled in 2020 and 2021, will be held on March 8 at First Baptist Church of Albany. Those interested in attending should RSVP by Feb. 24 by calling (229) 347-0117.

One effect of COVID-19 in terms of cancer health has been that some people delayed going in for tests, whether due to fear of going into a medical facility or just not getting around to it during the pandemic, Shoemaker said.

“People skipped mammograms, didn’t get colonoscopies,” she said. “As a result, we may see more-advanced cancers” in the near future.

For the area, the four big forms of cancer are breast, colon, lung and prostate, the nurse said.

She encouraged individuals to get regular screenings, and for those with a family history or genetic predisposition to certain cancers to schedule screenings sooner than otherwise would be the case.

For example, someone who has a parent who developed colon cancer at age 35 should get a colonoscopy at around 25.

Phoebe has reached out over the last year to reach men with the message that prostate cancer screenings save lives, training a group to spread the message through events and conversations with their peers.

“What we’re trying to do is get these men to go out and get checked,” Shoemaker said. “The men will tell their wives, their daughters to go to the doctor, but when it comes to them … they’re too busy, they’ve got to work, they don’t have the time.”

As a result, prostate cancers often are advanced before some men realize something is wrong, said Shoemaker, whose father died from brain cell cancer and whose mother was a long-term cancer survivor for years before dying of natural causes. Her husband’s father was a farmer who developed a fatal melanoma of the eye.

“We’ve had numerous friends who passed away from cancer,” she said. “We’ve also had success stories.”

The March 8 dinner will feature a performance by Phoebe oncologist Dr. Jose Tongol, a speaker who will be a cancer survivor and familiar board games like “Life” and “Monopoly.”

“He loves to sing and play his guitar,” Shoemaker said of Tongol. “A lot of the cancer survivors love his performance.”

On April 23, the Dougherty-Lee County Relay for Life walk is scheduled at 6 p.m. at the Albany State University West Campus.

“We try to encourage our survivors,” Shoemaker said. “Survivors walk the first lap. We’re clapping and cheering their success. You become a survivor the moment you are diagnosed with cancer.”

The previous two years, the walk was held with virtual presentations for participants to view online, and the walking was done in neighborhoods.

Shoemaker placed bagged votive candles in neighbors’ mailboxes and asked them to light them in honor of survivors.

“We lit up the entire front yard with luminaries for those who have lost their lives,” she said.

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