Iredell support group helps cancer patients, families

By: Bethany Fuller | Statesville Record & Landmark
Published: May 01, 2010

With their heads bowed and their hands joined, members of the Living with Cancer support group prayed for each other.
The group, which meets at Iredell Memorial Hospital, is a way for cancer patients and their families to share their emotions.
Tears were shed as one of the first-time attendees told the group how angry her loved one has been since being diagnosed. Others described how their fight against cancer changed their lives, and how joining the group helped them cope with it.
"Cancer is like a snake," said Clennon Lewis, who had prostate cancer. "You think it's under control, and it bites you. We feel for one another's hurts and when we lose one, it hurts worse."
Lewis' wife, Margie, has had her own battle with ovarian cancer.
The group has helped them feel like they weren't alone, they said, and that someone understood exactly what they were going through.
Many people don't realize support groups like Living with Cancer exist, said Iredell Memorial Chaplain Tom Sherrod. He said the group, which was formed in 1999, is the most welcoming he has been associated with.
Sherrod said he became closer to the group when his wife was diagnosed with cancer several years ago.
"It's really helped people to be open to this group," Sherrod said.
Frances Comer, who attends to support her husband Bob, who has nonhodgkins lymphoma, recruited some of the group members. It's important to be around people who know what it's like, she said.
"You don't know what to expect," Comer said. "You want to punch a hole in the world."
Breast cancer survivor Judi Shepherd said her relationship with the Lord has improved because of her situation. She said she gained good friends through the past year and has been inspired to become a counselor or a motivational speaker.
The more people who come to the meetings on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 11 a.m., the better, she said.
John Wilson, a Catawba County resident, summed up the emotional connection members have in the group.
"You are like my family," he said.

Iredell support group helps cancer patients, families

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