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Walking the race of her life

After battling cancer, local woman brings Relay for Life to Olney this year

Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Laurie DeWitt⁄The Gazette Susie Iaquinta, a cancer survivor, is organizing an American CancerSociety Relay for Life in Olney this year with the help of Sherwood High School Principal John Yore and Relay for Life Committee memberCarolyn Martese.

She wants others to survive the disease, too. Better yet, she wants to eliminate cancer altogether.

To help reach that goal, Iaquinta is bringing the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life to Olney.

The event will take place June 10-11 on the football field at Sherwood High School — Iaquinta’s alma mater — and is designed to bring the community together with the common goal of eliminating cancer.

Relay for Life is the largest not-for-profit fundraising event in the world, with 4,300 communities in the United States participating, along with communities in 18 additional countries, the American Cancer Society reports.

Five Relay for Life events will be held in Montgomery County this year.

‘‘They are community events. We want them where people live and work,” said Kate Allen, income manager for the American Cancer Society. ‘‘That is why there are so many and not just one big one.”

Allen thinks bringing the event to Olney is a good idea.

‘‘I absolutely think Olney’s Relay will be a success,” she said. ‘‘The reason I am sure is because Olney is a real community.”

The motivation

Iaquinta’s story began just about this time in 2003. Shortly after the New Year began, the then-22-year-old learned that a lump in her throat was cancerous.

After a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis, Iaquinta endured an eight-hour surgery at Montgomery General Hospital in which her thyroid and surrounding lymph nodes were removed.

Later that spring, she prepared for an isolated radiation treatment to destroy any remaining cancer in her body.

The following year, she prepared for another isolated radiation treatment, but due to an error in her treatment plan, it had to be postponed.

‘‘There was a lot of preparation for the treatment. I had to go on a restricted diet and go off my thyroid medication,” she said. ‘‘I was so frustrated to have to postpone it. It was like almost reaching home plate and then someone telling me to go back to first base.”

She says she was really down and began looking for something to keep her busy. As she read through The Gazette, she learned of the Relay for Life being held in Damascus.

Even though the event was just a couple of weeks away, Iaquinta signed up and encouraged her friends and family members to join her.

‘‘We purchased meatballs from Mamma Lucia restaurant in Olney to sell at the event, so we called our team ‘Meet the Meatballs.’”

The meatballs (both human and edible) were a huge success.

After the event, the Damascus organizers asked Iaquinta to join their committee.

‘‘I think it was because I came in at the last minute; most teams start months ahead of time,” she said. ‘‘I think I showed them how much I wanted to be involved, and since they are always looking for new faces, I jumped at the opportunity.”

In addition to serving on the Damascus Relay for Life Committee, she brought her team back again for a second year, this time called ‘‘Spaghetti and Meatballs.” Mamma Lucia donated the food, allowing Iaquinta’s team to raise over $1,000.

After her second successful Relay for Life, she decided to focus more on her work as special events coordinator for the Montgomery General Hospital Health Foundation.

Taking on the challenge

Iaquinta asked the American Cancer Society’s Allen why Olney didn’t have a Relay for Life.

‘‘She told me that she was all for the idea, but no one had ever approached her about it before,” Iaquinta said.

As Iaquinta began to cut her ties with the Damascus committee, she learned that many of the people involved in the Damascus event had ties to Olney and were very supportive of her.

Knowing she couldn’t tackle this alone, she enlisted a co-chair, Chris Padgett.

‘‘His mom had worked with me on the Damascus event, and she works for a doctor’s office here in Olney,” Iaquinta said. ‘‘Chris attends church in Olney, so even though they live in Damascus, they have connections to Olney.”

The next step was meeting with Sherwood Principal John Yore.

‘‘Chris and I met with him in the summer, and as we started to talk to him, he told us right away that we didn’t have to sell him on the idea,” she said. ‘‘We then set the date and began gathering other people for our committee.”

There are now 10 people on the Olney Relay for Life Committee, some of them cancer survivors, others who have participated in the Damascus Relay, and others who are Montgomery General Hospital employees.

The Olney Relay committee’s first event was a holiday party at Montgomery General Hospital last month in which they raised $1,300.

‘‘It was a huge hit,” Iaquinta said. ‘‘The turnout was great, and we had volunteers from the hospital, Sherwood High School and Girl Scouts. Everyone has been so supportive.”

The event

Olney Relay for life will begin at 2 p.m. June 10, a Saturday. The teams are made up of between eight and 15 members. At any given time one member is always walking around the track.

The event kicks off with a survivors’ lap and then the participating teams take over.

‘‘Most of the teams come up with really fun themes, and the whole activity is very spirited,” she said. ‘‘There are a lot of things going on all the time, such as moonbounces, crafts and massages.”

At about 8 p.m., Iaquinta said, the tone will become more subdued as a candlelight vigil takes place.

Luminaries can be purchased in honor or remembrance of those touched by cancer, and are placed around the track and in the bleachers to spell out the word HOPE.

‘‘This part just reminds us why we are all here; it’s all very beautiful and very moving,” Iaquinta said.

After an hour or so, the pace picks up again and continues throughout the night.

‘‘We walk for 20 hours to symbolize a day in the life of a cancer patient,” Iaquinta said. ‘‘It will take place rain or shine, to symbolize how the patient has to keep going.”

After breakfast, an awards ceremony will take place, honoring a variety of teams, such as most spirited.

Once registered, teams can begin fundraising immediately. They are asked to raise at least $100 per team member.

The Damascus Relay for Life raised $250,000, and Iaquinta is hopeful that Olney’s first Relay can raise $100,000.

‘‘I really believe that this can happen in Olney,” she said. ‘‘Everyone has been so supportive of this idea already.”

Allan agreed.

‘‘I would be surprised if they don’t raise that much,” she said.

Iaquinta said the event’s theme is ‘‘Catch the Spirit Only in Olney.”

‘‘This is not our Relay, it is Olney’s Relay. I want everyone to be a part of it,” she said.

As for Iaquinta, who is now 25 years old, she recently underwent some routine medical scans to check for cancer.

‘‘As of Dec. 23, everything is clear,” she said. ‘‘I have to have two negative scans before I am considered cured, so I will have another at the end of this year and hopefully it will be clear, too.”