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They were cancer survivors from Franciscan Skemp and Gundersen Lutheran and their friends and family, who were fed by medical staff and entertained by musicians and clowns at the 17th annual Celebrate Life! at the La Crosse Center.
Cancer survivors said they knew they were the lucky ones because they are alive through perseverance, faith and courage and good medical care and treatment.
Loraine Tichenor, 84, of Sparta, Wis., has been a cancer survivor for 16 years. “Good spirits and a positive attitude has helped me through prostate cancer,” he said.
Bob Cure, 78, of New Lisbon, Wis., has survived leukemia, prostate cancer and skin cancer since 1994.
“To survive, you have to have a good heart,” Cure said. “My cancer support group has helped me, too.”
Cecil Amborn, 82, of Sparta, had surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer in 1996. “You’re just living to get through it, and you have to keep working,” Amborn said.
Cheri Niedzwiecki, a 55-year-old University of Wisconsin-La Crosse associate professor of communication studies, said she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1982.
“Not many survived it back then,” Niedzwiecki said. “Then four years ago, I got breast cancer.
“You have to take it one day at a time and appreciate everything you have, because you don’t know if you’ll have a recurrence,” she said.
She said volunteering for the American Cancer Society helps her support others with cancer.
Russell Besse, 80, of Brownsville, Minn., said flooding the last two summers was worse than his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2005. He and his wife evacuated their Brownsville home Sunday.
“You just keep fighting, that’s how you survive,” Besse said.
A La Crosse couple — Geri Opdahl, 72, and her 78-year-old husband, Ken — both are cancer survivors. Geri said she inherited the breast cancer gene, so she knew she would get breast cancer some day.
“I was prepared for it,” she said. “But you just have to get on with your life.”
Dolores Westpfhal, 76, and Rose Schendel, 74, both of Tomah, Wis., said they survived because their breast cancers were detected early.
“I was one of the lucky ones, because my breast cancer was caught early, too,” said Betty Schilhabel, 79, also of Tomah. “I really can’t speak to what other ladies have to go through. You just do it and hope you still can live.”
Dr. Roger Kwong, a Gundersen Lutheran cancer specialist, said he volunteers at the event because he likes seeing people living with cancer.
“The cancer survivors at both hospitals come together for a common reason and to support each other,” Kwong said.
Terry Rindfleisch can be reached at trindfleisch@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8227.
