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Pulaski nurse battling cancer helps other patients in their fight

โ€˜Being a survivor means living another dayโ€™

PULASKI, Va. โ€“ Regina Clark says laughter is the best medicine. She is a registered nurse with the chemotherapy infusion center at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at Lewisgale Hospital Pulaski.

โ€œI honestly enjoy being here as much as I enjoy being at home. I laugh a lot more here than I do at home,โ€ said Clark.

โ€œWe give them warm blankets. We feed them. We just give them all the love and support that they could possibly need because theyโ€™re going through the roughest time of their lives,โ€ said Clark. โ€œWe just make them forget for a while that they have cancer.โ€

Twice a month, she sits in the chairs at the infusion center. In 2019, she was diagnosed with colon cancer.

โ€Thatโ€™s when my whole world just stopped,โ€ said Clark.

She underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. She even lost her hair. Finally, she got the all-clear.

But months later, Clark got bad news.

โ€œThey found a couple of spots on my lungs. So it had metastasized to my lungs,โ€ said Clark. โ€œThat was, by far, the worst day of my life. When I thought the first time was the worst time, you know. That was a piece of cake compared to this because the doctor told me that I would have maybe three years to live.โ€

Clark is back on chemo, but decided sheโ€™s not going to let cancer keep her down.

โ€œWhy am I going to let something that could kill me in years ruin my life now?โ€ said Clark. โ€œJust live every day like itโ€™s your last. Because you should do that. You should do that anyway.โ€

Sunday, June 5 marks National Cancer Survivors Day. To Clark, being a cancer survivor means never giving up.

โ€œBeing a survivor means living another day. Whether youโ€™re one month cancer-free or 20 years cancer-free,โ€ said Clark. โ€œIf youโ€™re living the next day, youโ€™re a survivor. Youโ€™re surviving.โ€

Clark wants to encourage everyone to not ignore any symptoms and seek medical attention as soon as possible if they have any health concerns.


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