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.
โI 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.
โWe give them warm blankets. We feed them. We just give them all the love and support that they could possibly need because theyโre going through the roughest time of their lives,โ said Clark. โWe 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.
โThatโs 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.
โThey found a couple of spots on my lungs. So it had metastasized to my lungs,โ said Clark. โThat 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 sheโs not going to let cancer keep her down.
โWhy am I going to let something that could kill me in years ruin my life now?โ said Clark. โJust live every day like itโs 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.
โBeing a survivor means living another day. Whether youโre one month cancer-free or 20 years cancer-free,โ said Clark. โIf youโre living the next day, youโre a survivor. Youโre 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.