'Cancer changes everything'

It's the first fund-raiser of 2006 for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Meredith Reffner didn't understand what cancer meant when she was diagnosed with leukemia as an 8-year-old.
Her mom, Susan, did.
"It's a very scary thing for parents and children," Susan Reffner said. "But we are lucky to have Tod's [children's hospital] here. We didn't have to travel all the time for treatments. The great doctors and nurses are like family. We had our family, and we managed."
Susan and Meredith Reffner were among the participants Friday as the Mahoning/Columbiana/Trumbull Unit of American Cancer Society, located in Canfield, kicked off the Relay for Life season at Youngstown State University's Beeghly Center.
The 18-hour fund-raiser is the first of 2006 for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. It concludes today.
Now 15, Meredith is a sophomore at Poland Seminary High School and a member of the high school swim team. Her leukemia has been in remission for five years.
Meredith attended Poland's Dobbins Elementary when she was diagnosed.
Support
"My teachers were great, and when I had to miss school, they came to my house," she said. She remembers she didn't like talking about her leukemia to her friends.
"I'm still working on being comfortable talking about it," she added.
Meredith is a member of ROCCK, Raising Our Commitment to Cancer Kids. ROCCK members sang during the opening ceremonies. Then Meredith put her yellow survivor's T-shirt on over her blue ROCCK shirt to participate in the survivor's lap.
Other participants stood and cheered as about 100 cancer survivors of all ages walked the first lap led by YSU mascots Pete and Penny Penguin.
"I feel great," Meredith said. "I do everything. I'm on the swim team. I'm always running around."
"She's a typical teenager," Susan Reffner said.
Future therapists
Among the first group of walkers were PT Cruisers, students of YSU's physical therapy department.
"We're doing this because we're all health advocates, and we have a section on oncology in our course work," said Jeff Koonts of Austintown. "We deal with pain management and rehabilitation of cancer patients. They need rehab after a lengthy hospital stay."
Amy Boes of Boardman is also a physical therapy student. She said she was walking in honor of her dad and aunt, both cancer survivors.
Her dad, Gary Stewart, is an 11-year survivor of prostate cancer. Her aunt, Linda Sechler, is a two-year breast cancer survivor.
"Cancer changes everything in your life," Boes said. "Dad was very healthy. He eats right and works out. So it was a big shock."
Linda Kapalko of Austintown walks for herself as a breast cancer survivor, and for her sister, Connie Jones of Hubbard, who lost an eight-year battle with breast cancer in 1992.
Kapalko was diagnosed in 2001 at 52. Her sister died just a month shy of her 46th birthday.
"You look at everything differently," Kapalko said. "Losing my sister was traumatic enough, but then I had to tell my parents that I had breast cancer, too. I am their only surviving child."
Leads support group
Kapalko leads the local ACS' breast cancer support group, FOCUS, which stands for Friends Offering Compassion, Understanding and Support.
"It's very touching to walk that first lap with other survivors," she said. "I'd much rather be among the people standing and applauding, though."
Her advice for people newly diagnosed with cancer is to follow doctors' orders and grab hold of the many support services and groups available through the ACS.
Kapalko said the most important weapon in the cancer fight is a positive attitude.
"When I learned I had cancer, I knew feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to help," she said. "I felt sorry for myself for about an hour. Then I said, 'Let's get this show on the road.'"
tullis@vindy.com