Survivor stories are examples of resilience, faith and love

Hopefully you had a chance to read the special survivor-story section of the Southeast Missourian last Tuesday, featuring members of our community bravely telling their stories of endurance and persistence. You can hear these inspirational stories at Survivor Stories, an in-person event taking place Thursday evening at One City in Cape Girardeau.

October is traditionally marked as the month to raise awareness of breast cancer, but perhaps we can pause to celebrate survivors of all types, cancer being one of them. Here is one of the inspiring stories:

Mitzie Seger has always been an active person, even scheduling a day post-breast cancer that she would get back to the gym. Remaining positive, even through losing her hair, and relying on her faith to get her through the tough times, she encourages others to get screenings and be proactive about early treatment. Seger’s sentiments were echoed in an article by the Wall Street Journal last week.

On Oct. 15, the Wall Street Journal published an article about COVID leading to delays in cancer diagnoses, saying the weekly number of newly diagnosed breast-cancer patients fell by nearly 52% for March and early April, compared with figures before the pandemic. In addition, the article states new patient oncology visits were down between 29% and 70% in the months between March and July, compared with the same months a year earlier. If you skipped a doctor’s visit because of the pandemic, now is a good time to reschedule it.

You can hear Mitzie’s story and others by reserving your complimentary ticket at www.survivorstories2020.eventbrite.com, or watch the livestream at www.facebook.com/rustmedia. We should take time to listen to these individuals. They are survivors. The following are the courageous individuals sharing their stories with us:

• Jennifer Abernathy — Domestic violence, substance abuse and sexual abuse
• Nate Gautier — Cancer
• Mitzi Seger — Cancer
• Tamatha Crowson — Homelessness
• Tyson and Christine Jaegers — Infertility
• Nicole Pirtle — Miscarriage
• Dr. Loretta Prater — Racial Discrimination

British theologian and writer Ian McLaren wrote, “Let us be kind to one another, for most of us are fighting a hard battle.” Let us remember this as we interact with one another at work, at the grocery store, with strangers and family alike, even as we are socially distanced — this month and every month.