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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Unlike many people being told they have cancer, Shante Christian wasn't surprised. Instead, the nurse anesthetist said she was relieved.
"I just knew it was cancer," said Christian, 42, who was about to finish her studies at the University of South Carolina when she was diagnosed in December 2011. "I guess they were expecting me to start crying. I was like, 'Who do I need to call? I have been worrying about this my entire life.'"
With a mother and aunt previously diagnosed, Christian said she already had a treatment plan in mind when her doctor gave her the news. Within a week of her diagnosis, Christian had a bilateral mastectomy and reconstructive surgery and refocused herself on her studies — and getting on with the rest of her life.
"You would think that I was just having a hernia repaired or something, not losing my breasts," Christian said. "I knew I had to go into it with a positive attitude if I was going to get through it."
Christian will be channeling that inner strength during this year's South Carolina State Fair, which is "going pink" for the first time in its 145-year history. The event that gets underway Wednesday (Oct. 8) in Columbia is taking on a rosy tinge, focusing on bringing awareness to breast cancer through an array of activities.
Organizers say this is the first state fair in the country to be devoted in such a way, and they're excited about using the fair's popularity to inform a broader community about breast cancer and its treatments.
An army of volunteers like Christian, many of whom have been personally affected by cancer, will be donning pink wigs and manning info booths to spread the word to anyone seeking information. Banners on light posts around the fairgrounds sport pink ribbons, as does the large rocket by the fair's entrance, a longtime landmark for groups and families setting a meeting place at the event.
"Everyone, in some way, shape or form, has been touched by cancer," said Nancy Smith, the fair's assistant manager. "We thought that this would be ... a great environment to use the power of the fair and the tradition of the fair to bring a subject that's really a life and death situation for lots of people, to life."
It's exactly that broad reach on which breast cancer prevention and treatment advocates are hoping to capitalize. Barbara Willm of Lexington Medical Center says that, because of the fair's large draw, they might be able to get information on breast cancer — and health in general — to audiences they might not likely reach.
"They could just do the fun ... but to step out there and do something that impacts the community is powerful," Willm said.
Willm and other volunteers from the two other major hospital systems in the Columbia area — Providence and Palmetto Health — have been working for months to put together events for the "pink and white tent." That special location on the fairgrounds is devoted entirely to breast cancer awareness, prevention and treatment. For the fair's 12-day run, teams of volunteers will be on hand to tell their personal cancer stories and offer support and encouragement to those currently battling the illness.
They'll also be handing out guides full of information for cancer patients, like finding support groups, local yoga classes or the right wig when treatment produces hair loss.
Volunteer Patti Handel had just moved to South Carolina from New York in 2007 when she was diagnosed, undergoing a mastectomy that year, radiation and a dozen other surgeries. Even though her cancer has repeatedly returned, Handel said she's now she's looking forward to offering hugs and smiles to people coming to the fair to learn more — and get encouraged.
"Cancer is a part of me, but it does not identify me," said Handel, 61. "I try to find the blessing in every day."
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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
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