Stand Up To Cancer

Doug Fieger

Through his most famous song, "My Sharona," Fieger became emblematic of the new wave movement in music hitting the mainstream. He passed away on Sunday from lung cancer at the age of 57. His band, The Knack, disbanded in 1981 but wound up reuniting for regular tours in the 90s, and their biggest hit, which was Billboard's number-one song of 1979, endures to this day, as this NYT blog entry shows.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/arts/music/16fieger.html

Cindy McCrary

A four-year survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, McCrary, 46, is now gearing up for her fifth Relay For Life, for which she is making cancer awareness blankets to help raise funds. When McCrary ran her first Relay in 2006, she believed she was going to die from the disease. Now, as a survivor with a newfound passion for volunteering, she says, "This is where I'm supposed to be . . . Not that I wanted to get cancer to find it, but sometimes the bad leads into a blessing."
http://www.ldnews.com/news/ci_14351851

Dana Jennings

It's been a while since we checked in with Jennings, an occasional contributor to the NYT Well Blog who recently completed treatment for Stage 3 prostate cancer. In his most recent entry for the blog, Jennings talks frankly about coping with the side effects of treatment, which can include incontinence and erectile dysfunction. He says, "True manhood is about love and kindness. It's about responsibility and honor, about working hard and raising your children the best way you know how, with love, respect and discipline."
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/after-surviving-cancer-a-focus-on-true-manhood/

Joan Fowler

In a comment on a recent "With You, We Stand" entry, Fowler shared her story with us: "My husband was diagnosed with non small cell lung cancer, stage 4, going on now four years," she writes. "It was not looking good at first, but now thanks to his doctor and God he is fighting on. He has had no chemo treatments now for two year and there is no sign of new cancer at this time . . . I hope this gives other people the spirit of fighting and not giving up. We trust and believe that whatever Gods will is will be and we try and just live a good life. We have our struggles but we keep on going. So just believe in hope and love and never give up."

As always, we invite you to share your stories with us in the comments below.