It was a symbolic day in Zion on Friday as dozens of cancer survivors marked a fifth year of being cancer-free by planting a Bradford pear tree and releasing colorful butterflies on grounds near the Cancer Treatment Centers of America.
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Survivors planted one tree on the grounds at 2520 Elisha Ave., and the hospital donated money to the Zion Park District to be used to plant 86 more trees–one for each hospital patient who has beaten cancer for five years, hospital representatives said.
“It was wonderful,” said Josephine Stewart, 53, of Waukegan, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 and pronounced cancer-free in 2001. Stewart, a mother of eight, said she believes that a positive attitude and the regimen of 28 vitamins she took every day helped her beat the illness.
“I said, `I’ve got to be happy,'” said Stewart, who underwent chemotherapy and radiation and had a mastectomy before being declared cancer-free. “What are you going to do–cry all day?”
Cancer Treatment Centers, which also has hospitals in Philadelphia and Tulsa and a clinic in Seattle, has been celebrating a five-year cancer-free day since 1988 with tree plantings and other festivities.
Each year the number of survivors grows, as early detection and the kinds of treatments improve, officials said.
“There is a radically different ability of clinicians to treat patients with cancer,” said Dr. Edgar Staren, chief medical officer and senior vice president of Cancer Treatment Centers of America.
Michelle Mann, 39, of Crystal Lake was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago while she and her husband were in the process of adopting a child from India. She credits her survival in part to the adoption, which she said helped divert her attention.
The tree planting ceremony also lifted her spirits, she said.
“It’s a good way to celebrate life,” Mann said. “You plant a tree–it starts out small and you look forward to it years down the road.”