By June Mathews
Margaret Newton was living her best life. Her two married daughters had recently given her a grandchild apiece, one named after her. She felt fine. She was working. She loved her job.
“Everything was going great,” she said. “I thought I was at a new stage in my life. I was going to be a working grandmother who babysat on the weekends, and we were all excited.”
Then on her way to work one morning, Newton glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed her eyes looked yellow. As the day wore on, she noticed her fingernails were yellow, and her skin was taking on a yellowish hue.
That afternoon, she headed to the emergency room to find out what was going on. Two days later, she learned she had pancreatic cancer.
After 10 months of chemo, Newton is reclaiming her life and going about the business of providing an example for her daughters.
“It’s always been very important during this that I model for my daughters dignity, grace, a fighting spirit, my ferocious nature,” she said. “I can get through this. I’m not going to make people around me sad.”
The Mental Factor
“There’s not really cancer in my family,” said Mike Rutledge. “There wasn’t a big history of it, but I’ve got a gene that caused the (stomach) cancer.”
At the beginning of his bout with cancer, a nurse named Karen advised him that probably 95% of his battle would be mental.
“If you can beat the mental part of it, you’ve got a better chance to beat cancer,” she told him.” And Rutledge took those words to heart.
So instead of looking for the bad, he finds the good in each day and does his best to share it.
“And once you find the good in it, you just feel so much better,” he said. “You can win if you keep a positive attitude. I enjoy every day. I don’t let the day drive me. I drive the day. It’s just like a second chance at life. You do life differently. You don’t take anything for granted.”
Rutledge is on a clinical trial drug and is hopeful about the future.
“I still feel good,” he said. “I’m still just as active as I was a year ago.”
Faces of GI Cancer
Newton and Rutledge are the Robert E. Reed Gastrointestinal Oncology Research Foundation’s 2023 Faces of GI Cancer, a video series featuring individuals dealing with GI cancer. The two will be honored at the organization’s annual fundraising event, Iron Bowl Kickoff Casino Party, on Nov. 16 at The Club.
Other honorees include Melinda and Randall Curtis, longtime supporters of the Reed Foundation, and Dany Hollingsworth, whose husband, Jamey, passed away last year after a 10-month battle with colorectal cancer.
Formed in 2002 while its namesake was battling pancreatic cancer, the Reed Foundation works to raise awareness of and understanding about gastrointestinal cancers. Over the past 21 years, the foundation has contributed more than $1.8 million to GI cancer research and patient care initiatives.
GI cancers are common and usually treatable with early detection. A healthy lifestyle can help reduce the risk of GI cancers, which include bile duct cancer, colon cancer, esophageal cancer, gallbladder cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer and stomach cancer.
“When I started with the foundation, I wasn’t even sure what all the GI cancers were,” said Hannon Davidson, executive director of the Reed Foundation. “So, with Faces of GI Cancer, we’re trying to put more awareness behind the different types.”
The patients who provide the faces for the video series are recommended and initially contacted on behalf of the Reed Foundation by their physicians.
“We try to choose patients with different GI cancers,” said Davidson. “The stories can be bittersweet, but it’s a chance for the people who participate to tell their stories, and in the process, they promote awareness. Maybe somebody who sees one of the videos will be encouraged to go get screened or see a doctor.”
Awareness is also a key component of the casino party, as is fun. The event will feature 12 casino tables, live music, complimentary open bar and cocktail buffet, the Denny Chimes Wine Pull, the Toomer’s Corner Liquor Toss, and the Women’s Committee Silent Auction. Attire is jackets, no ties. The pre-party, which is included in some tickets, begins at 6 p.m.; the party begins at 7 p.m.
For more information on the Reed Foundation or to view Faces of GI Cancer videos, visit reedgifoundation.com. Click on the Events tab for more information or to purchase tickets for the party. Also check out the Instagram and Facebook pages @Reedgifoundation.
