Cancer survivor running her show Battle with cancer leads to new career By Anna Krejci News-Chronicle Cancer survivors will walk together April 3 at St. Norbert College in celebration of their battles as part of Relay for Life, an annual fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society. Maria Janowicz, an honorary chair for the fund-raiser, has organized the survivorship lap for four years. "You're sad for the people lost, happy for the people that are there," she said. Janowicz is a cancer survivor herself. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, a rare cancer that starts in the immune system and comprises less than one percent of all cancer cases in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. "Hodgkin's is known to be a quote-unquote easy cancer to beat, but I know two women who are dead," Janowicz said. The National Cancer Institute says the disease's symptoms are similar to those of the flu. They include painless, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, underarm or groin, repetitive fevers, night sweats, itchy skin and unexplained weight loss. Janowicz said she was singing in church when she first discovered a lump near her collar bone. "To me it was so obvious that God said you need to find this and find it now," she said. She told her brother, a dental student who performed palpitations on the necks of patients. He said the lump she described did not sound normal. He adamantly urged her to see a doctor the next morning, Janowicz said. An X-ray showed no sign of cancer but the doctor ran a CT scan and found a cancer in her chest that had been present for years. Thirty-two years old at the time of the diagnosis in 1998, the mother of two sons prepared for battle. She began by charging herself with beating the cancer. After several days she handed the cancer over to God. "It's yours. It's too big," she recalled thinking. Janowicz said relying on her faith and learning about the disease she was fighting were ways she was able to feel in control and advocates that other cancer patients turn to information or faith to empower themselves. She underwent chemotherapy for more than six months. "I shaved my head before my hair fell out," she said. "I'm gonna attack this damn thing before it gets me," she said was her attitude. Even with her will to live she said she was prepared to die because she said she knew God would have a better place for her. "I was at peace with whatever the outcome would be," she said. Surviving the cancer prompted her to made a career change. She and her husband have operated a sign-making business in Howard, Sign A Rama, for six months. Although she said the medical benefits she had with Procter and Gamble made it "as easy as possible" to fight her cancer, she was unsatisfied. "I can't go back to making toilet paper after this," she recalled saying when she quit her job. With so many people doing the same jobs in large corporations, employees feel undervalued, she said. Feeling valued, "I think that was a missing link in corporate America," she said. She and her husband moved into a smaller home. "All you do with a bigger house is just buy stuff," she said, and it has to be insured, she added. She said she was accustomed to having hired help clean the larger home, but she can clean the smaller home herself in two hours and has more time to spend with her family. This year marks the seventh annual Relay for Life fund-raiser which raised $72,000 last year. Event organizer Sheila Gohr said she hopes to raise $75,000 this year. A silent auction takes place while members of 55 teams take turns walking around the Schuldes Sports Center track from 9 a.m-3 p.m. April 3. Clowns, face painting, caraoke and an inflatable bungee run line the perimeters of the center. Food, music and free massages are available.