By Monroe Roark

Times Correspondent

  When Mary Gilbert sat down with her doctor to discuss her cancer situation, the prognosis was not good. She was given a year or two at the most.

  That was 24 years ago.

  “I went to the church to pray with my pastor, and he said, ‘The first thing you need to do is change doctors,’” said Gilbert. “So I did.”

  The second doctor placed her in a treatment group using a drug that had just been approved for use, funded by grants from the American Cancer Society. She became one of the success stories, and since then she has been working to help others have the same success.

  “Over the years I have volunteered in all kinds of capacities for the American Cancer Society,” she said. Those included everything from local events like Relay for Life to advocacy teams that traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby Congress for more cancer-related funding through the National Institute for Health and the Centers for Disease Control.

  “I’m blessed to help others any way I can,” she said.

  One way she has done that is through the ACS Reach to Recovery program. When a person gets a breast cancer diagnosis and just wants to talk to someone who has “been there,” the ACS will refer that patient to someone like Gilbert. A handful of Henry Countians have participated.

  “It’s very rewarding,” said Gilbert. “When they’re first diagnosed, they’re very scared and very worried. You talk to them for a while and, while you can’t give medical advice, you can tell your story. That helps. It gives them hope, and that is what it is all about.”

  Three years ago, Gilbert received the St. George Award, one of the top ACS awards, for the hours she has committed as a volunteer over the years. She was surprised because the award often goes to a doctor or a high-dollar donor.

  What is not surprising is the fact that many of the regular ACS events in a given year were scrapped in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As so many other organizations have done, Gilbert and other volunteers had to improvise.

  Earlier this month, about six breast cancer survivors got together at Heritage Park in McDonough for a “mini-Relay” as she put it. They walked around one of the park pavilions while keeping their distance according to CDC guidelines and made a day of it, bringing their own lunches and snacks.

  The ladies set it up to coincide with when the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk typically takes place in Atlanta. It was the most recent major event to be cancelled. Gilbert is hoping that 2021 will see the schedule get back to normal, starting with Henry County Relay for Life in the spring.

  “It is still important to be involved with advocacy,” she said. “Funding for research programs for cancer has been cut. We’ve been calling and emailing our congressmen to remind them that, even with COVID, cancer is still here, too. It’s not going to go away.”