Gallup Cancer center opens
Patients won't have to go to Albuquerque

Joyce Graves, a cancer survivor, does the honors of cutting the ribbon during the open house Thursday at the American Cancer Society open house inside the New Mexico Cancer Center on College Drive in Gallup. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The disease of cancer does not offer much to celebrate, but about 50 people did find something to celebrate about on Thursday.

They were celebrating a new partnership in Gallup a partnership that promises to assist local cancer survivors and their family members.

The recently opened New Mexico Cancer Center-Gallup welcomed the American Cancer Society's Cancer Resource Center into its facility with a grand opening ceremony and open house. ACS officials from Albuquerque joined the medical staff of the Cancer Center, local cancer survivors, and newly trained ACS volunteers for the event.

With the opening of the Cancer Center in January, area cancer patients will no longer have to travel beyond Gallup to receive treatment. With Thursday's opening of the resource center, community members and their families will have greater access to the free support services of the American Cancer Society.

Geraldine Esquivel, the district executive director for the ACS in Albuquerque, called the new partnership a blessing for the community, and in her introduction of Dr. Jeffrey Long of the Cancer Center, she said Long was a catalyst for the partnership.

"I wish I could have been here five years ago," said Long, who moved to New Mexico from Tacoma, Wash. Long, who is on the staff at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital and the Gallup Indian Medical Center, can now treat patients from both facilities.

Cancer patients having to travel long distances for treatment has been a "huge issue" for area residents, said Long, who said he's heard many stories of hardships that people have endured while seeking treatment.

Local residents and cancer survivors Joan Huffman and Joyce Graves experienced those hardships firsthand. Graves, who is well-known in the community for her work with the ACS's annual Relay For Life, was introduced as one of the volunteers at the resource center. Huffman, who was diagnosed with Stage 3-B breast cancer in December 2003, was introduced as the resource center coordinator.

Huffman said her "faith, family, and friends" helped her get through her journey with cancer. "It's a journey no one has to do alone," she said. Huffman, who prompted laughter from cancer survivors in the audience when she said having cancer gave new meaning to the expressions "bad hair day" and "bald is beautiful," also touched an emotional cord in the audience when she read a composition entitled "What Cancer Cannot Do."

"It doesn't matter how many years it's been, it's still an emotional journey," said Graves, who followed Huffman in the ceremony's program. "I do not know how anyone does this alone," she added.

Graves said she was grateful "to anyone who had a hand" in bringing the Cancer Center to Gallup, and she promised that she and Huffman were willing to come to the resource center at any time to meet with people. Several area residents have also been trained as volunteers for the center, and local cosmetologist Misty Fairchild will be offering the free "Look Good... Feel Better" program at the center.

Although most of the cancer survivors in attendance received treatment prior to the opening of the New Mexico Cancer Center-Gallup, one survivor who is currently receiving treatment at the center and support through ACS programs was introduced at the ceremony.

"It's my second home away from home," said Phyllis King of the center. She expressed gratitude for the facility and for the weekly cancer support group that meets in the center every Wednesday. "I'm halfway there, and I know I can survive," King said.

Toward the conclusion of the grand opening event, Virgil Gatewood offered a Native American blessing for the resource center. Gatewood, of Pawnee and Navajo descent, said he lost his mother to cancer and his wife is currently undergoing cancer treatment.

"Cancer is just a dark fellow that's trying to push you off your trails," said Gatewood, who called the cancer center a "sacred place."

The program ended on a rousing, joyful note as audience members offered up cheers as Graves cut a red ribbon in the event's concluding ribbon cutting ceremony.

The New Mexico Cancer Center-Gallup is located at 2240 College Dr. The American Cancer Society's Resource Center in Gallup will be open from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For cancer information anytime, call the ACS's National Information Call Center at 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.