• Collegiate chairs, baskets for live auction
• Handmade USC Gamecocks quilt
Before the lights were turned off and doors locked at Fairview Baptist Church, Big Thursday, the Greer Community Ministries fundraiser, was said to be one of the most attended in recent years.
"I will tell you that we have had more traffic in here all day long than in the three years I have been associated with Big Thursday," Cindy Simpler, GCM Executive Director, said.
Readers asked GreerToday.com to report on Nancy Welch making her signature “Angel Biscuits” at Big Thursday. Messages received wanted to know how Nancy was doing, is she making as many biscuits as years past, how her stamina was and did she have flour on her face!
Here’s what we saw, heard and photographed early Thursday morning.
Judge Henry “Hank” Mims begins his third term (4-years) as Greer Municipal Judge on July 1.
“I said I would take it for a couple of years and next year is my 20th (as a judge),” Mims told council when he reviewed his department. “We’ve got a system here and I can’t tell you how proud I am of the staff.”
Even Big Thursday has its rivalries when bidding on items – silent or live.
Cutouts of head coaches Dabo Swinney of Clemson and Steve Spurrier of the University of South Carolina were nearly side-by-side to be bid on later tonight during the live auction.
The Greater Greer Education Foundation (GGEF) has awarded scholarships to 13 Greer area graduates. At a news conference Tuesday at the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce, Foundation Chairman Margaret Burch presented certificates to the students.
The scholarships are made possible by funds from the September 2011 Education Gala and local sponsorships.
Healing Journeys National Conference will be held in Spartanburg on the Spartanburg Methodist College campus Saturday and Sunday, June 23-24. Greer's Nancy Welch will be among the presenters.
The conference will be Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Book signing opportunities will follow the Sunday session.
Nancy Welch and Greenville Hospital System colorectal surgeon George Blestel are hosting a free seminar for a discussion about colon cancer – and how a routine colonoscopy saved Nancy’s life.
The seminar is noon – 1 p.m., Thursday, May 3, at the Greenville Marriott at 1 Parkway East. Lunch is provided, but registration is required. To register, call 1-877-447-4636 or visit ghs.org/360healthed.
Nancy Welch and Dr. George Blestel can be excused for having a private, light moment with both giggling during the First Friday luncheon at Greer City Hall.
Just seeing them both together, at the Greer Chamber of Commerce, one year after Welch and Blestel began their public crusade in battling colorectal cancer, was reason for a celebration. Welch has undergone surgery, chemo treatments and an intensive rehabilitation from the disease. The timeliness of March being National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month was appropriate for Blestel's presentation and Welch's confirmation of the wisdom of prevention.
It has now been a little over a week since I had my surgery. My, what a difference a week makes.
On Monday, January 30, I had surgery to reverse my “pocketbook” done last June. It was great relief to know they would be able to do this surgery as well as relief when it actually worked! I guess the latter of those falls into the category of “ little faith.” None the less, I was glad when the plumbing did what the surgeon had assured me it would do.
Nancy Welch remains in the hospital with her release now day-to-day. Nancy had surgery Monday to reverse her illeostomy. It’s the final surgical stage as Nancy nears the end of battling colorectal cancer.
“Doctors just want to make sure she is comfortable when she goes home and can maneuver around the house when she is there,” Nelson, her son, said. “We have to keep reminding her this is major surgery and it will take a little while to regain her strength.”
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I can see it now and there is no train coming this way! At least that is the way it looks today. I have been cleared for surgery on Monday, January 30, 2012, beginning at high noon. This surgery will be to reverse my “pocketbook,” otherwise known in the medical profession as an illeostomy. I had the original surgery in June and to say that I will be happy when this is over is probably a huge understatement.
During the last seven months, I have chatted with several people who have had either an illeostomy or a colostomy. All reports have been that the worst is over and that the reversal is not that bad. I have heard my surgeon say that, but he also told me that the test he “preformed” in his office would not be bad. He lied. I threw up three times before they wheeled me to a car in a wheel chair! Not that I don’t believe the doctor, but I do put more credence in what people say that have actually had this procedure! I am counting on them telling me the truth and they say it will not be bad.
Nancy Welch has begun a 10-week chemotherapy treatment as part of her recovery process from colorectal cancer surgery on June 15. “She just started her one week on and then one week off routine,” Nelson Welch, her son, reported. “She is getting her treatment four days a week, Monday through Thursday, for three to four hours a day. They just want to make sure they got it all during surgery.”
Nelson said his mother is beginning to get out a little more and visiting friends. “She is building up her strength and goes out with her girlfriends about once a week. But she wants to get up at six in the morningand get to work. She wants to be active and have some responsibility to get up and go.
In my life, I have worn many labels: cheerleader, preacher’s daughter, sorority president, TV personality, college vice president, mediator, chairman of the board, author, elder, inn keeper, interior designer, cook, wife and mother, to name a few!
When the surgeon looked at me and said, “You have rectal cancer,” that was a label I was not prepared to wear. I thought to myself, “I have the Big C.” Cancer, just the word itself, felt like a death sentence. I had first-hand knowledge of this disease as my mother had died with cancer some 40 years ago. She had not had the same kind of cancer, but, at this point, cancer was cancer. My mind was racing from one image of cancer to another and I had not even left the doctor’s office. Three days earlier I had undergone a colonoscopy. Three polyps had been found: two were fine, but one was not.
Nancy Welch is recovering from successful surgery and is in good spirits, according to a family spokesperson. “She had her makeup on this morning and I could hear her from the elevator so I think that’s a good sign.”
Nancy’s son, Nelson, visited this morning and her sister, from Atlanta, has been with her since Monday.
You don’t have to be afraid to ask Nancy Welch how she is feeling. Feel free to discuss with her the surgery she is undergoing Monday at Mary Black Hospital.
“I have rectal cancer. Is there anything that sounds less lady-like? But it’s a body part. It is what it is. I’m sure men have body parts they don’t like to talk about,” Nancy said on the eve of her surgery.
Dr. George Blestel best describes colon and rectal cancer as a closed-door conversation. “It’s getting better but we’re about 10-15 years behind where breast cancer is,” Blestel said.
When Nancy Welch undergoes surgery Monday, Blestel will perform the procedure. His almost 30 years of practicing colon and rectal surgery and related disorders is a field that only has 1,200 board certified surgeons nationally.
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