‘Cancer doesn’t stop — and neither do we’

Granbury resident Carrie Peters recently returned from one of the biggest trips of her life.

Peters, a well-known cancer advocate in Hood County, traveled to Washington D.C. earlier this month for Lobby Day, where she met with members of the U.S. Congress about increasing funding for cancer research.

“This year is my second year being in Washington D.C. for Lobby Day," she said. "Six hundred of us went up on Capitol Hill and spoke with their staff. With the issues that we have, we need an increase in cancer research funding. We have a couple of bills out that we'd like to see passed. One is the Medicare Multi Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act, and we’re hoping that they're going to pass it. We have scientists out there waiting to develop a blood test that will hopefully test for all cancers.”

The PSA Screening for HIM Act, Peters said, is also one that they are hoping to get passed, which would require insurance companies to cover prostate cancer screenings for those at high risk for the disease without out-of-pocket costs. 

For the past few years, Peters has worked diligently with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), known as the nation’s cancer advocacy organization that works every day to make cancer issues a national priority.

According to the ACS CAN website, for the organization to succeed in its mission to end suffering and death from cancer, the movement must start at the statehouse and in Congress. The movement is led by volunteers whose lives have been impacted by cancer, and they rally together to demand change from their elected officials.

“It’s a great organization,” Peters said. “We just stay in touch with our lawmakers, bring our issues to them and see what they can do to help us out. Right now, we're just waiting to see if they'll co-sponsor the bills.”

Although not every bill that they advocate for gets sponsored, Peters said they don’t always get a “No” right away.

“We just had a bill passed in Texas before they quit the end of their session," she said. “They passed biomarker testing. It tests samples, blood tissue, and it's a more accurate way to determine the best form of treatment for that disease and type of cancer, so that was a big victory for us in Texas.”

For the past four years, Peters has also been involved with ACS CAN’s signature fundraising event called Lights of Hope that honors those who have been touched by cancer and those who have been lost.

People around the world can each host their own Lights of Hope event in their community and create paper bags in honor of a loved one lost from cancer.

“Everybody can do their own in their community, which is always in September, but some are doing it in October,” Peters said, adding that a local event was just held in Granbury on Sept. 9. “We take bags. Bags are like $10 apiece, so I fundraise to raise money for the bags because a lot of people want to do a bag, but they don’t actually have that spare $10 for one, so we host fundraisers to raise the money.”

Peters said on Lobby Day every year, her team also lights up bags and places them around the Constitution Gardens in Washington D.C.

"I think they said this year there was close to — and I'm not positive — around 77,000 bags put out around the communities and in D.C.,” she said. “It's a beautiful and amazing sight.”

Peters has worked at Walmart in Granbury for almost 40 years, and in that time, she said she has managed to get her coworkers to join her in the Lights of Hope event every year.

“I get tickled at work. They say, ‘Don't you ever stop? I say, ‘Cancer doesn't stop — and neither do we,’” she said. “It's a 365 day (job), and it's something I work on year-round to help and make a nice thing for our community. My associates at Walmart, they are on my team, and we all work together just to make it happen here.”

Although Peters is a big cancer research advocate in Hood County, her late husband, Rex, is the main reason why she continues to fight.

“Back in 2012, my husband was diagnosed with leukemia, and he died on March 10, 2013,” she said. “Before he died, he asked me if I would keep up the fight to end cancer. I did Relay for Life for a couple more years, and somebody said, ‘Maybe you ought to get involved with American Cancer Society’s Lights of Hope event,’ and so that's what I've been doing for the last four years.”

She said she encourages everyone around her to join the ACS CAN Lights of Hope campaign to honor those affected by cancer, including the estimated 139,000 Texans who will receive a cancer diagnosis this year.

“I try to talk to them and explain to them that this is what we do,” Peters said. “We're out there to make sure that the patients are getting what they need to survive and make their lives better. It's like $10 a year for a membership, so just come and be a part of something that's amazing, because we've all been touched by cancer. Everybody's life has been touched by it.”

She said it feels amazing to continue in her fight against cancer, but that it's also a way to keep her husband’s memory alive.

"Even after 10 years it's still hard,” Peters said, choking back tears. “I made a promise to him and that's a promise I'm gonna keep.”

For more information on Lights of Hope, email Peters at rexandcarriepeters@yahoo.com, or visit fightcancer.org.

ashley@hcnews.com | 817-573-1243