FULL CIRCLE

PALMER — Care Tuk has been down this road before.

She was upbeat, positive and energetic as the Mat-Su Valley’s 2010 Relay For Life was winding down Saturday at Colony High School. She’s so full of life some may be surprised to learn she has cancer.

The Wasilla woman is fighting colon cancer, a fight she knows all too well. It’s Tuk’s 11th battle with cancer. Since 1973, she’s won victories over cervical, ovarian, uterine, thyroid, stomach and breast cancer (twice), as well as lymphoma and melanoma. That’s why she said Relay For Life, the American Cancer Society’s largest fund-raiser, is important.

“I’ve been in the battle, and for so long I didn’t want cancer to be my thing,” she said. “I didn’t want to be identified as ‘the cancer lady.’ But you know, if you’ve survived, you have a responsibility, you have the honor and the privilege, to go to other people and say, ‘We can do this together.’ I have days when I’m in the tank, then somebody else will pick me up.”

Tuk is also this year’s top fund-raiser, bringing in about $3,700 for cancer research, said Wes Clanton, a staffer from the American Cancer Society helping with the Valley event.

And the Valley turned out in record numbers, he said. Overall, 52 teams with about 775 participants raised more than $109,000.

“It’s the biggest year so far,” Clanton said. “Last year we were at about $92,000, and our biggest ever (before this weekend) was right at $100,000. And money’s still coming in. There will be much more than that. We still have the silent auction (to tally) and teams are still turning money in.”

Even about 20 hours since beginning the Relay Friday evening, teams continued strolling, bicycling — and in one case riding a scooter — around the Colony High track. Although she’s been involved with the Relay for years, Tuk shares another link to the event.

She feels “totally humbled” to watch people participate in the Relay “because I knew Dr. Gordy Klatt 26 years ago.”

Dr. Klatt founded Relay for Life and was Tuk’s mentor when she did an internship with him as a physical therapist.

“I knew him, the guy who started the whole shebang,” she said. “When I was battling breast cancer, I was flipping through the TV and I saw a newscast and I said, ‘Wait a minute, there’s Gordy.’ And they were talking about Relay, and the tears just streamed down my face because I realized he’s Relaying for me and he doesn’t even know it.”

That inspiration is what has helped Tuk through 10 successful fights against cancer and into her 11th.

“Attitude is everything,” she said. “If you have adversity and obstacles, turn them into adventures and opportunities. That’s how we’ve looked at it. You can be in pain or you can be a pain.”

That attitude is shared by Lee Mallett, a cancer survivor and employee at the Wasilla Wal-Mart store. His cane didn’t get in the way of walking more than five miles Saturday, a stroll he felt lucky to take.

“I’m really happy because three months ago the outlook wasn’t so good,” he said. “Three months ago I didn’t think I would be alive.”

Mallett has already beaten the odds by living, now he’s beating them more by walking the Relay, he said.

“I really look forward to (Relay For Life) because they told me I should be in a wheelchair and I should be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life,” he said. “Well, I’m walking around.”

His goal is to walk around the Colony track again next year.

“You can’t give up,” he said. “You have to have a positive attitude. You may not beat cancer, but it won’t beat me.”

Margaret Spurlock spent part of the day Saturday helping with the Relay’s silent auction. A survivor of ovarian cancer, Spurlock said cancer changes perceptions.

“You look at things a whole different way,” she said. “You look at the foods that you eat, the environment that you’re in. … These people (at the Relay) have all been touched by cancer in some way or another, that’s why they’re here, and I love seeing the support.”

Spurlock’s prognosis is good.

“Had a clean bill of health at the end of March,” she said. “I’m doing good and I’m feeling good — and my hair’s growing back.”

Tuk doesn’t have much hair, but she firmly believes the research made possible by Relay For Life saves lives.

“This community has saved my life, and I couldn’t thank them more,” she said, adding that as she continues to fight colon cancer, “hopefully it’s saving it again.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.