Jim Higbee is one of the lucky ones, although having surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital a decade ago to remove melanoma — which he originally believed to be a harmless freckle — from the bridge of his nose is not what most folks would consider particularly good fortune.
However, when you factor in that early detection and diagnosis of the Towson resident's disease a decade ago bypassed a need for radiation or chemotherapy, then, by comparison, he is indeed blessed.
With no obvious scars and currently cancer-free, for the 10th year in a row Higbee will join the fight against cancer in all of its forms as a volunteer for the Relay For Life of North Baltimore County Towson, which will be held Saturday, June 11, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Goucher College Athletic Field.
He will be one of 84 participants on 20 relay teams that are projected to raise $75,000 from this year's edition of the relay.
During the event, participants on the teams take turns walking laps of a track.
"When I was at Hopkins after the surgery, I was pretty functional," said Higbee, 62, a certified public accountant. "I was in pretty good shape. I could do 10 laps around the nurses' station, but some of the other patients were pretty bad off. Some of them could barely do one lap."
That's why, when his then-college-age daughter, Beth, offered to walk in his honor in the Relay for Life shortly after her father's operation, Higbee thought he should join her.
"I was struck by the thought that I was relatively unscathed from the operation," Higbee said. "A lot of other people were more impacted by cancer than I was. I thought that maybe I could walk for those who couldn't. I was the one who should be walking, to support all those people who have heard, are hearing, or might hear, 'You have cancer.'"
When he heard that phrase from his dermatologist, Higbee said he blanked on much of what was said afterward.
Once getting over the shock and having life-saving surgery, he has been fighting back ever since.
Higbee now brings sunblock — with a minimum of 30 sun protection factor (SPF) — wherever he goes, including on the golf course at the Country Club of Maryland, where he sports an 18 handicap.
"There's no sense getting fixed if you can't live life the way you want to," said Higbee, the captain of the Rowles Relayers team.
He has plenty of help in the relay, considering the number of dedicated volunteers who participate in the American Cancer Society fundraiser, which is one of 5,200 similar events held in the United States and 19 other countries annually.
The relays collect an estimated $400 million each year for cancer research and services for cancer patients.
Thirty Relays for Life are slated to be held in the central Maryland area this spring, which is 10 more than last year, when 8,587 participants raised $1.4 million for the cause, according to Andrew Primrose, the senior market manager of the American Cancer Society, Maryland.
"It's important to know that [relay] events are driven by volunteers and the participants," he said.
Primrose also noted the fundraising effort by Graul's Market, which raised $16,000 last year from its Graul's Fights Cancer event at its Ruxton and Mays Chapel stores.
This year's function, held June 3 and 4, raised $24,000 in donations from customers, vendors and 5 percent of overall sales.
Kate Poffenberger, a part-owner of the Ruxton store, said she has been involved with the project since her grandfather, Harold Graul Sr., died of thyroid cancer in 2001.
"It's incredible what Kate and the Graul family do for us," Primrose said. "We could not do what we do without them."
Some local volunteers wear many hats, such as Jessie Bernstein, 34, a team ambassador, team captain and committee organizer from New Freedom, Pa. Even her job as a massage therapist specializing in oncology massage is related to fighting the disease.
Bernstein has also been a caregiver for her grandmother, who died just shy of her 94th birthday from lung cancer.
She will be talking to many of the participants at this year's event, calming them down and lending support during emotional moments that include the survivor lap following the opening ceremony, the caregiver lap, the relay teams' opening lap and the luminaria, which honors those who lost their fight to cancer or are currently fighting the disease.
"I try to fill in wherever I'm needed," she said. "I'm all over the place."
The community involvement "makes it a more meaningful experience for everyone," Bernstein said.
If you go
The Relay For Life of North Baltimore County Towson will take place this Saturday, June 11, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Goucher College Athletic Field, in Towson. For more information go to http://relay.acsevents.org/site/TR/
RelayForLife/RFLCY16SA?fr_id=
70903&pg=entry