SEQUIM — There was one day in the midst of chemotherapy that turned out to be one of the sweetest — and funniest — of Roxanne Fryer’s life.
It was a sunshine-drenched morning, so her husband, Bernie, asked her what she’d like to do.
How about a trip to the San Juan Islands, she responded. How about we fly to Friday Harbor, then ride mopeds over to Roche Harbor for cheeseburgers? And how about inviting my sister, Nancy?
Fine, Bernie said, even if he wasn’t wild about mo-peds.
Off they went, for lunch on the Roche Harbor resort patio, where “it was a perfect summer day,” Fryer recalled.
So began her true story, told to the crowd at the Mad Hatter’s Tea, an annual celebration of life after breast cancer, and an event to support awareness and early detection of breast cancer for women on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The tea — in fact a lavish lunch with even more lavish headgear — drew 152 women to the Sequim Community Church on Friday.
Proceeds from the $30 tickets are dedicated to cancer patient support services.
At the close of the luncheon, mistress of ceremonies Cheryl Coulter presented two $1,500 checks, one each to the Olympic Medical Cancer Center, which offers support groups and other services, and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, which provides breast, cervical and colon cancer screenings to people with too little or no medical insurance.
Back to Fryer’s afternoon on the island.
Crashed the moped
Riding her rented moped back to Friday Harbor, she crashed. She had to extricate herself from a thicket of bushes, and then push her vehicle back up a hill.
When she arrived back at Friday Harbor, she discovered a snarl of grass stuck to the back of the mo-ped, and a trickle of blood from a cut on her leg.
She, Bernie and Nancy just laughed — so hard, they cried.
“It took me a few days to recover,” Fryer said. “But it was worth it.”
Her doctor found out, and wasn’t pleased. But Fryer was determined to be “normal,” for just that one day at least.
“Enjoy your normal days,” she told her audience.
And by example, she reminded them to laugh whenever it’s remotely possible.
When Fryer was her sickest, she was puffy, pale and hairless — “like Casper the friendly ghost,” she recalled.
But then, around the time she’d been cancer free for five years, she celebrated her 50th birthday. And “let me tell you, 50 was great.”
It’s been more than 10 years now since Fryer’s cancer diagnosis.
This Mad Hatter’s Tea, the 13th annual, started as a party for Jan Chatfield, who in the mid-1990s was going through her second battle with breast cancer.
Hats in lieu of hair
Her friends got together for tea and camaraderie — and they donned hats, in support of women who had lost their hair to chemotherapy.
The hats at this year’s event were fabulous: feathered, flowery, fruit-topped.
And the message was educational as well as inspirational as Dr. Rena Zimmerman, a radiation oncologist at the Olympic Medical Cancer Center in Sequim, spoke about mind-body connections and the importance of vitamin D and exercise, including for people in treatment for cancer.
She quoted Hippocrates, who said, “Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.”
Since 2001, the Port Angeles office of Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest has funded cancer treatment for 47 women who discovered their illness through screenings.
More information about the Planned Parenthood program is available by phoning 360-452-2012.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.