Polk County
Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 7, 2017 9A
THE MAGIC OF RELAY
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Cancer survivors and caretakers line up for the first lap of Polk County’s 24-hour American Cancer Society Relay for Life Polk County, which started on Saturday.
Taking steps to cure cancer
American Cancer Society Relay for Life Polk County took to the track in Dallas last weekend
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Kim Lockett,
of Monmouth, thought her
singing days were over.
Since childhood, Lockett
found a passion in music
and singing. She took voice
lessons, sang in choir and
eventually performed opera.
At 15 she noticed a small
bulge on the left side of her
throat. Her doctor told her it
wasn’t serious, but it kept get-
ting bigger.
In October 2009 at age 25,
she pushed for a diagnosis.
An ultrasound revealed the
left side of her thyroid was
filled with fluid. The right
side had round mass, which
was found to be cancer.
“I just remember a feeling
of shock and a sense of com-
plete uncertainly,” she said.
Lockett had surgery to re-
move her thyroid and tissue
surrounding it, but there
were complications.
The surgery damaged her
vocal chords. She needed
speech therapy just to retain
her speaking voice.
“Each day I struggle with
vocal exhaustion and pain,
which has made my ability
to sing at full force a long,
drawn out battle,” she said.
A battle she took a big step
in overcoming when she took
the stage at Relay for Life Polk
County in 2016 to sing the na-
tional anthem. She gave a re-
peat performance at the
2017 event on Saturday.
“I’m not exactly sure what
gave me the strength to get
back up on the stage in front
of you all last year, but I’m
pretty sure it had a whole lot
to do with this amazing plat-
form called Relay for Life,”
Lockett said.
She said hearing the stories
of people battling cancer and
the memories of those lost in-
spired her.
“You have all empowered
me to find my inner
strength, my passion again
for music,” she said.
To see more photos:
www.polkio.com.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Relay for Life participants walk the track at Dallas High School on Saturday morning. Teams set up tents Saturday
and had a representative walking the track for the entire 24-hour hours.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Teams used this year’s Disney theme, “The Magic of Relay” to decorate their tents. Team batons were also part of
the fun, with participants carrying wands and Aladdin lamps around the track.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Purple is the designated color for cancer survivors at
Relay for Life events. Before the 24-hour event began,
teams had raised more than $26,000 for cancer research.