Cancer Center dedication brings together survivors, supporters

The Carson-Tahoe Cancer Center may not be the place you'll ever wish to be, cancer survivor Dennis Small said Thursday evening at its ground dedication ceremony, but it'll be a godsend when you need it.

About 225 people sat underneath a white tent, nestled beside a hill, the freeway and a crop of trees, on a dirt plateau that is the future site of the $12 million cancer center. The skeleton of the Carson-Tahoe Regional Medical Center Campus, off Eagle Valley Ranch Road, loomed in the background.

The 38,000-square-foot facility will be the state's only accredited cancer center. So far, about $3.4 million has been raised from private contributions.

The center will have medical and radiation oncology departments, a Cancer Resource Center, patient support groups and alternative therapy, including art and yoga classes.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the center will aid families who need to treat their children for leukemia. He said all the Fallon leukemia cluster children had to go to other states for treatment, which strained the families financially and emotionally.

In the Fallon leukemia cluster, 16 children have been diagnosed since 1997 and three have died. The last child added to the cluster was diagnosed in 2002.

"Those parents can bring those children here," Reid said. "This is what it's all about, taking care of people at home, not bringing them elsewhere."

Small, who is the owner of Slotworld, invoked the memory of his family members and friends who have died of cancer, or been stricken ill. The first was Small's grandfather, who died of stomach cancer in 1938. Small's wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the early 1990s.

"Over four and a half years she went back and forth through remission and chemotherapy," he said. "The last year she had radiation (therapy) and then she went on to heaven in 1997."

Two years later Small was diagnosed with colon cancer. Today he is not only a survivor but a large contributor to the cancer center. Many people in the audience could identify with Small's story.

Dayton residents Nancy and Bob Watkins stood in back of the crowd listening to the ceremony. Nancy Watkins, a Carson-Tahoe Hospital transcriptionist, said she donates a portion from each of her paychecks to the cancer-center fund.

"My mom died of cancer," she said. "I'm a strong believer in supporting cancer research, anything that would help people with cancer."

St. Peter's Episcopal Rector Father Jeff Paul ended the ceremony with a prayer of hope. He prayed that those who work in the cancer center, and those who use it, will be one with God and one with one another.

"And that we all be given that victory of life and peace now and always," he ended.

Carson-Tahoe Cancer Center:

• A $12 million project

• 35,000 square feet

• The only fully accredited free-standing cancer center in Nevada

• Slated to open spring 2006

• Developer - Hammes Co. West

• Architect - Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc.

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For information on how to support the project, contact the Carson-Tahoe Hospital Foundation at 883-3308.

Contact Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.