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Fight to Survive
Not without a cost, though.
Both women are survivors of breast cancer, a life threatening disease that permanently transformed their outlooks on life.
“Surviving breast cancer makes you appreciate life a whole lot more,” Archuleta said. “It makes you realize how mortal you really are, and you realize what’s really important in your life.”
It all started with suspicious lumps in their breasts.
“When I noticed a lump in my breast, I didn’t think too much of it and scheduled a mammogram,” Archuleta said. “Then I noticed it was growing, and I felt like something was wrong.”
Archuleta and Schaefer both were diagnosed with breast cancer in their mid-fifties.
“When I was diagnosed, I thought ‘I don’t want to die’,” Schaefer said. “Then I instantly thought ‘what can we do to stop it’?”
The answer to her question? Chemotherapy.
“After receiving a treatment, I would feel like I had the flu for weeks on end,” Schaefer said. “Just when I would start to feel better, they would give me another treatment. I had never really been sick before that, so it was a rude awakening.”
Archuleta received two different kinds of chemotherapy.
“I got really sick in between treatments because chemotherapy uses poison to kill the bad stuff as well as the good stuff,” she said. “I developed Neutropenic fever and had to stay in the hospital for days. But I knew if they didn’t kill the bad stuff, it was going to kill me.”
Schaefer said the side effects of the treatments were devastating.
“When I lost my hair, I was completely shattered because it was a huge part of me and then it was gone,” she said. “I started to rationalize with myself and wonder if my hair made me who I was. I also got infections under my nails, and lost three fingernails and two toenails.”
Unfortunately, a mere wig could not completely solve the women’s hair loss problem.
“I lost all of my hair, including my eyebrows, eyelashes, arm hair, everything,” Archuleta said. “There was no hair anywhere on my body. I didn’t have to shave my legs for six months, which was nice actually.”
Even though these side effects were drastic, both women still maintained optimistic attitudes.
“There are actually advantages to being bald,” Schaefer said. “It takes you less time to get ready when you don’t have do your hair or put on mascara. Just slap a hat on your head and do your thing.”
Archuleta even found a way to make her great nephew, Nathan, accept her bald condition.
“When I started losing my hair, we had a hair shaving party,” she said. “Nathan and I played games with wigs and scarves so that he would never be afraid of me. It worked.”
But as much as they tried to laugh things off, difficult times hit the women as well.
“The hardest part was having to wait,” Archuleta said. “Wait for them to find out what kind of treatment, when to start treatment, and most importantly, your results. That was very frustrating to me.”
Schaefer felt confusion as to why she developed the breast cancer.
“I was a person who watched my weight, exercised regularly and I never smoked,” she said. “I tried to eat healthy and I still came up with cancer. Cancer doesn’t care about color, age or economic situation. It can get anyone.”
Which is the exact reason why having a yearly mammogram is so essential for all women.
“One year there was nothing wrong with me, and in 12 months the cancer had already formed and was spreading,” Schaefer said. “If I hadn’t of gotten my mammogram, it would’ve spread to other places. I believe it saved my life.”
Longtime Clarendon College Board of Regents member Doug Lowe, who lost his wife in 2008 to ovarian cancer, knows the severity of cancer and encourages women to receive their yearly exams.
“Some people don’t want to know if they have cancer, but they should,” Lowe said. “They shouldn’t be afraid. Early diagnosis is the key. With any kind of cancer, the earlier you get it diagnosed, the easier it will be to get treated.”
Thankfully for Archuleta and Schaefer, their cancers were caught, treated, and eliminated. Both believe that surviving breast cancer has made them stronger.
“If you live through the possibility of dying, it makes you stronger,” Schaefer said. “You learn to not take life for granted, and the loved ones around you become even more precious. You know that you can either sit there and cry about it, or laugh through it. And you make it, one day at a time.”
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Please join the Clarendon High School Student Council in supporting the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation by wearing a “Think Pink” T-shirts on Pink Out Day, which is October 12.
The money from each “Think Pink” shirt sold by student council members will be donated to the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation.
Hedley to host Cotton Festival
There is plenty of family fun to be had in Hedley this weekend as the community celebrates its 59th annual Cotton Festival.
The Lioness Club will get things rolling at 5 p.m. this Friday with a Chili & Stew Supper at the Lioness Den.
The Homecoming Queen will be crowned in pre-game ceremonies at Memorial Field at 7 p.m., and the Owls will face Lubbock Home School athletes on the gridiron at 7:30. A tailgate party on Main Street with hot dogs and refreshments will follow the game.
Breakfast burritos start the day Saturday morning at City Hall from 7 to 10 a.m. with entertainment all day provided by KLSR 105.3 FM. Bingo games start at 9 a.m. at the
Senior Citizens building and continue until 9 p.m. or when all the prizes are gone.
At 10 a.m. the Senior Citizens will start serving hamburgers all day, and other events at that time include the Rowe Cemetery Bake Sale, the Car & Tractor Show, and the Lioness Quilt Show.
The Hedley Lions Club will serve a BBQ lunch at the Lions Den at 11:30.
The Kiddie Parade will be held at 1:30 p.m., and then Judge Ann Kennedy will serve as the Marshall for the Community Parade at 2 p.m.
The Hedley School Reunion will begin at 3 p.m., and Whiskey Marinade will be performing on Main Street at that time also.
A Turkey Shoot at 106 S. Sixth will be held from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. Drawings will be held at 6 p.m. for an H&R Shotgun, a Lioness Quilt, Senior Citizens Judge Revolver, and a Remington Shotgun.
A dance on Main Street will be held from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. with Broken Jonez performing, and the Senior Citizens will hold a Midnight Breakfast from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Other all day events include kiddie games and craft booths.
Panhandle veterans to meet in Perryton this weekend
Members and guests of The American Legion, 18th District will meet at the Perryton Expo Center this coming weekend, October 9 and 10, for the annual Fall Convention.
Harold Lehnick, District 18 Commander from Claude and Susan Wheatley, Auxiliary President from Darrouzett will conduct the meetings. Invited guests include State Vice Commander Harry Hicks of El Paso, 4th Division Commander Steven Brooks of Lubbock and Martha Colis of Amarillo who represents The American Legion Auxiliary, Department of Texas.
The two-day event will commence at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 9, with registration. A fee of $25 will be charged to help offset expenses. The official joint opening ceremony and information session will begin at 2 p.m. The joint banquet will commence at 6 p.m. and feature Perryton’s Randy Brillhart as the speaker. The Sunday session will begin at 9 a.m. with the Memorial Service followed by business meetings.
The event is scheduled to adjourn by noon.
District Conventions are scheduled twice yearly for the purpose of exchanging information and training Post leaders. The 18th District encompasses the entire Texas Panhandle area.
Student jailed after text threat
A Memphis High School student is out on bond this week after he allegedly sent a threatening text message to a student at Hedley High School.
Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said his office received a call from the Hedley School about 1:30 p.m. Monday, October 4, that a student had received a threat.
Officers took statements from Hedley students and obtained enough information for a warrant then went to Memphis to arrest 17-year-old student there on the third degree felony charge of Terroristic Threat.
The individual was later released on $5,000 bond. The case is still under investigation.
Blackburn praised Hedley school officials for the way they handled the situation.
“The school did an excellent job the way they reported it and need to be commended for their efforts,” he said.
The sheriff also urged parents to talk to their kids about text messaging.
“Kids need to know that texting a threat to a school or a student at school can turn into a felony. Parents need to make kids aware that texting can have consequences.”
CC names 5 finalists
Clarendon College Regents named the five finalists to be the next college president during a called meeting last Thursday.
An independent committee had narrowed the list of applicants down to nine, but one withdrew his name from consideration.
The five men now in the running for the top position at CC in alphabetical order are:
• Dr. Steven Hilterbrand, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at Baton Rouge Community College in Louisiana.
• Dr. Phil E. Shirley, President of Southeast Arkansas College in Pine Bluff, Ark., and former dean of instruction at Clarendon College from 1986 to 1990.
• Dr. David Smith, President of Brewton-Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia.
• Dr. Roger Stacy, Immediate Past President of Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa, Okla.
• Dr. Gary Stretcher, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Lamar State College in Port Arthur.
CC President Bill Auvenshine said regents were unanimous in their selection of the final five.
“All of the finalists have Panhandle roots, and most still have relatives living in the area,” Auvenshine said.
Interviews for the finalists are scheduled October 25-29, and the public will have an opportunity to meet each candidate.
A called meeting of the board of regents will be held on November 4 to name the next president, Auvenshine said. The new president will take office in January.
Broncos win again, 40 – 21
They are in it to win it, and the Broncos’ performance in the their three-game road trip proves that fact.
Unstoppable for the moment, the Broncos are pulling together as a team and have an intensity that makes other teams drool. Their latest victims were the Sunray Bobcats who had defeated the Broncos the past eight years. Led by the dominating force of the senior squad, the Broncos whipped the Bobcats 40-21 and left them stunned and shaken.
Senior signal caller Johnny Gaines continues to roll as he has guided his team to three big victories in a tough series on the road.
According to head coach Gary Jack, the Sunray game was the fourth out of six games that the Broncos have scored over 40 points a game and in those three games, the Broncos racked up 137 points to only 62 for their opponents. Right now, that is huge for the Clarendon team. They have one more game until the beginning of district play, which will begin October 22 at home.
“We are just a little banged up from some very physical games,” Jack said.
“It will be good to have an open day (next week) so we can get healed up and ready for district. We want to get a big win over Gruver (this Friday) and go into district at 6-1.”
The Broncos stunned Sunray early on with huge hits by Chris Crump and Bradley Watson.
“Chris waxed a guy on a kick off,” Jack said.
“Bradley Watson got a big hit, and then Chris got another big hit. It pretty much shut their intensity down.
“They didn’t quit, but the first quarter we opened up with a 20-7 lead and they just never got any closer.”
The Broncos scored on their first four possessions of the game as they racked up 414 total yards of offense. Chris Crump crossed the goal line first on a 13-yard run, and Wes Williams turned six on a huge 68-yard run.
Johnny Gaines capped the first quarter scoring with a 26-yard run. Mike Crump added a score to the rally in the second quarter on a one-yard run to go up by 12 points at the break. Chris Crump and Williams added the last two scores of the game on one and fifteen yard runs respectively.
“I was tickled to death with the win,” Jack said. “We’ve had six very physical games in a row. Right now, we’re hitting on all cylinders offensively. It’s been a good stretch for us.”
The Broncos set the tone for the game early and according to Jack, the offensive line did a great job blocking for the run and protecting for the pass.
Jacob Pigg, Trent White, R.J. Nino, Coby Braughton, David Roberts, Clayton Shields, and Jayson Pigg are all part of that determined line.
Defensively, the Broncos had huge hits and an overall great performance. Williams had 13 tackles and one sack, Gaines had 11 tackles, and Brayden Phillips had 8 tackles and one interception.
“A lot of people played well at different times,” Jack said. “I was really pleased with their play.”
The Broncos will host the Gruver Greyhounds Friday night in Bronco Stadium for Homecoming. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m.
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