Cope resident Kayrine Rivers-Hampton said she is thankful for life and the blessing of loving family and friends on her journey through the leading cancer diagnosed among women in the United States.

While breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in women behind lung cancer, Rivers-Hampton is a proud two-year survivor who said early detection helped save her life. She is now a champion for other women.

Rivers-Hampton said she always had yearly mammograms. When she got a letter that her next one was coming up in September 2007, she wanted to wait until the following February to couple it with her yearly Pap smear examination. Her best friend, who was then battling pancreatic cancer, urged her to go earlier.

Rivers-Hampton, who was dealing with the health issues of both her best friend, who later died, and a sister with heart problems, was defiant, until the letter she had received kept popping up in her purse.

"Women change purses four or five times, but somehow that letter kept coming up in my purse," she said. She eventually went to the Breast Health Center at the Regional Medical Center and made an appointment.

After returning from a Myrtle Beach vacation, Rivers-Hampton was told that a small cancerous mass had been found.

"I brought my son with me for the diagnosis because I had heard that if you hear the word cancer, you don't hear anything after that," she said. "When I heard that, everything else just went over my head. My son asked questions, and I just looked at him as he asked them."

Rivers-Hampton went on to have a lumpectomy and had to undergo 35 doses of radiation as part of her treatment at the Mabry Center for Cancer Care. She continues to have yearly mammograms.

"When I was going through this, I had suggestions from people to go to Columbia and Charleston," she said. "I told them, 'God is in Orangeburg just like he is in Charleston and Columbia. If I'm going to be healed, I will be healed here.' I have not had any problems."

Rivers-Hampton stressed the importance of faith and early detection in her recovery.

"If it wasn't detected early, I probably would have had to go through chemo as well as radiation and a total mastectomy," she said. "Some people opt for the mastectomy because they don't want to think about the cancer reoccurring. My faith says that it's not going to reoccur. That's what I believe."

Rivers-Hampton now works to help other women become advocates for their own health. She will hold a fashion show -- "Shades of Pink" -- Oct. 24 at her church, Canaan United Methodist in Cope.

"Don't let your spouse, children, family or friends tell you what you need to do for yourself. It's your body, and it's your life," she said. "Once it's cancer, it's nothing but cancer. Do something. Don't just stop and wait for it to disappear, because it's not."

Rivers-Hampton will be among the women at the RMC's fifth annual Pink Ribbon Luncheon, set for 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, at The Cinema in Orangeburg. More than 350 patrons are anticipated for the event, presented by the Junior Service League. Buck Ridge Catering will provide a gourmet lunch.

Author and South Carolina native Beth Webb Hart will be the featured speaker along with Marjory Wentworth, who was appointed poet laureate of South Carolina by Gov. Mark Sanford in 2003.

Hart's first novel, "Grace at Low Tide," was one of three selected for Books-A-Million's book club and was the chain's national book of the month for December 2006. Her second novel, "Adelaide Piper," was named one of the top 10 inspirational novels of 2006 by Booklist, the American Library Association's review journal.

Her third novel, "The Wedding Machine," became a best seller in August 2008. Hart, who currently serves as writer-in-residence at Ashley Hall, is also on the faculty of the South Carolina Writers Workshop and lectures on fiction writing throughout the region.

Wentworth teaches poetry in the arts and healing program for cancer patients and their families at Roper Hospital in Charleston. She is author of a soon-to-be-published memoir taken from her experiences while working at Roper and is expected to speak on the topic. She published a collection of poems, "Noticing Eden," in 2003 and another collection, "Despite Gravity," in 2007.

Copies of books by Hart and Wentworth will be available at the luncheon for purchase from Swift Books. Both authors will autograph copies before and after the event.

In South Carolina, breast cancer accounts for approximately one-third of all cancers diagnoses. This year, some 4,200 breast exams will be performed at RMC's Breast Health Center. Fourty-five of those tests -- not including ultrasound tests -- have already proven positive.

"Orangeburg is still number 11 in the state for new cases and seven for deaths," said Becky Hejl, lead mammographer at the RMC. "With early detection, which is critical, you have about a 95 percent chance of a full survival."

Prior to 2005, no money devoted expressly to the fight against breast cancer had been raised through the RMC. Proceeds from the Pink Ribbon Luncheon provide support to patients at the hospital who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer and those in medical and financial need during their journey and fight against the disease.

"If you have no insurance, don't wait. There are plans in place to help these women," Hejl said.

The first Pink Ribbon event raised approximately $20,000. Subsequent events and gifts have increased total contributions to the RMC Foundation's Pink Ribbon fund to some $188,000 in less than five years.

"I've been involved in fund-raising a little over 30 years now, and don't think I've ever seen a special event succeed as quickly or be accepted and supported by as many people as long as this has," RMC Foundation Executive Director Mac Burton said. "We went to an absolute sell out in year two, and that's remarkable."

Foundation trustee Gail Gressette and vice-chairwoman Celia Richardson are co-chairs of this year's event, which is being overseen by a 31-member volunteer committee.

The cost of the Pink Ribbon Luncheon is $55 per person. Proceeds from the luncheon will support women's cancer services at the RMC and it's Breast Health Center and will also fund the "Bag of H.O.P.E." -- hope, opportunity, promise and empowerment -- which is presented to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients at the hospital and includes a journal, pillow, scarf and CD of soft music.

For more information or to make reservations for the event, call the RMC Foundation office at 803-395-2321.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

If you go ...

What: Pink Ribbon Luncheon

When: 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6

Where: The Cinema, Orangeburg

Tickets: $55 per person; for reservations, call the Regional Medical Center Foundation at 803-395-2321.

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