SEQUIM — When health care worker Ranay Yarian found a lump in her breast three years ago, it was the beginning of what she dubbed “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.”
“I called it that because I really didn’t know what was up ahead, but I knew it would be filled with twists and turns and ups and downs,” Yarian, 60, told 235 women attending the 18th Annual Mad Hatter’s Tea in Sequim on Friday.
It happened on the day of her first big speaking event as the community outreach manager for Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center of Gilbert, Ariz., she said.
Finding a lump
“I hopped up in the morning, hopped in the shower and found a lump,” she said.
She was diagnosed a few days later.
“I got the news, and I looked at my watch and I said, ‘I don’t have time for this,’” she said.
“I have a date in 10 minutes with a nice man. What am I going to do?”
Women in hats ranging from the sublime to the ludicrous gathered at SunLand Golf & Country Club in Sequim to rally against cancer and support cancer survivors.
Proceeds went to Operation Uplift of Port Angeles, which provides services to local cancer patients, and the Olympic Medical Cancer Center of Sequim.
“Kicking cancer’s butt, that is a cause!” said Jan Kummet, mistress of ceremonies.
“We are about support and education and loving each other,” Kummet said.
Women were there to “celebrate the heck out of people we know who have survived cancer,” she said.
“We usually have a bunch of healthy ladies here who have survived cancer for a number of years,” she said. “We
love you.”
Survivors are becoming more plentiful as “cancer is diagnosed earlier and treatment is improved,” she said.
Stand, be recognized
Kummet asked long-term breast cancer survivors and those newly diagnosed to stand and be recognized to raucous applause.
“This is why we are here,” she said.
Yarian said she has been encouraged to stay in the fight by survivors such as those at the tea who “are so resilient, and they find ways to get through this journey,” she said.
Each survivor was given carnations in commemoration of her ongoing victory against the disease.
Yarian’s first victory after her diagnosis was deciding what to do next.
“It took me about 2.6 seconds and I drove to the restaurant and I ordered a margarita,” she said.
“Then I ordered a second one and got about halfway through that.”
She told her date about the diagnosis.
He asked if she wanted another margarita, a shot or an entire bottle.
The two are now engaged and Yarian recently completed cancer treatments and various surgeries.
She told those there how she made it through the experience.
“I knew that the whole cancer thing was primarily a head game and I was going to be required to put to use many of the techniques and tools I had been practicing for real, only this time the practice was going to have greater significance,” Yarian said.
“It really was an opportunity to put your money where your mouth is, baby.”
The most important thing a person can do to maintain good health is to “surround yourself with people who make you feel good,” she said.
Social circle important
“There have been studies that have shown your social circle is very important to your health,” saying she had wonderful family members and “friends that make me laugh.
“I started living on gallows humor and started asking my friends to send me bad boob jokes. I feel laughter really is the best medicine. You just had to laugh.”
She also extolled the merits of swearing, saying she had found research that said that “swearing is effective at reducing stress, especially in women.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
