There is no better way to celebrate the start of the holiday season than with the annual Lights of Love tree lighting ceremony, a beloved fundraiser for cancer patients and families in Southwest Georgia. Steve Perrine, a cancer survivor from Albany, has been named the honorary tree lighter for the November 29 ceremony to be held outside the Phoebe Cancer Center in Albany.
 
Steve was diagnosed with throat cancer in January of this year. "Dr. McAfee and Dr. Jani both exuded a tremendous amount of confidence in treating me, and that gave me a peace about it,” Steve said. Both of them looked us in the eye and said, ‘we really feel great about the opportunity for full recovery.’ We trusted them every step of the way.”
 
Thankfully, Steve’s cancer had not spread to his lymph nodes, and he did not need surgery. However, treatment of throat cancer is one of the most difficult cancer treatments. Before undergoing eight weekly rounds of chemotherapy, Steve endured radiation treatments twice a day for 31 days. “The toughest part was the radiation,” he recalled. “It’s kind of like burning you from the inside out. Your throat swells so that eating and drinking are extremely difficult. Dr. Bennett ended up surgically inserting a feeding tube, and I was on a liquid diet for about three months.”
 
Steve can’t imagine what it would have been like to go through that treatment far from home. “Phoebe was a godsend,” he said. Suzanne, his wife of 23 years, is Phoebe’s Director of Volunteer Services and was familiar with the level of care offered at the Phoebe Cancer Center. “Suzanne has had great experiences with her job and has gotten to know the doctors and nurses,” Steve said. “We were in prayer, looking for guidance. She felt great depending on Phoebe, and I did not want to go out of town for treatment, so we decided right away to stay here.”
 
In August, seven months after his diagnosis, Steve got some great news. A scan showed he is cancer-free. “I’ll have an annual scan to make sure I remain clear, but I can tell I’m pretty close to being back at 100%. I lost a lot of weight during the process, and right now I’m just trying to exercise and build some strength back. Each week is getting better.”
 
The other honorary tree lighters are June Carter, of Sylvester, at Phoebe Worth and Josephine Thomas, of Plains, at Phoebe Sumter. They will join family, friends, and the public during special ceremonies on each respective campus.