Carolina Strong: Cancer survivor spreads hope, awareness

CHARLOTTE — Every day, there are people across the Carolinas giving back and helping others to make a difference.

Bob Lane is using his cancer diagnosis to create awareness and support others.

Lane was diagnosed with prostate cancer twice.

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“When it came back, I said, it’s never good when cancer comes back a second time. And that was a lot more mentally troublesome to me than the first one,” Lane explained “But that’s when the staff here said to me, you may get hit by a bus coming out of here, but you’re not going to die from this. And I took that to heart and I’ve been running with that ... I realized a lot of people are dealt a whole lot worse hands than the hand that I’ve been dealt.”

Now, Lane spends two days a week at Urology Specialists of the Carolinas talking with other cancer patients.

“I said, you know, it’d be great if somebody like Bob sat out at the elevator and just talked to people because I think that there’s a lack of community when it comes to prostate cancer,” said Nurse Director Tracy Peck.

Lane told Peck he’d be happy to do it.

“It’s helpful to give people a sense of you’re not in that alone,” Lane said.

So, he sits by the elevator, ready to help others navigate a journey he knows well.

“He volunteers his time and sits out there and just waits for someone to come out and talk to him,” Peck said. “He doesn’t approach anyone. If anybody asks what he’s doing out there, he speaks with them.”

Lane is now cancer free, but he and Peck are working with others on a prostate cancer awareness event.

The time he spends in the office’s lobby is part of their efforts.

The survival rate for prostate cancer is high with early detection and treatment has come a long way, but the disease is still the second leading cause of cancer death in men.

“The more awareness to get more people tested, and then to raise some funds and to make people aware of the capabilities that are out there, it’s rewarding to me,” Lane said.

“I actually will go home and feel pretty good driving home, thinking maybe I made a difference for somebody today.”

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