Run fighting cancer one step at a time

Having already beaten breast cancer and started her own support center for cancer patients, Myrna Porter has found another avenue for fighting the disease.

Co-founder of Palatine's Wellness Place, Porter will play a central role in Sunday's Greater Chicago Prostate Cancer Run, Walk 'n' Roll, for which she is chairwoman.

Porter, of Barrington, said she got involved after her husband, Stu, was diagnosed with advanced-stage prostate cancer in 2002 and given only three months to live.

Five years later, both Myrna and Stu Porter are in remission and feeling great.

"He's out playing golf today, and he was out playing yesterday," Myrna Porter said of her husband this week. "But it wasn't an easy journey to get here."

Her own fight against cancer began after she was diagnosed in 1998.

Always an active person, after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Myrna Porter went looking for a place that could provide some advice and a shoulder to lean on, her husband said.

With that in mind, Myrna Porter, along with along with fellow breast cancer patient Linda Murphy, founded the Wellness Place.

Before then, cancer patients in the Northwest suburbs "had no support system whatsoever," Stu Porter said.

The center at Roselle Road and Euclid Avenue provides support to cancer patients, their families and cancer survivors.

Its homelike environment offers visitors the chance to do research, attend workshops and stress management classes, consult with clinical staff and share experience with other going through similar challenges.

Porter said she's been thrilled with the center's success.

"It has been an incredible benefit to the community and an incredible journey for myself," Porter said.

After her husband got his cancer diagnosis, Porter said, they struggled to find doctors who could agree on a form of treatment. Trying to decide on their own was very stressful, she said.

"We had to go home and say, 'Let's make the choice ourselves,' " Porter said. "We struggled terribly with it."

As a way to increase awareness about prostate cancer and raise money for further research to make the treatment options more clearly defined, Porter and Wellness Place held the first prostate walk three years ago in Schaumburg.

This year, Wellness Place has partnered with Us TOO International, a nonprofit prostate cancer education and support network, and sponsor TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc., to host this year's walk at Grant Park in Chicago.

"I am totally blown away by the escalating success of this walk," Porter said, adding they are hoping for 2,500 participants this year.

Watching his wife get so involved in fighting cancer has been inspirational, Stu Porter said.

"Obviously, I am very proud and very amazed," he said.

The positive response the Porters said they've gotten from their efforts have made then want to keep fighting.

"If you didn't get that kind of feedback, you might not want to keep going," Stu Porter said.

Sunday's event, open to runners, walkers, strollers and wheelchair athletes, is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, visit chicagoprostatewalk.org.

Greater Chicago Prostate Cancer Run, Walk 'n' Roll

• The third annual event takes place 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday in Chicago's Grant Park, Upper Hutchinson Field. Day-of registration starts at 8 a.m. Fees are $20, $30 and $50, depending on age and distance options, which include 3K, 5K and half-marathon. Children under 6 are free.

• For details: chicagoprostatewalk.org.