After a year and a half of planning, 25 women joined together at the Tipton-Haynes State Historical Site on Friday to participate in the Survivor’s Revival: Appalachian Women Testifying about Surviving Survivorship.
The primary investigator was Dr. Kelly A. Dorgan of the Department of Communication. She was assisted by Dr. Sadie Hutson, assistant professor of the Division of Hermatology/Oncology at the Quillen College of Medicine, Katie Duvall; a graduate student in the Department of Communications, and Karen Mabe, the first admission counselor at Quillen.
The idea started with the Tennessee Department of Health and Representative Trudy Steinhart.
She and Dorgan wanted to see what they could do for the women of Appalachia.
“This is a project by women in Appalachia, for women in Appalachia,” said Dorgan. “We want to get the voices of cancer survivors from this part of the country and understand their experiences.”
The survivors’ timeline ranges from three months to 50 years.
Terry Hubbard, a cancer survivor of six months said, “I think one of the things that brought us all here today is that it is outreaching for people who need questions answered. The medical needs are there but where are the needs of women? What we need is to raise awareness of self examinations for women of all ages.”
Breast cancer is the leading diagnostic cancer for women, followed by lung cancer.
Women who survived ovarian, thyroid, colon, melanoma, liver and a few others kinds of cancer were also at the revival.
“I can tell you just by being here today it has been nothing but a wonderful, uplifting, rejuvenating experience,” said Hubbard. “Before I was diagnosed I would drive by the Johnson City Cancer Center and get a funny feeling.
“When I actually had to attend I realized it was also a support center. You get kind support and you find peace. It is not a negative place and I went in with a positive attitude.
“When you are diagnosed you have your old friends, then there are new friends and they become your support system.”
The feeling of female closeness and connection was obvious at the Tipton-Haynes center on Friday.
Mabe, a breast cancer survivor of 19 years this October, is a sixth-generation Appalachian resident.
“Survivors breed survivors, we take care of our own, we don’t want stuff for free and we don’t want help from the government,” Mabe said.
“The people here have a strong faith in God and people say I will be here as long as God wants me here, so the person just accepts death and that’s it, it seems almost counter productive,” she said.
Mabe was diagnosed at age 29, and received treatment from Duke University. She received very aggressive chemo and was told she would not be able to have children. She now has an 11-year-old daughter.
“You hear family support is important, a lot of times the woman is the support system so instead of taking care of herself, she worries about how her cancer affects her husband and children,” Mabe said.
Women in the Appalachian area are affected by cancer, sickness, and poverty more than any other area in the United States, Dorgan says.
The gathering on Friday night sought to celebrate Appalachian women’s lives, roots and their survival.

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