After a malignant mole was removed from his back in 1991, Rocky Russell was told his worries about cancer were over. The mole was rated a “one” on the Clark scale, so no other problems were anticipated.

Around the same time, Rocky’s father in Phoenix, Arizona, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. For the next 12 years, Rocky and his brothers shared the responsibility of caring for their father, each taking turns in leaving their jobs for several weeks or months to stay with him in Phoenix. Unfortunately, his father was later diagnosed with melanoma as well.
By the time his father passed away in 2003, Rocky had already experienced his own second bout with cancer. In 1997, he found a lump in his groin – a lump that he suspected was a hernia caused by his sports activities. The minute his doctor examined the lump, he declared it was not a hernia. “There was something in his eyes,” recalls Rocky. “That’s when I knew the cancer was back.”

This time, no one told Rocky not to worry. Instead, doctors informed him in a matter-of-fact way that his chances of long-term survival were only 12% to 15%. After surgical removal of several lymph nodes, Rocky began a full year of high-dosage interferon treatment, resulting in a number of “bizarre side effects.”

Today, at 47, Rocky is a two-time cancer survivor. Motivated by his own cancer experience and caring for his father, he completed CanCare volunteer training.

Shortly afterwards, he was matched with a CanCare referral, a man struggling with stage III malignant melanoma. As a CanCare volunteer, Rocky is available to listen, be there when needed and remain open to talking at any time.

Rocky believes CanCare’s model of support is effective because of the volunteer’s credibility: he or she has lived through the same type of cancer. “It’s powerful to hear, ‘I have survived and gone on with my life,’”
he notes.

Rocky also likes the faith-based aspect of CanCare because he strongly believes in the power of prayer. In fact, he attributes his surviving cancer and tolerating a year of interferon treatment as a “divine miracle.”

In addition to providing support to CanCare referrals, Rocky volunteers at the CanCare office, making updates to the database. He also serves on the Community Outreach Committee, which is working to expand CanCare services into further reaches of Houston.

Rocky, a sales and marketing professional, is a native Houstonian and a member of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. After completing one year of Interferon treatment, Rocky married the woman who “stood by him through all of it,” Leslie Medley Russell.

Today, Rocky’s motto is, “Look ahead through the windshield, not behind you through the rearview mirror.”