Local Woman Pens Book of Encouragement
by Amanda Jones
Echo News Editor
An Emporium resident has written a book chronicling her battle with oral cancer in an effort to remove the stigmatism behind the disease and help other people going through the same issues.
Christine Dickinson, a lifelong resident of Emporium, is now a five-year survivor of Stage IV oral cancer, a big accomplishment, considering that only 57% of individuals diagnosed with oral cancer make it to the five-year mark, and those cases are typically not in advanced stages when discovered.
“They usually call in hospice when you’re diagnosed with stage IV, but I’m very stubborn,” said Dickinson. “I believe things happen for a reason. This cancer doesn’t get the recognition that some of the others do, and there’s a stigma attached to oral cancer.”