It was three weeks before her 34th birthday in May 2004 when Susan Parris noticed a small lump on her upper left chest.
  She didn't think much of it at first, thinking it was above her breast and not likely to be much of anything, but it kept nagging at her and she kept a watch on it. Finally, after three days, she called her gynecologist and made the trip to Bristol to put her mind at rest and figure out what was going on.
  There she learned two important lessons.
  The first was that breast tissue goes beyond the area most normally think of as the breast  . . . all the way to the collarbone; and second, she learned how important it is to be proactive about one's own healthcare.
  It was five months later before she finally got the correct diagnosis.
  She had breast cancer.
  In her initial visit to the gynecologist, the lump was so small, he couldn't find it. Parris showed him where it was and he sent her for a mammogram and an ultrasound. A couple hours later, she had a diagnosis which referred to the lump as a fibro adenoma. Parris wasn't satisfied with just a label for the lump and was able to get in to see a surgeon in the area, who agreed with the initial diagnosis.
  "He told me it was nothing to worry about and that it was a common thing for women my age," Parris recalls.
  He told her if there were any changes to come back.
  "I asked whether he needed to biopsy it, but he said, no, that it was solid and not fluid," Parris says. "I was so relieved."
  She called her husband, the Rev. Stan Parris, and reported the good news.
  She celebrated her birthday three weeks later.
  Summer came and she and Stan and their two sons, Briggs, age five; and Glenn, age three, went to the beach.
  But at the end of July, Parris says she felt like the lump was growing and she returned to her gynecologist and the surgeon who first diagnosed her.
  It wasn't until the first of September that she was able to get in to see the surgeon and her original diagnosis was re-confirmed.
  "He told me again, it was nothing to worry about and made an appointment for me to come back in December," Parris says.
  "I told him then I didn't care about that and that I wanted it out," Parris says of the lump.
  The surgeon advised her to think about it, telling her about the scar the surgery to remove it would leave.
  She left the surgeon's office that day, dissatisfied, and began looking for another.
  By that time, she says she was having pain under her arm that would awaken her in the night at times.
  "I had no history of breast cancer in my family," Parris recalls. "I was young; I felt fine; I had breast-fed both my sons; and I had no risk factors."
  But Parris learned that cancer is no respecter of persons and despite her youth, her history and the absence of risk factors, the disease struck her.
  When she arrived back home, she consulted with Dr. Clint Sutherland, with whom she went to church.
  "I knew I wanted to go to someone else, but I didn't know who to go to," Parris says. "One Sunday night after church, I walked out the steps to see Clint by himself and I asked for a recommendation."
  He suggested Dr. John Ehrenfried in Kingsport, Tenn., and Parris called the next day to make an appointment.
  On October 10, 2004, she kept the appointment and she told Ehrenfried from the start she wanted a second opinion and further that the lump was something she wanted removed.
  He took one look at it and agreed it needed to come out. Two days later, she was sent for a core biopsy of the lump.
  He husband accompanied her on the trip, although she says she told him he need not make the trip. In retrospect, however, she says another thing she learned is that you should always take someone with you. It helps in processing information and in helping to ask the questions that need to be asked, she adds.
  As the biopsy process began, Parris says almost from the start, she knew something was wrong.
  As the ultrasound preceding the biopsy was done, the procedure was stopped for a call to be placed to Ehrenfried. When it was resumed, she learned there would not be just one biopsy, but multiple biopsies.
  "There was more than one place and it had already spread to my breast," Parris says. "Three core biopsies later, he said to me, and I'll never forget, 'you did very well today. I hope everything is okay . . . but if not, I hope the Lord gives you the strength to get through it'."
  While comforting on one level, the words had a chilling effect on another.
  Parris left the doctor's office and meeting her husband in the waiting room, barely spoke as she choked back tears.
  "I got to the car and I cried," Parris says.

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
   If it sounds too good to be true, Sheriff’s Department Investigator Larry Crouse advises area residents . . . it probably isn’t true.
   In recent days, a new mailing scam has surfaced, but this one sees residents receive checks in the mail which look like the real thing and which advise the check recipient via a letter accompanying the check, that he or she has won $75,000 in a sweepstakes.
  The check accompanying the letter, in one case for $3,600 and in another, for $2,700, advises the recipient to cash the check and to then forward by wire or money gram a specified amount which in some cases equals the check in order to pre-pay “non-resident taxes” on the winnings. The letters state the monies being sent in advance will be deducted from the recipients overall winnings which will allegedly be forward upon receipt of the taxes.
  The truth is, however, that the checks are no good.
  Sometimes, it takes a few days for that to be known and in the meantime, the unsuspecting letter recipient has sent on the money to “claim the rest of his or her winnings.”
  There are no winnings.
  There is no sweepstakes.
  The bottom line, according to Crouse: “be wary.”
  Two residents in the community have already notified Crouse they received letters and checks. Both suspected a scam in the works and reported it without cashing the checks.
  One of the letters included a check for $2,700 drawn on Harris Bank in Tempe, Ariz., and the other included a check for $3,600 drawn on First Credit in Plainfield, Ill.
  In both instances, letter recipients were instructed to deposit or cash the check, notify the company at the phone number provided in order to receive instructions on where and how “to pay the taxes” to them prior to the remainder of $75,000 being sent to them.
  Also in both instances, letter recipients were advised that if the company did not hear from them, the check would be assumed to be lost and payment cancelled.
  Crouse asked if anyone else receives such a letter or check, that he or she contact the sheriff’s department.
  In the meantime, he advised that common sense advice continues to apply.
  “Be leery of anything that asks you for money up front,” Crouse said.
  Further, you can’t win, what you don’t enter and lastly, “under no circumstances should you give out personal information like your social security number, your bank account or credit card numbers . . . not even your mother’s maiden name,” Crouse said.
  To report one of the scam letters or checks, the sheriff’s department may be reached at 935-2313.

by Scotty Wampler
Staff Reporter 
  The possibility of erecting a traffic light at Riverview Elementary/Middle School is now being explored, according to a memo to parents issued by the school.
  Information about the request was included in the letter which also detailed a number of changes to the school's afternoon pickup policy after traffic on the property reportedly has become unmanageable.
  Following a study conducted by school officials, the director of transportation and the sheriff's department regarding major traffic congestion between 2:40 p.m. and 3:10 p.m., new child pickup rules have been established that aim to curb the problem. The new rules were outlined in a memo sent to parents of children who attend the school.
  According to the memo, all parents entering the main parking lot need to turn right and follow the arrows to park. Parents also need to park in designated parking spaces, with the memo asking that no one park in aisles or lanes.
  "We realize that is a distance to walk," the memo reads. "However, by everyone parking in designated spaces, all traffic flows without major congestion problems."
  The parking lot in front of the school will now be designated as handicapped parking only, according to the memo. A handicapped sign or tag must be visible in order to park in that area. A warning will be issued first for all parking violations in that area. A ticket will be issued after that for all violations not corrected.
  All parents who enter the school to pick up their child at 2:50 p.m. now must enter the building at 3:15 p.m. This new procedure will not only help with traffic, the memo reads, but will also give kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students an extra 10 minutes of daily instruction. Parents are also urged to not arrive in the parking lot prior to 3:05 p.m. to allow the first load of buses to leave the school without the traffic congestion.
  Parents of students in grades 2-8 who currently pick up their children at 3:15 p.m. will now pick them up at 3:25 p.m.
  "We would encourage all parents of students in grades 2-8 to use the drive through pick up process," the memo reads. "Students will be called out at 3:25 p.m. to the front of the building. Staff members will monitor students at the front entrance. Parents will drive through the pickup circle and proceed to the proper exit."
  The school asks that parents who arrive prior to 3:25 p.m. park in a designated parking space until the pickup process begins. When leaving parking spaces, the memo adds, follow the exit arrows.
  When a child needs to be picked up early in the day, parents are asked to park in the main lot.
  "Please do not park in the drop off or pickup area," the memo asks. "This is the fire lane and must not be blocked at any time."
  Parents are also asked not to pull into the bus-only lot. Students exiting through the bus lot go access the playground. By keeping car traffic off the lot, the memo reads, the safety of the children will be ensured.
  Other ideas to be implemented or examined include contacting Delegate Dan Bowling about the possibility of placing a traffic light on Rt. 460 in front of Riverview, remarking entrance and exit arrows to make them more visible, using barricades to block traffic from entering parking spaces at the entrance of the main parking lot and having extra people working in the parking lot to keep traffic moving in the right direction and to avoid congestion from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.