It鈥檚 6 p.m. and Sara Dalcher climbs on top of a chair in the lounge on the transplant floor, her IV pole and heart monitor in tow. There are some days she feels she鈥檚 winning the battle against her illness. Not today. It鈥檚 probably not a good idea to be climbing onto a chair. And yet, here she is.

Her gaze skims the river that winds its way through the Lowcountry swamps and marshes, past the Ashley River Bridge and past her view from the Ashley River Tower at the 石榴视频黄色版. She looks for the slim sliver of a聽boat聽and sees it. She shoots a text to a friend that she鈥檚 watching, knowing they probably won鈥檛 be able to answer on the water. They would lose their paddling pace.

But then the聽boat聽slows, the drumbeat stops. Dalcher鈥檚 heart beat picks up. She watches as the paddles lift in the air in unison, water streaming down, a paddle salute.

鈥淚 was jumping up and down and yelling and shouting, and the nurses all came running thinking there had been a disaster. I said, 鈥楾hose are my people. That鈥檚 my team.鈥� What an experience that was 鈥斅爅ust seeing them meant the world to me.鈥�

That team spirit is one reason, even though she鈥檚 looking forward to celebrating her fifth anniversary of being a cancer survivor, that she still participates in the聽Dragon聽Boat聽Charleston Festival each May and coaches, steers and encourages novices. This year, the 12th annual Dragon Boat Festival will be Saturday, May 4, at Brittlebank Park in Charleston starting at 8 a.m., featuring several races during the day, drumming and other entertainment.

a thoracic oncology nurse navigator at at MUSC, is captain of a Hollings team, a role she鈥檚 had for the past seven years. It鈥檚 one of her favorite events. 鈥淚t celebrates life and survivorship for patients with any kind of cancer,鈥� Miller says. 鈥淭here are survivors that are able to be there in person to celebrate, and then there are those who are no longer with us, but they are survivors nonetheless, and Charleston Dragon Boat Festival is about the only festival I know that celebrates them both equally.鈥�

Miller says she loves that the activity is open to anyone, no matter what limitations they may have from their cancer or cancer treatment. The organization gives newcomers all the tools they need to paddle on race day in just two practices, she says.

鈥淭heir volunteers are the most amazing group of motivators, and they want you to succeed. Charleston Dragon Boat Festival is a celebration of life and lives well lived. Plus, it takes place in one of the most picturesque settings in Charleston.鈥澛�

Life well-lived

Dalcher, 64, couldn鈥檛 agree more.

Born in Vienna, Austria, her parents were diplomats and she was raised mostly overseas, much of her childhood spent in India. A self-described world citizen, Dalcher has done a variety of jobs including teaching, working with convention bureaus and eventually running a coffee shop in Johnson City, Tennessee.

鈥淚 love coffee and champagne in equal doses. I drank coffee all my life. I think it was in my mother鈥檚 milk 鈥斅爐hat and champagne.鈥�

Dalcher, who hadn鈥檛 called in sick in more than 13 years, found one day, though, that she was feeling queasy. She kept coughing and started running a fever. A yoga teacher who frequented her coffee shop in Tennessee came in and did an intervention, making her go to the doctor. Blood work revealed she had leukemia.

She was so shaken by the diagnosis, she couldn鈥檛 use the word cancer because just the word tugged her down into a black hole. She called it 鈥渕easles鈥� instead.聽 鈥淚 know that sounds ridiculous, but cancer is such a black hole of energy and spirit and hope, and I knew that was how I was going to deal with this. To me, my fighting spirit is more important than whatever you鈥檙e going to do to me. Because I have no control over that, but I do over me and my spirit.鈥�

Dalcher was in the hospital from July to Christmas getting chemotherapy. Unfortunately, she also got methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, a serious infection, and couldn鈥檛 seem to overcome it. Close to the holidays, she overheard one of the doctors say she wasn鈥檛 going to make it. She started to run a high fever that they couldn鈥檛 bring down. They put her on an 鈥渋ce bed鈥� that was like insulated chicken wire plugged in electrically to be freezing.

鈥淏y the time I woke up 18 hours later, I was blue. One leg had a hematoma. It was like walking with a Sequoia tree. I couldn鈥檛 bend my leg.鈥�

Dalcher had had enough. She decided it wasn鈥檛 about the quantity of her life, but the quality, so she asked to go home. When she asked her doctor, he agreed to release her.

Gradually, six to seven weeks later, she started to improve. It surprised her, and that fall, to escape the cold, she decided to visit three of the places she read about in U.S. News and World Report about the top cancer centers in the country. Her first stop was MUSC in Charleston, which reminded her of the climate and beauty of India.

鈥淒ragon boating is very physically unfolding.聽 Your head has to come up. Your eyes have to come up. Your arms have to go out. You鈥檙e aware that, 鈥極h, my! This is all my space.鈥� And there鈥檚 the courage you catch from everyone around you.鈥�
Sara Dalcher, patient

Seeing an ad for Dragon Boat Charleston, she tried it out and instantly fell in love with it. Unfortunately, her interest was cut short when blood work revealed her leukemia was starting to come back in July 2014. She was referred to Dr. Robert Stuart, medical director of the clinical trials office at Hollings Cancer Center, who told her she鈥檇 need a stem cell transplant.

Dalcher took a deep breath and geared up for the procedure. She thought she was ready to take it on until she learned about the list of 100 people she needed 鈥斅爌eople to take care of her in 12 hour shifts after her transplant. Dalcher was divorced and had no family here. She panicked, but then she got a call. The people at Dragon Boat Charleston had learned of her needs, held a board meeting and decided to adopt her as a project.

They showed up like clockwork after her procedure. She says it felt like she was running a bed and breakfast, of sorts. 鈥淭here was a stream of DBCers, every 12 hours someone was walking in the door, introducing themselves. It was absolutely unbelievable. I still choke up when I think about it.鈥�

Dalcher says it鈥檚 been a blessing to be part of the group. She encourages the community to come out Saturday to support the event. 鈥淚t鈥檚 infectious fun, and you just can鈥檛 help but smile. The costumes are outrageous. If you ever want to release your inner Auntie Mame and just go berserk, this is the time to do it. You鈥檙e surrounded by people who are smiling and engaged 鈥斅爓hether they feel good about supporting a cause or have been touched by cancer in some way.鈥�

There鈥檚 something about the sport being out on the water, immersed in nature that seems to energize people, she says.

鈥淚t鈥檚 unlike what you see in the wait rooms. In the boat, I鈥檓 seeing smiling people, full of energy, full of beans. There鈥檚 just something elemental and amazingly empowering when you get out on the water. You鈥檙e at the mercy of the sun and the tide and the wind. You鈥檙e not worth fretting over for yourself. You鈥檙e connected to a bigger purpose in so many ways.鈥�

Dalcher, who coaches newcomers, says she enjoys encouraging new participants and showing them the power that comes from working in sync with 19 other people 鈥� the power of opening up.

In order to paddle, participants have to breathe, she explains. 鈥淒ragon boating is very physically unfolding.聽 Your head has to come up. Your eyes have to come up. Your arms have to go out. You鈥檙e aware that, 鈥極h, my! This is all my space.鈥� And there鈥檚 the courage you catch from everyone around you.鈥�

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