Always Sunny in Plum, Pennsylvania

Though the tears may fall, she's always Sunny.

Sunny Carney, a resident of Plumb, Pa, has battled cancer for the past 14 years and continues to fight carcinoid cancer with the strength of her family and her faith.

Like most of us, Sunny thought she had her life all planned out and everything seemed to be running like a Swiss watch. She was, as she describes, on top of the world, until she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in her 20s. She overcame the cancer and the surgery to remove the ovary, but the cancer came back in her other ovary. Again, she seemed to beat the cancer, but she was later diagnosed with cancer in her lung. It seems every time she wins one round with cancer, it sneaks back somewhere else: ovaries, lung, and eventually into her bones.

This would be enough to drive most people over the edge and it certainly is  more stress than most families can handle. Sunny's husband, Mark, and their children have rallied around her, though, even through the worst of times … and the best of times.

After her second diagnosis with ovarian cancer, it might have seemed doubtful that Sunny would have children at all, but she has three boys now. At one point, doctors wouldn't have given her more than six months to live. She's now survived with carcinoid cancer for more than two years.

Sunny recently published her first book, The "Sunny" Side of Cancer, to share her philosophy of how to live with cancer and still find happiness. It's available through her blogsite and is supposed to be released through Amazon.com in January.

Cheers, Sunny, for bravely becoming a leading voice for all of us in the struggle against cancer.

None of the FDA-approved treatments seem to work for Sunny, so she's looking to new medical frontiers for a cure. One of the latest updates from Sunny and Mark relates their trip to Basel, Switzerland, for treatment with a new drug. She's also scheduled to undergo experimental treatments in Houston, Texas. I'm looking forward to hearing some positive results from Sunny.

Closer to home, we have a chance to join the fight during "John's March Against Gastric Cancer" on Saturday, Jan. 7 at Sonoma's Infineon Raceway.

John Cardinale, one of my dearest friends, was diagnosed with gastric cancer in March, but he remains positive his treatment will succeed. In the meantime, we can take a walk through the gorgeous green hills of Sonoma, along the 2.52-mile track. The suggested $40 minimum donation goes to the Jimmy V Foundation.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7, and the march will begin at 10 a.m. No advance donation/registration are required; just show up the day of the event. Please note: only cash and checks will be accepted.  Checks should be made payable to The V Foundation and mention "Gastric Cancer Fund" in the memo line. You can RSVP for this event on Facebook.

Those who cannot attend the event are still encouraged to make a donation to the Gastric Cancer Fund.  Donations can be mailed to John Cardinale, Infineon Raceway, Highways 37 & 121, Sonoma, CA 95476.  Checks should be made payable to The V Foundation and mention "Gastric Cancer Fund" in the memo line.  Donations can also be made online.  Please be sure to note that this gift is in honor of “John’s March Against Gastric Cancer.”

For more information on the event, please contact Diana Brennan at dbrennan@infineonraceway.com or 707-933-3918.

For more information on cancer and carcinoid cancer, consider these sites:

Carcinoid Cancer Foundation

Caring for Carcinoid Foundation

Carcinoid Cancer Awareness Network

Carcinoid.com

Stanford Medicine Cancer Institute

Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles

Marin Cancer Institute

University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Jimmy V Foundation

American Cancer Society

About this column: I'll be sharing experiences from my ongoing battle with cancer. If anyone has a story to tell, or needs support, just e-mail derek.wilson@patch.com