(Editor’s note: Tim Drennan’s first name is corrected in this version of the story).
POULSBO — It’s 3:30 in the morning July 9 and a stalwart few are on the front lines, fighting the good fight.
Tim Drennan talks about his wife, Kelly, in present tense, as if the enemy didn’t fire that salvo that took her life. Lest anyone think that the war against cancer is not a real war, think again. Kelly Drennan, 42, was a general in that war, mobilizing hundreds of people and helping to raising more than $100,000 for research to defeat cancer. Then, cancer fired a surprise shot back, striking Kelly and taking her life in nine days.
Nine days from diagnosis to gone.
But as Tim Drennan might tell you, cancer didn’t take Kelly’s spirit, it didn’t stop her efforts. No, it only emboldened her troops to rally and carry on her work. They came from California, Idaho and Texas to fire salvos back at the enemy. Participants in Relay For Life — here in North Kitsap Stadium and at Relays across the United States — raise millions of dollars a year for research that is saving lives.
According to the American Cancer Society, the number of cancer survivors in the U.S. is expected to grow from 7.3 million men and 8.1 million women this year to 9.9 million men and 10.3 million women in 2026.
At this year’s North Kitsap Relay For Life, 25 teams and 184 participants raised about $40,000 in pledges, according to co-coordinator Betty Petersen; a team from Clearwater Casino Resort raised more than $17,000 of that amount. At Relay For Life of Bremerton-Central Kitsap June 25-26, 39 teams and 274 participants raised $41,400. At Relay For Life South Kitsap June 3-4, 41 teams and 351 participants raised $70,675.
Cancer has not won the war.
Symbolism abounded at North Kitsap Stadium. A drenching rain fell earlier in the evening, and yet at 3:30 a.m. light still glowed from within each soaked luminaria. Teams camped all night on the field. Even at 3:30 a.m., participants chatted, walked the track, remembered those are no longer with us, and celebrated the survivors and the strides being made.
“Scientists are coming up with different things every day,” Petersen said as she completed her fifth mile. “[Relay For Life] is working.”
‘Part of healing process’
Carcinomatosis is a sneaky disease. It’s described as a condition in which multiple carcinomas develop simultaneously. But it presents itself as other things, like a backache or a cold.
Kelly Drennan, co-coordinator of North Kitsap Relay For Life, first saw her doctor for what she thought was a respiratory virus that was going around. Within two or three weeks, fluid began building up in her abdomen. “Tests showed there was something wrong with her kidneys and liver … none of the tests showed positively it was cancer,” Tim Drennan said. “It was so fast, the oncologist didn’t know what to treat.”
She was admitted into the hospital on April 2. By April 7 she was in ICU. On April 11, she passed away. She was 42.
Just when you think you know cancer, you learn that you really don’t know cancer. Drennan said the experience underscores the need for continued research, which is sorely lacking on carcinomatosis,” he said. “This puts emphasis on the point that we need to [continue research] and defeat it.”
Tim is a general contractor specializing in remodels; Kelly worked at Messenger House Care Center, first in activities and then in medical records. “She was going to school full-time to get her social work degree. She was two years from her master’s.”
For Kelly and Tim, participation in Relay For Life has been part of a healing process. He lost an uncle to cancer; her mom died of lung cancer. “We wanted to get involved,” he said. “Relay For Life, what it’s doing is great. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to do hardly any research.”
As the sky started to awaken with those pre-sunrise hues of dark blue and rose, Kathi Trostad was putting on her chicken costume to prepare to defend her rooster-crowing championship. This is her sixth Relay For Life.
She is a five-and-a-half-year cancer survivor, and the experience has changed her outlook on life. She’d always had a sense of humor, but her cancer experience changed her in other ways. “Now I can’t shut up or quit eating,” she joked.
She no longer sweats the small stuff. She’s grateful for each day. She loves Christmas and keeps a pink Christmas tree in her entryway to remind her of all that she has to be thankful for.
Her 50th class reunion — she’s a North Kitsap grad — is next month and a lot of her classmates are now gone; she’s also had a lot of cancer in her family. None are far from her mind as she makes each lap, crows each crow, enjoys the privilege of each visit with others.
Stacy Richards and her 10-year-old son, Zachary, of Port Townsend were on pace to walk a marathon by the closing ceremony.
She went down a mental list: An aunt who died on May 4, another aunt who died in 2008, a co-worker who survived. “The least that we can do is come out and walk 18 to 24 hours,” she said. “We’ll continue walking until the closing ceremony … It’s a small price to pay compared to what patients go through.”
Zachary and his mom walked in the rain. He consumed three bottles of water to stay hydrated. The music — Van Halen blared from the speakers as we spoke — helped him keep his mind off the fatigue. And, in pre-teen speak — in which a one- or two-word answer to a question means a whole lot more — Zachary said he was driven by the knowledge that each step is one step closer to beating cancer.
His mom added, “We’re going to keep going ’til we get to that finish line.”
