BY CHARLES McCLURE
news@ltview.com
When Bob and Debye Judge make their way around the track at Cavalier Stadium this Friday during the first Relay For Life lap, they will be sharing a bond that transcends their marital vows.
Bob and Debye have both coped with the trial that is cancer and will be joined by others with a shared experience during the ceremonial Survivor’s Lap.

 The Lake Travis Relay For Life is the local leg of the American Cancer Society’s nationwide fundraiser, which will include more than 5,000 events.
The relay will take place from 7 p.m.-7 a.m., beginning with the survivors’ walk. Registration will begin at 6 p.m.
Bob discovered that he had prostate cancer in 1996, before he married Debye.
Even though his father had died from the same diagnosis, the initial diagnosis left him speechless because he had not experienced any symptoms.
“I was stunned,” Bob, who works for the Texas Education Agency, admitted. “First I was in a state of disbelief. Then came the fear and anxiety.”
Bob was “at the age” when it is important to have a routine prostate exam. What may seem to be routine turned out to be a very serious matter when he was told that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer [men should have their prostate examined annually after age 40]. The first order of business was breaking the news to his children.
“I was straightforward about it,” Bob recalled. “I just told them what I had learned and what I was going to do to address it. It helped that my kids were older. It would have been confusing if my kids had been younger.”
Doctors told Bob he had to have a radical prostatectomy. It is a difficult surgery and Bob quickly ran into a series of difficulties.
“I had a relatively high Gleason Score [a grading system for prostate carcinoma devised by Dr. Donald Gleason in 1977 as a method for predicting the behavior of prostate cancer],” Bob said. “My doctor followed my progress. But about a year after my surgery, my score continued to rise. We realized then we hadn’t gotten it all, so I had about 40 radiation treatments.”
Radiation treatments are difficult to endure.
“There’s nausea and fatigue when taking radiation,” Bob said. “It burns the skin. I was taking radiation in conjunction with a hormone treatment. I was tired a lot and had a good deal of stomach upset.”
While the prognosis was daunting and the treatment harrowing, Bob improved.
“I still see my doctor at least once a year,” Bob said. “I guess I’ve been ‘out of the woods’ for the last four or five years.”
Cancer, they agree, is a life-changing experience.
“Cancer makes you value those things that we sometimes take for granted,” Bob observed. “Your friends and family — the things that matter most in our lives. Even the ability to go to work is a big deal. It brings about a heightened sense of awareness of just how precious this life is — and how fragile it can be.
“It also makes you more assertive about taking care of your body,” he added. “It helps you understand that you have to take responsibility for your health.”
In 2001, Debye and Bob got married and moved to Lakeway and settled into their lives together.
But in August of 2007, Debye learned that she had breast cancer.
“I was having regular mammograms,” she noted. “That is how they discovered the lump. It was small, so we caught it in the early stages.”
What followed was a lumpectomy. But while in surgery, doctors found surrounding tissue that was also cancerous. Yet she had an ally who understood exactly what she was going through — her husband Bob.
“Yes, it was a great help to fall back on him,” Debye said. “We are actually very independent personalities, but I had known him when he had cancer. And he had a few subsequent complications with his own situation after we were married. So I already knew a lot of the terminology.”
Even with support at home, a diagnosis of cancer is devastating.
“Like Bob, my first reaction was disbelief,” Debye, who works as a counselor at Serene Hills Elementary, recalled. “I told myself ‘this can’t be.’ I had been vigilant. It was a surprise for everybody.”
She found additional support from her own son.
“He was very encouraging,” she said. “He kept telling me that everything would be OK.”
Debye remains in close consultation with her doctors with checkups every six months.
“While five years may be a marker [to determine if a person still has cancer], no one ever says ‘you’re cancer-free,” Bob mused. “The doctors just back off on your checkups.”
Debye also learned that an aunt had died of breast cancer.
“I never checked that box that asked about family history,” she said. “In fact, I thought my aunt had lung cancer [from smoking] until my mother told me it started as breast cancer after my diagnosis.”
Debye has also undergone radiation.
The shared experience of cancer has drawn them closer to each other.
“We have been through an experience that leaves one humbled,” she said. “It makes you realize that ‘I can’t do this by myself.’”
Bob agreed.
“It tests your relationship,” he said. “But it also strengthens it.”
They also find a kinship with others who have had cancer.
“We’ve run across too many people with cancer,” Debye said. “But we absolutely have a shared experience.”
So they look forward to Friday night’s Survivor’s Lap. While they have been active in other Relay For Life events, this will be their first time with the Lake Travis fundraiser.
It is a fraternal feeling at the Lake Travis Relay For Life. Around half of the event’s volunteers are from high school, with 60-80 additional volunteers coming from the middle schools, many of which camp on the site, setting up tents and rolling out sleeping bags.
A host of entertainers will be on hand, including a DJ to keep the crowd motivated throughout the evening. And there is always plenty of food on hand for participants. Some bring their own soda and snacks ad the football field converts into a miniature campground.
A luminaria ceremony where people light candles in honor of those they know who have either survived or passed on from cancer will be held at 10 p.m.
Teams at the event conduct individual fundraising efforts, both during and before the relay, with a range of activities — from bake and yard sales, to letters to relatives.
The Lake Travis event could still use some more volunteers to assist survivors, provide publicity and help with the night’s various activities.
Teams interested in participating also need to contact Sam Chapman at 293-2422 or at the Web site, www.relayforlife.org/laketravistx and sign up for the event or volunteer.