Bud and Dolly Stringer sit on their patio playing with dogs, watching their son toss a football with a neighbor. But she wears a bandana on her shaved head and her husband wears a patch on his scalp and has a large scar on his neck. The husband and wife are both cancer survivors.

“We have been changed forever in a good way. We have a lot to be thankful for,” says Dolly, who along with her husband is undergoing cancer treatment.

A benefit fun run is being held this month to support the Stringers but they are already looking forward to helping some other family in need at next year’s run.

The Moultrie couple’s cancer odyssey began in April when Dolly, 47,  was diagnosed with breast cancer and then Bud, 48, was diagnosed with melanoma in August. But they do not feel sorry for themselves.

Bud recalls a recent traffic accident in which two Colquitt County teenagers were killed.

“We’re the lucky ones. We just needed time and good doctors,” he said of his and wife’s illnesses. While treatments continue for both of  the Stringers, they each have been declared cancer-free by their doctors.

Dolly, a therapist at Turning Point Hospital,  was diagnosed with breast cancer in April and has undergone four surgeries. Just last week she completed chemotherapy. She undergoes radiation treatment in a few weeks.

 Bud , who owns a glass company, was diagnosed with an aggressive melanoma in August and has undergone two operations and is scheduled to start chemotherapy in two weeks.

“You never think it’s going to be you,” Bud said. “You think these kinds of things happen to other people. As far as both of us getting it a Las Vegas bookie wouldn’t give you odds on that.”

The shock came in August when Bud woke up on a Saturday morning and decided to surprise his family by shaving his head in support of his wife whose head he had shaved before she began chemotherapy.

“She had decided she would take control of cancer and would not let it take control of her,” Bud said.

When he shaved his own head he found what resembled a birthmark on his scalp that was the size of a half dollar. The Stringers called his mother who said he had no such mark. He had already scheduled an appointment for a yearly physical with a Moultrie doctor for the following week.

He was referred to the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa where he underwent initial surgery to remove the melanoma and to have a skin graft. Two weeks ago he underwent a second surgery to remove 29 lymph nodes in his neck. When he begins chemotherapy in two weeks he will get treatments five days a week for the first month.  For the next 11 months he will inject himself three times a week.

Doctors told Dolly that if her husband’s melanoma had not been found he would not have survived until Christmas.

Dolly had been referred to the cancer center in Tampa after finding a lump on her breast. She got a mammogram on a Monday, saw doctors in Tampa on Wednesday and had surgery on that Thursday. She is now in a  three-week break between chemotherapy and radiation.

They recall the day they had to sit their two sons down and tell them about their mother’s cancer. Their boys are 12-year-old Albert and 10-year-old Slater.

“Kids are smart. They know when something’s going on,” Bud said. “We told them that we would have to go through a process and that she’d be fine.”

After learning of his illness Bud said the boys had a few ups and downs “but now you wouldn’t know it affected them at all.”

Slater says he’s optimistic about his father’s year-long chemotherapy treatment.

“The good part is that it’s all going to be over and then he’ll be okay.” Slater said. Dolly said son Albert told her he did not want Christmas presents for himself this year but instead wanted the Stringers to help some other family in need.

The Stringers are moved by the outpouring of support they have received. Meals have been delivered to their home, their lawn has been mowed and someone even delivered dog food.

“It’s unbelievable the huge outpouring from the community and our own church,” Bud said. They are members of First Presbyterian Church here.  Local contractor Gordon Lewis has offered transportation to and from Tampa, and Dolly said they have received cards and letters from people they don’t even know.

“In the news we see a lot of the negative side of things,” Bud said. “But people have supported us and it’s amazing how much good there is out there.”

It is a coincidence that Run For a Reason, a 5K and a 1-mile fun run his being held Oct. 20th at Packer Park to raise money for the Stringers, was scheduled for this month, according to Ashley Plymel, one of the event’s coordinators. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Flyers have been distributed with Fun Run applications and anyone can participate or donate money by calling Plymel at 229-873-0714 .

Bud has had to put his glass company business on hold, and Dolly continues her work at Turning Point Hospital, where she helps people deal with addictions.

“Working has helped me get outside of myself and try to help others,” Dolly said.  Bud says he looks forward to the day when he  “can pick up the pieces.”

“We’ve got a lot to be thankful for,” Dolly said.  “Cancer’s not all bad. It has simplified our lives.”

Bud says cancer has been an “eye-opening experience in which I’ve learned there are tons and tons of survivors.”