Cancer survivor starts support group for patients, survivors and caregivers
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STEUBENVILLE -- A peer-to-peer support group Gene Zrinyi is forming does not have a name yet, but it does have a clear purpose: To serve area residents who are cancer patients, cancer survivors or their caregivers.
Its first meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. today at First Westminster Presbyterian Church on Fourth Street in Steubenville.
“Anybody who falls into one of those categories is welcome to come and attend. There are no costs for anybody to come out and participate,” Zrinyi explained while speaking Tuesday at the Sycamore Youth Center.
Like a disproportionately large number of people across the Tri-State Area, Zrinyi knows firsthand the emotional and other issues those who have cancer and those around them often have to confront. He’s a survivor of lymphoma, a cancer that is highly treatable but not curable, he told his fellow members of the Steubenville Kiwanis Club.
He said his cancer was diagnosed in April 2022, but explained there had been subtle signs for a while that something was not right.
“Looking back, there were things that I probably should have noticed that I never did,” Zrinyi explained. “Little things, like buttoning a dress shirt that was getting very tight on me. I chalked that up to maybe being a little out of shape and putting on some weight. There were times like hiking up a big hill where I would have a little bit of trouble breathing, and it was like maybe I was a little bit out of shape.”
What had actually happened was that every lymph node in his neck had become swollen, and his thyroid had grown to be so large that it had wrapped itself around his esophagus, which was restricting his breathing.
“Me being stubborn, I never took it as more than me being out of shape,” Zrinyi said.
Testing revealed he was in stage 4, which meant his entire body was being affected. The cancer had spread to his thyroid, he had a cyst on his head he didn’t know was there and a spot on his lung. Chemo and immunotherapies followed and last Sunday marked his four-year anniversary of finishing chemo treatment and ringing the bell, which marked the end of active treatment. He’s in a phase called no evidence of disease, but continues to be monitored by doctors on a regular basis.
He said he had a strong support system to help him get through the ups and downs of his cancer journey, which is what really drove him to look at forming the support group.
“The goal is to help people find some people who will be there for support,” Zrinyi said. “I hope that what comes from this is maybe there are people in that room who have never met. They have no idea they exist, but by coming to a group like this, they make that connection and they can be there for one another.”
Though not a therapy session -- Zrinyi added he’s not a licensed therapist -- he hopes the group allows people who are going through a battle with cancer to become mentors for each other.
A financial adviser at Tri-State Financial Services on Third Street, Zrinyi said he had been trying to work out details about the group for several months. He describes himself as a perfectionist and had been telling himself he needed one more thing to get it off the ground.
“A few weeks ago, I had a meeting with a couple of people up at the Teramana Cancer Center at UPMC Trinity to share my idea with them,” he said. “They were so thrilled with it, and they asked how quickly I thought I could do it -- that they had somebody who had just been diagnosed and who was looking for something like this so badly. We’ve called everywhere trying to help them find a place and the only two places they could find were in Akron and Pittsburgh.”
Nobody undergoing treatment wants to have to drive the 45 minutes to Pittsburgh or the two hours each way to Akron for something like this, he added.
“I told them, fortunately, Taylor (Steeve, Zrinyi’s best friend and who continues to provide support), already had talked with the Rev. Jason Elliott at First Westminster and he had said we could have it there. This was in October, and I told them I thought I could have it ready for November.”
Zrinyi said he never has attended a meeting held by a similar group, adding he wanted the new organization to grow and change on its own.
“I have not been to one, and when I was going through all of my treatments, I never asked if these things existed -- I think I was just so focused on getting through it,” he said. “I never really sought out something like that. I do envision what it is going to evolve. At the onset, I want it to be a place for people to share and hear other experiences and express things that might be on their mind. As it evolves, I would like to bring in outside resources and maybe bring in somebody who is an actual therapist who can talk about ways to cope.”
A big part of today’s first meeting will be to listen to those who attend and consider what they are looking for, so when they come to the Dec. 3 meeting -- the group will meet at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month -- those ideas can be incorporated. They will also have the chance to discuss possible names for the group and will have input into that decision.
Zrinyi said he attends the Andrew Pardee Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Follansbee and has become involved with fundraising efforts of the national group Tap Cancer Out, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit raising awareness and money for organizations fighting cancer. He added his third-annual fundraiser for the organization will be held Dec. 12.
He said he had been involved with other types of martial arts training in the past and always had been interested in jiu-jitsu, which led him there about three weeks after his last chemotherapy treatment. He said experimenting with new experiences is one of the greatest lessons his cancer journey has taught him.
“Spend time appreciating the little things in life,” he said. “Somehow, as adults, we all forget to do that. Go out there are do the things that you really want to try to do. What’s the worst that can come out of it? If you get out there and you try and you don’t like it, at least you know, whereas you have the thought of like I never got around to that, and now I’m 75 and I can’t do that. You’ll never have known whether you would have liked that experience.”
For information about the group, contact Zrinyi at (440) 637-5723 or message him directly on Facebook.