Virginia Golfer March / April 2015 | Page 12

2015 VSGA One-Day Program

by LEONARD SHAPIRO

F

or Ruthanne Berger and her
husband, Dick, it was a summer to
remember, and then one to forget.
It was a time when the thought of
playing golf once again clearly kept them
both going, even if Ruthanne was in the fight
of her life to get healthy enough to fulfill that
critical goal.
Four years ago, she had been diagnosed
with multiple myeloma. The disease is a form
of leukemia that affects the plasma and really
has no permanent cure, only the hope of
extended periods of remission after treatment
with chemotherapy and other medications.
At the time, the Bergers were living in
Centerville, Va., and playing regularly, despite
some debilitating treatments that left her weak
and tired. Still, she was in a competitive ladies
league at the Twin Lakes courses in Fairfax

and occasionally played with Dick in VSGA
one-person events that are a part of the OneDay program, entering about a dozen a year.
A retired sales representative, Dick was a OneDay junkie. He’s played as many as 30 events a
year throughout the commonwealth, as well as
participating in his regular games with his pals
at T Lakes Golf Course, a well-maintained
win
public facility with two challenging layouts.
The greatest challenge of all came this
past summer. Just over 18 months ago, they
moved to Wake Forest, N.C., near Raleigh to
be closer to their daughter, Karin Kuropas,
and their four grandsons, ranging in age from
9 to 15. Ruthanne’s doctors also had been
telling her about an experimental treatment
that essentially involved draining her blood
and then transfusing her with stem cells from
the same supply. She agreed, even if it would

Together, Dick and Ruthanne Berger
have persevered through her difficult
battle with illness.

take a while to complete the task at Duke
University Hospital in Durham, N.C., several
hours from where they lived, and also keep her
away from golf.

RECOVERY TIME
Rather than commute every day, the Bergers
were provided with an apartment associated
with the hospital for a month. They would
arrive every morning for her treatment,
and no hospitalization was necessary until
Ruthanne developed an infection and had to
stay for five days. And on the day the stem
cells were put back into her system, her
nurses came into her room, gave her a card
signed by the staff and told her she would
always remember what they described to her
“as my new birthday. Of course I’ll always
remember that day.”

VSGA PHOTO

Family Bond, Determined Outlook
Buoys One-Day Participants

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