It was Aug. 21, 2014, and the worst part of
all for Ruthanne were some of the restrictions
on her activity before, during and after the
stem cell treatment. Because her immune
system was at a low ebb, golf was pretty much
out of the question. So, too, was working
around the yard and garden at home, and
when she did go out, she had to wear a surgical
mask to keep herself germ-free. She also lost
all her hair and had to be extremely careful
about exposure to the summer sun.
But Ruthanne, now 70, had been an active
tennis player for most of her adult golf, at
least until she started getting injured enough
to switch to golf a dozen years ago. She
always managed to stay fit with either sport,
and her doctors at Duke University told
her it clearly was a factor in a fairly speedy
recovery from that stem cell treatment. Even
before last summer, her medications after
initially being diagnosed had never really
stopped her from playing golf.
This time, it took only six weeks for
Ruthanne to get back to the game again
at her home course, Heritage Golf Club,
only 10 minutes from home. She says she
struggled at first with fatigue, particularly on
the back nine, but was still exhilarated just to
be out on the course.
“To me, there was never any doubt that I’d
play again,” says Ruthanne, who had trained
as a nurse but was a stay-at-home mom
when her three children came along. “Golf
is a social thing for me. After I play with my
friends, we’ll go back to the club and have
lunch and chit-chat. Golf is so important to
both of us. Dick and I have met a lot of nice
people at our club, and it’s made our move
that much more enjoyable.”
Despite their North Carolina residence,
the Bergers also have maintained their ties
to the VSGA. They are now members of
New Bridge Baptist Church Golf Club, a
VSGA Recreational Golfers’ Club, and remain
eligible to keep playing in the One-Day events.
Ruthanne admits she’d try to play in a halfdozen or more events this year, and Dick plans
to do about 20. The VSGA will conduct more
than 100 One-Days in 2015 at public and
private courses throughout Virginia. The events
are open to golfers of all ages and abilities.
The Bergers will likely play several events
together, just as they got through the stem
cell ordeal as a committed couple. And
Ruthanne also will be using a brand new
driver Dick gave her for Christmas.
had a chat with his son, Stephen. Last year,
Stephen’s wife tragically died from breast
cancer and, Dick says, “I saw what he had
to do. When Ruthanne had to have this
treatment, he said to me ‘Dad, now it’s your
turn.’ “T tell you the truth, I didn’t think I
o
could do it. I saw what he went through and
I wasn’t sure I could handle it. But the people
at Duke do an unbelievable job. They tell
you what to do, how to do it and when to
do it. And when she was in the clinic for her
treatment every day, I would meet with other
people who were also there. I got to be a real
social butterfly.
“Being there for a month, it could get
kind of boring, and there was definitely a lot
of anxiety. She struggled with her potassium
levels, so they had to give her a liter of that
every day to get rid of the cramping. Some
of the people I talked to at the clinic actually
said they’d never want to do it again. But
she hasn’t ever said that. They also have
a wonderful support system. They’ll tell
you when something is going to happen,
and then it happens just the way they said
it would.”
During a rather harsh winter in the
Carolinas, the Bergers didn’t play much golf,
but that clearly will change in the spring. In
addition to his VSGA events, Dick plays on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with a
bunch of buddies at Heritage, and Ruthanne
will play with her friends there and continue
in the ladies league.
“The VSGA was a very important part of
my retirement,” Dick says, adding that he also
thoroughly enjoyed being a VSGA course
rating volunteer. “We both love the game, and
there’s no question that it helped her recovery.
We also bring our four grandsons over to the
club. They’re all taking lessons and we go
out and play from the family tees. I think for
Ruthanne, that can be even more enjoyable
than playing with the women.”
Says Ruthanne: “Once I started to feel
better, I always knew I wanted to get back to
golf. For me, it’s a very large part of the whole
picture.”
A longtime sportswriter for The Washington
Post, award-winning journalist Leonard Shapiro
is a regular contributor to Virginia Golfer.
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THE HEALING GAME
Dick admits that he wasn’t quite so certain
he could be an effective caregiver until he
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