It was a normal day in 2008 when Johnnie Ware felt something strange as she was putting on her seat belt.

The belt didn’t feel right against her breast.

She discovered a lump.

A trip to a doctor and a biopsy confirmed it was cancer.

“I was very upset, not knowing what was going to happen next, not knowing what I was going to do,” Ware said.

“You have people on one side telling you that it’s the radiation that’s bad, and people on the other side saying it’s the chemo. You don’t know who to listen to, and you’re filled with uncertainty.”

Flash forward four years, the breast has been removed, she’s gone through treatment and she’s a full-year into cancer-free living.

Friday, Ware’s perspective on cancer was different than it was in those trying initial days, and she said that as a participant in the annual Miss-Lou Relay for Life she wanted to get a message out there to other cancer patients — you can do it, you will make it.

“I am going to get out there and encourage everybody I can,” she said.

“You are going to have some rough days and nights, but as long as you have faith in the Lord, you will make it.”

Relay for Life click here for photo gallery is an annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society in which participants take turns walking laps around a track in an all-night vigil for those who have died of cancer or who are fighting it. All of the proceeds are directed to cancer research.

Miss-Lou Relay for Life co-chair Julia Drews said 50 teams have participated in the pre-Relay fundraising this year, and 43 of those teams had representation at the Relay site on the Vidalia Riverfront Friday.

“We have old teams that are faithful every year, and we have new teams this year,” she said.

Last year’s Relay event was delayed because of flooding, and when it finally came to fruition in June, the heat kept away many of the crowds, Relay chair Sherri Kaiser said.

That didn’t happen again, even though the daylight events were hot.

“This year is a really exceptional turnout, and we couldn’t be happier,” Kaiser said.

Natchez resident John Crocker, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1997 after a routine physical aroused his doctor’s suspicions, said that after losing 8 inches of his colon and going through 29 rounds of radiation and 26 rounds of chemotherapy treatment, Relay for Life is something he hasn’t missed since then.

“I’ve been at every one since then,” he said.

Relay for Life is about finding a cure, and it has many touching moments, Drews said.

“The most moving part of the night is the survivors’ lap — it brings joy and it brings tears,” she said. “You are excited to see them out there, but you are also sad that they are there.”

The Miss-Lou Relay for Life fundraising goal for 2012 is $209,000.

The event continued into the night Friday.