Margaret Dunstan takes lymphoma personally. Not only does she have the cancer that begins in the lymph nodes, but her mother-in-law also was struck by the disease in August. So the family decided to walk.

"What can we do?" said Mrs. Dunstan, 58. "We just wanted to do this to show her that we're supporting her as she goes through the treatment."

The walk Nov. 6 is a 5K fund-raiser called the Lymphomathon, one of several being held throughout the country that will support work at the Lymphoma Research Foundation.

Kim Clark knows how Mrs. Dunstan feels.

"I have a sister who died of lymphoma," said Ms. Clark, who has battled the disease herself since 2000. As with many cases of her type of indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, her swollen lymph nodes and fatigue didn't seem like cancer.

"I felt like I had two young children and I was a young mother with a busy schedule and my children kept me busy, and all my friends were talking about how tired they were, so I just thought that was part of it," Ms. Clark said. "I didn't realize how fatigued."

"It could be any number of things," said Mrs. Dunstan, who like her friend Pat LeViness also had swollen lymph nodes that were eventually diagnosed as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

There will be an estimated 56,390 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosed this year, including 1,380 in Georgia and 940 in South Carolina, according to the American Cancer Society.

"It's amazing how many people you run across.," said Ms. Clark, who has a coworker battling the disease.

And while she is in remission, she knows it probably won't last.

Mrs. Dunstan said she has not sought treatment because she has not yet developed more serious symptoms, such as night sweats and anemia, and she is hoping there will be better treatments when she does.

"You're fighting for your life," Mrs. Dunstan said. "I want those researchers working 24/7."

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.