Hope and inspiration were in the air Friday as Valencia County residents came out for a celebration that honored past and present lives at this year's Relay for Life in Los Lunas.

The event, in its fifth year, was held at Eddie Fulkerson Field at Los Lunas High School, and raised about $17,000, eclipsing last year's total, that will go toward cancer research.

Supporters clapped as survivors rounded the baseball diamond in a tight pack that seemed to symbolize the bond they have with each other.

Joe Aragon of Tomé, whose left leg was amputated in February, said his bond with others who have the disease is essential to his well-being.

"You have to depend on other people when you have cancer," Aragon said. "It's good to have a network."

Aragon was recovering from prostate cancer when he discovered a lump in his leg that doctors diagnosed as soft-tissue sarcoma, a cancer that develops in connective tissue and can surround structures and organs of the body.

But Aragon doesn't act sad when he talks about the disease.

"I just hope everything works out well," Aragon said with a smile on his face. "I appreciate every day I live."

Aragon said the event has helped him meet a lot of residents who have helped him mentally and physically with the disease, and said the relay made him realize that he wasn't alone.

"I have met some of the greatest people since I got sick," Aragon said. "I admire them and am thankful for events like this."

Ten teams helped raise money that will go into the general fund at the Albuquerque office of the American Cancer Society in contributions that go toward research that can lead to new treatment for cancer patients.

Paul Graves of Gallup knows about the effects of cancer all too well.

Graves was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, a cancer that attacks white blood cells, in 2002. Graves learned of his cancer shortly after his wife, Joyce, was diagnosed with her second bout of breast cancer.

"Your whole world just collapses," Graves said. "Mine did. But you just try to deal with what's happening."

But Graves found out about a pill called Gleevec, a drug that attacks and kills cancer cells, and has been in remission ever since.

He said he was surprised when doctors told him his cancer had gone away.

"I jumped off of the table and gave that gentleman the biggest bear hug," Graves said to a group of about 60 survivors at the event. "I am here to tell you research matters."

Joyce is also in remission.

But Joyce, a former kindergarten teacher, said she was fitted for a wig after she lost her hair from radiation treatments.

She said the support of her husband was paramount in her recovery.

"He was right there with me," Joyce said. "He understood what I was going through. I couldn't have asked for more."

Dennis and Erica Hughes moved from back east when they learned their daughter, Kaitlyn, had cancer.

Kaitlyn was 9-months old when the family learned of their daughter's disease and said they relied on friends for support. They spent holidays and birthdays in the hospital with their daughter.

"It's hard on a family," Erica Hughes said. "We were at the hospital for four weeks at a time."

The couple said they gained strength from the other families at the clinic at the University of New Mexico Hospital.

"We thought if they could do it, we could do it," Dennis Hughes said.

Aragon said support from others who knew about the disease is helping him get through every day life.

"It gives you the energy to go forward."

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