- April 19, 2024
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Susan Terry, who founded the Klingon Feast in Daytona Beach, is in Stage 3B of non-small cell lung cancer. Photo by Ray Boone
Susan Terry posing with her Klingon group. Photo courtesy of Camicia Bennett
Susan Terry in her Klingon costume. Photo courtesy of Camicia Bennett
Susan Terry and her daughter, Camicia Bennett. Photo courtesy of Camicia Bennett
Susan Terry (right) and her daughter, Camicia Bennett. Photo courtesy of Camicia Bennett
Susan Terry (right) and her daughter, Camicia Bennett. Photo courtesy of Camicia Bennett
Susan Terry was cautious when she first entered the Books-A-Million in Daytona Beach.
It was her first meeting with the Federation club — one of Star Trek’s many fan clubs — and she didn’t know what to expect.
Would it be nerdy, geeky or uncool?
“I just kind of hung around in the background while they were meeting,” said Terry, who was looking for something to do after her recent divorce.
But by the end of the meeting, her interest was peaked.
“It was a really fun group of people,’” she said. “It’s not all just geeks and nerds. They were having a lot of fun.”
Terry’s fascination with Stark Trek started at that moment nearly 23 years ago.
Now, the 57-year-old Ormond Beach resident is a member of the local Klingon group. In the series, Klingon’s were an extraterrestrial humanoid warrior species.
They were tough, they were aggressive and they were unyielding.
Just like Terry.
“They’re kind of like the bikers of the galaxy,” she joked.
Terry’s intense fascination with Star Trek has played an integral role in the way she lives her life.
It has connected her to people from all walks of life, it has given her hope for a positive future and it has allowed Terry to display what she really is — a warrior.
And for Terry, who was recently diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, that’s more important to her now than ever before.
A mutual fascination for Star Trek has connected Terry to all types of people
It’s given her some of her best friends and has provided an avenue for her to give back to the community.
Almost 19 years ago, Terry started the Klingon Feast in Daytona Beach in an effort to unite the “warring” Klingon groups.
Like the Dominion against the Federation Alliance, the different groups had been at odds for as long as Terry could remember. Groups didn’t talk to each other and often clashed when confronted.
Terry started the feast, which occurs the last week of every September, as a means to unite the groups.
At the feast, there’s no fighting and no confrontation.
“I just wanted a place for everybody to come together and have fun,” she said. “It’s a chance for people to celebrate what we all had in common: a love of sci-fi and a good outlook for the future.”
At first, she ignored it.
Terry thought she had pulled a muscle when she felt a sharp pain on the left side of her body. But with each passing day, the pain grew. By the time Terry could finally see a doctor, she could hardly lie down.
“I couldn't sleep because it hurt so bad,” she said.
Her doctor recommended her for an X-Ray, and the night following her appointment, delivered the results: Terry had cancer.
In April, Terry was diagnosed with inoperable Stage 3B non-small cell lung cancer. Stage 4 is the final stage of the illness.
So far, Terry said radiation has been the worst part of it. She’s already received 33 radiation treatments, the maximum amount a patient can receive. She's set to finish chemotherapy in September.
“It’s like getting a sunburn on the inside of your body that migrates to the outside,” said Terry, who has a large burn on her back as a result of the treatment. “But the worst part of radiation wasn’t the burn or the physical pain.
“It was the exhaustion.”
For someone accustomed to working up to 80 hours during the week, usually menial tasks became almost unbearable.
“I was sleeping almost 15 to 16 hours a day,” Terry said. “Even something as simple as taking a shower, I’d have to sleep for three hours afterwards.
“Trying to eat or even drink was difficult.”
Klingons are stubborn.
They’re confrontational. They’re independent. And they don’t easily give up.
Even with cancer cells riddled through her body, it’s how Terry still chooses to live her life — something her daughter, 36-year-old Camicia Bennett has taken notice of over the years.
“Six years ago, we found out that my mother needed triple bypass surgery,” said Bennett, who is also the founder and editor of the blog The Well Written Woman. “In some ways, it’s prepared me for what a terrible patient she is, but also showed me her absolute will to survive.”
As for Terry, she said her friends always tell her she’s in the right club.
“They picked the wrong warrior for cancer to fight with,” she said.
