Century 21 Max Stancil Realty is organizing a two-day yard sale to help an employee pay for expenses related to her cancer treatments.

The sale will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at the company's office at 9910 Highway 92.

Cristal Stancil, managing broker at Century 21, said the office is also encouraging the community to donate items for the sale.

"People have been very generous," she said, noting donations can be dropped off at the office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Friday.

Mrs. Stancil said she hopes the two-day event raises at least $1,000 to help Mrs. Cannon pay for travel expenses to receive cancer treatments.

Mrs. Cannon, a Realtor at Century 21, has been diagnosed with malignant glomus tumors, an extremely rare form of sarcoma.

Last summer, Mrs. Cannon, 53, found a small pimple on the back of her head that did not grow or go away. She had a dermatologist remove it and perform a biopsy. The biopsy confirmed the rare sarcoma diagnosis.

"I was very surprised by the diagnosis," Mrs. Cannon said.

A skin surgeon removed parts of the skin surrounding the pimple and recommended she see an oncologist to determine if the cancer had spread.

After having a CT scan, Mrs. Cannon said doctors found nodules in her lungs and initially diagnosed her with lung cancer

A thoracic surgeon removed several of the larger nodules and confirmed them as being the glomus tumors.

Mrs. Cannon said doctors told her the cancer is so rare that fewer than 30 cases have been mentioned in medical literature.

Malignant glomus tumors are a type of soft tissue sarcoma, which are malignant tumors that develop in tissues that connect, surround or support other structures and organs of the body, according to National Cancer Institute. There is no cure for the disease, and Mrs. Cannon said she probably will need chemotherapy treatments for the rest of her life.

After her diagnosis, Mrs. Cannon began treatment using three different types of chemotherapy.

One type, which she said is "taxing on the heart," was administered over a 72-hour period every three weeks and required a four-day stay each time at Emory University Hospital Midtown. The treatment is limited to seven doses in a person's lifetime.

Mrs. Cannon now receives two types of chemotherapy every three weeks at the hospital. She also regularly consults with a sarcoma specialist at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas.

Mrs. Cannon said she's suffered minimal sickness while on the chemotherapies. The biggest changes in her body are the reduction in red blood cells, which has required three blood transfusions; and a drop in her white blood cell count, which means she must be vigilant in limiting her contact with germs.

"But it really hasn't stopped me," she said, adding her family, faith in God and her friends have kept her going.

To document her battle and raise money for it, Mrs. Cannon created a CaringBridge Web site and a fundraising Web site at www.raisingupsharon.com.

Her husband, James, said the diagnosis was "devastating," but the family has persevered through the "draining" fight.

Immediately after their diagnosis, Cannon said he and his wife were told no patient has gone into remission with this disease.

Cannon said his wife told the doctor, "I'll be the first," and also thinks she'll defeat the disease.

"If anyone can, she will," he said. "We are very hopeful."

Mrs. Cannon was born and raised in Illinois. She moved to Georgia in 1980 where she met Cannon, a Certified Public Accountant.

The Cannons have three children, Barbara, Melisa and Jimmy, and two grandchildren. They attend Canton First United Methodist Church.

Along with being the bookkeeper for her husband's accounting business, Mrs. Cannon joined Century 21 in June 1999.

She said Cherokee County's housing boom inspired her to enter the field.

"I love working with buyers," she added.

The Cannons said they are blessed and grateful for the support they've received from the community.

They also are "humbled" by the yard sale the real estate company is undertaking.

Mrs. Stancil said Mrs. Cannon is a caring person who goes out of her way to help other Emory patients. She said she hopes the community will turn out at the sale to support her.

"It's something people can do to help take the hard times away from the family," Mrs. Stancil said.