Fleming enjoying the simple things in life

The 1968 Olympic champ and breast cancer survivor to speak at V Foundation fundraiser

It's 12:30 p.m. in Los Gatos, Calif., on a hot summer day, and Peggy Fleming is consulting with a local gardener and worrying about her indoor plants.

"I tend to overwater," says Fleming, 59, the 1968 Olympic figure skating champion.

Her familiar ABC Sports commentator's voice lilting with laughter during a phone interview, Fleming talks about enjoying simple, daily tasks.

After learning she had breast cancer nine years ago, Fleming did not know how much longer she had to do those simple things -- taking care of her sons, grandchildren and husband, Greg Jenkins, or looking after her plants and the grapes at the family's Fleming Jenkins Vineyard and Winery.

Cancer-free for nearly nine years and active in breast cancer research, Fleming is visiting North Carolina for Dessert First, a V Foundation fundraiser.

"Life is good and the grapes are doing great," Fleming said.

Fleming loves the idea behind Dessert First: Enjoy life. Nosh on that rhubarb pie or peach cobbler before dinner if you're so inclined.

The inaugural event, designed for women and featuring Fleming's keynote address, will be held at the Embassy Suites in Cary tonight to kick off V Week.

Proceeds from the inaugural Dessert First, which includes dinner, entertainment, and live and silent auctions, will fund a local women's cancer research grant.

The V Foundation, inspired by and named for former N.C. State men's basketball coach Jim Valvano, who died of cancer in 1993, wants to replicate the event all over the country.

"When people come to us and say, 'Hey we want to put on an event,' we can come back and say that we have the marketing plan, the invitation, the program and a sample budget," said Nick Valvano, brother to Jim and V Foundation chief executive officer. "If someone is interested, they can hit the ground running."

Fleming kicked off the inaugural Dessert First on Thursday night. She met with sponsors and the biggest donors at a private party in Cary, where they sampled Fleming Jenkins wines.

One of the choices was a 2005 rose, available at VictoriesRose.com. Seeing the color, so like the pink ribbon signifying breast cancer awareness, Fleming and her husband knew immediately how they would sell it.

"It was a duh moment," Fleming said. "Like, 'Ahhh! That's what we should do with it.' "

Two dollars from each bottle go to the V Foundation and the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown.

Fleming's life now revolves around family, wine, figure skating as an ABC analyst, and work that advocates for breast cancer awareness and healthy living.

"I've gone with the flow of opportunities, too, and taken control of surviving cancer with the attitude of 'I don't want this to happen to anyone else, ' " she said.

Fleming was in the best shape she'd ever been when first heard she had breast cancer in 1998.

Having just finished her makeup and hair for an appearance for ABC -- "It takes forever," she jokes -- an exhausted Fleming stretched her arms above her head and noticed a lump on her chest.

"Had I not been tired, I would not have stretched and I would not have seen it," she said.

She got it checked right away to assure herself it was nothing.

It was something.

"I was shocked because I always took my good health for granted," she said. "I thought, 'I am the fittest I've ever been and I have what?' The rug was pulled out from under me."

Fleming had a lumpectomy to remove the tumor, then six weeks of radiation to kill any lingering cancer cells. She actively worked to flip the scary experience on its ear with help from women who were dealing with the same thing.

"Some of them were having more drastic treatments but they had such a great attitude," Fleming said. "We were all on the same schedule so I learned a lot from watching them and feeding off their energy. I told myself, 'I'm sticking with these girls; they're a lot more fun.' "

Anyone who has seen Fleming skate might call her Elegant Peggy. But Gritty Peggy, raised modestly in San Jose, Calif., before capturing the only U.S. gold medal in Grenoble in 1968, took over during her cancer battle.

"As a competitor you don't step onto the stage and go, 'I hope I don't fall,' " Fleming said. "You go, 'I'm ready. I've done this over and over. What's one more time?' ... That's what [fighting cancer is] all about, being strong, knowing you've done your homework, having a good attitude, not dwelling and making it work."

Fleming follows her own public advice to women: Do monthly self exams. Get annual mammograms. Eat healthy. Exercise. Be your own health advocate. Also, with a nod to her dermatologist husband, she too has a full-length mirror and checks herself for moles.

"Maybe we can find a cure someday or at least make [cancer] a chronic disease," Fleming said. "If it's caught early, it's treatable. If it's caught late, it's a lot more complicated."