Relay For Life- a Cause Worth Supporting

In October of 1999, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Just three months earlier my mammogram had been clear.  Now the cancer was almost the size of the palm of my hand.  Four centimeters by four centimeters, it was a monster.  I kept replaying in my mind over and over the commercial I had seen about breast cancer.  You know the one where they show a blueberry and tell you if your cancer is this size you have a chance.  Then they roll out a raspberry and say, “Don’t wait until it gets this big.” 

As fruits go I suppose my cancer had to have been a small plumb.  Afraid?  You bet I was.  Terrified is more like it.  I was forty-three years old and in no way was I prepared to die.  My phone never stopped ringing.  Friends and loved ones came out of the woodwork to say that they loved me and to offer their help.  Eventually though, they all ended with the same question; what are you going to do? 

           

I feared that question almost as much as I feared the cancer itself.  I wanted to scream, “Let me go to medical school and I will get back to you in about six years!”  Of course, I did not have that kind of time.  Actually, I didn’t have any time at all.  As aggressive as my cancer was, I needed to do something and fast!  There were so many choices, so much information, and as many opinions as there were people in my life to have them.  I needed to make the most difficult decision of my life, and I was almost too overwhelmed to even process the questions.

           

For the next ten months, my life would have one purpose and one purpose only: to survive.   Six months of chemo, surgery, and six weeks of radiation treatment wrapped themselves around my day to day existence.  At every holiday or special event in my life, I was painfully aware that it could be my last. 

Throughout my cancer treatment, I made friends with other cancer patients, some of who lost their battle with this monster.  It would also hit very close to home. My sweet mother would pass away with pancreatic cancer in 2008, and my first cousin, Sandy, died of breast cancer years before.  In each case I grieved their deaths, but I also found myself wondering why I was here, and they were gone.  Of course, there is no answer for that question, but sometimes I find myself asking it just the same. 

However, my experience with breast cancer was not all bad.  I learned more about myself that year than anytime past or present.  I realized just how much I was loved.   I found strength and courage inside of me that I never knew existed.  I also learned that when you’re in trouble, there are people out there who really care and are concerned about you regardless of whether you are a friend or a stranger.

 I know that this may sound strange, but I am grateful for my journey though cancer.  You see, it was a real growing experience for me.  I no longer get upset about the small stuff.  I appreciate my family much more, and I am thankful for every day that the Lord gives me.  I am grateful for the experience, but I would not want to repeat it… of course, therein lies the problem. 

There is a deep dark secret that many cancer survivors must hide.  It is the fear that the cancer will return.  It is not something that you talk about, but it is there.  Since we do not fully understand what causes cancer, prevention is quite difficult.  A healthy lifestyle may help, but even athletes can fall prey to this monster.  Once you have experienced cancer, you are painfully aware that it could happen again.

In 2007 I was diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma.  This cancer is slow-growing and not very aggressive.  It is also non-curable.  I have undergone yet another round of chemo and still have a port in my chest wall.  I will be monitored for the rest of my life and will repeat chemo treatments if the cancer returns.    

Why am I telling you all of this?  Do I want your pity, or your sympathy?  Certainly not!  I am telling you because there is something that YOU can do to help.  Every year The American Cancer Society will holds Relay For Life events.  While each community may offer different entertainment, or decorations, the goal is always the same.

Typically there is a reception for all cancer survivors, and a special place where survivors can meet and share stories and encouragement.  Then the relay begins with a symbolic lap taken by only cancer survivors.  In the second lap, they will be joined by all of the people who have served as caregivers to cancer patients demonstrating that cancer is never a journey taken alone.  Then on the third lap, everyone will be invited to join in the relay uniting us all in the battle against this terrible disease.

All through the night, there will be someone walking the track at all times.  I believe that the American Cancer Society’s motto says it best: Cancer never sleeps so for one night neither will we.  One of the highlights of the evening will be a luminary ceremony to honor the survivors and remember those who have lost their battle to cancer. 

It is always an evening of hope and celebration, a time to demonstrate what can be done when we all work together for a common cause, a time to honor those whose lives have been touched by this terrible disease and give hope to those who are doing battle with it right now.

I am grateful for the research and treatments that saved my life.  I pray that one day cancer will be among the diseases like polo that children must read about in history books to understand.  Until that day though, we must never stop looking for and praying for a cure. 

Yes, I am a cancer survivor.  I have now fought and won two battles with this monster.  I have also lost my mother, cousin and friends to cancer.  But while I am afraid my cancer will return, I also have hope.  Hope that comes from faith in God, faith in loved ones, and faith that when we all work and pray together great things can happen.

If you are interested in joining a team you can go to the American Cancer Society website about the relay.  You will find it @ www.relayforlife.org to find an event near you.  If cancer has not touched your life, it will.  Let’s all work together to kill this monster before it can take any more lives!