Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure

It's been one week since I walked in the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure.  What an inspiring experience that was.  The last time I wrote on my Blog, I talked about my friend, Lori Workman who had gotten me involved in this project.  Well, last weekend, May 9th, our Gilmore Girls and Company team of thirty two people met at 8am.  We were part of more than 18,000 people who were there to walk for the cure of breast cancer.  Many of these people were walking to honor a loved one who had lost their battle with cancer, but there were also thousands of survivors, including my brother's mother-in-law, Melba Blair, who is a thirty year survivor.  She is ninety-four years old and with the help of her daughter and grand-daughter walked the 1-mile fun walk. She wound up on a tv news report about the Walk, and was even interviewed for a documentary that is being produced.

I was able to walk the 1-mile fun walk with my special "niece", Lisseth's, mother, Graciella.  She is here from Venezuela and was part of our team.  After just having my last chemo-therapy on Wednesday, May 6th, I wasn't ready to do a 5k.  In fact, the 1-mile was almost too much for me, but I did it.  

It was hard to fathom how many people took part in this Walk.  When we were in the middle of it, we looked behind us, and there was a sea of people for as far we could see, and it was the same looking forward.  My son, Mark took pictures, as well as practically everyone on the team, so, if I can figure out how to put pictures on here, I'll post some of them. 

The most impressive part of the Walk were the number of women who had fought this incidiece disease and won.  There was a survivor's parade following the Walk that was at least two-thousand strong.  It really strenthened by belief that my fight can and will be won.  I'm so thankful I took part in this event, and I'm planning to do it again next year.  Then I can be a survivor, too.  

Time Flies!

I just read my last Blog entry and it was published two weeks ago.  Since then  I did have my seventh chemo-therapy, and my cough turned into a sinus infection that I've been fighting ever since.  After two weeks of snorting, coughing and just being plain miserable, I went to my regular doctor, and she put me on an anti-biotic and Mucinex.  Within three days I was feeling much better, and now my cough has stopped and I can actually breathe again.  The miracle of modern medicine.  Now my husband, Pat is dealing with much the same thing.  Of course, he's one of these guys that WON"T go to doctor.  So we'll see how long it takes him to get over this.  

My LAST chemo-therapy is coming up this Wednesday, May 6th.  I can hardly believe I've made it through.  I remember back on January 27th when I had my first treatment.  I was scared to death.  I didn't know what to expect, and looking forward to nearly four months of chemo was daunting. Now here I am at the end.  Looking back at the whole experience, I can honestly say it wasn't half as bad as I expected.  Yes, I had my bad days, but they were few, and I found if I followed the directions of the doctors, I could control most of the physical problems with very little effort.  I've come to the conclusion that a big percentage of how we react to things is our attitude.  I decided when I first found out I had breast cancer, that I was not going to be a victim, and I was not going to feel sorry for myself.  That's why I named my Blog 'The Year of the Cure'.  I was and am going to fight this with all I have, and I will get better and be back to my old self before I know it. 

    To celebrate completing the chemo-therapy part of my treatment, I'm going to walk in the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure.  A friend of mine, Lori Workman, talked to me about this back in February.  She said we should form a team and participate.  She and her daughter, Lisa, have done this for years.  They've even gone to several of the national three-day walks. Anyway

I thought about it for awhile and decided it was the thing to do.  So, 'The Gilmore Girls and Company' was formed.  Now two months later, we have thirty people registered with our team. We've raised almost $500.00.  We had special t-shirts made for our team, and now we're looking forward to the Walk this next Saturday, May 9th.  It should be a great time.  Most of our team will be doing the 5k walk/run, but there is also a 1 mile fun walk for us wusses.  I hope I'll make that much.  With my chemo just three days before, I'm not sure how much I'll be up for, but that's what my teammates are for.  My son, Mark, is going to be our official photographer, so I'll post some pictures on my next post.  If anyone would like to know more about this you can visit the websight:  www.komenslc.org  After the Walk, we're having a picnic for everyone on the team and their families.  It'll be a great day of celebration.  Then I'll be ready to take a break before I move on to the next phase of the Cure.