Now that the summer's over I have a few posts to do. I haven't forgotten about this space and I have decided to definitely continue with my posts about life after cancer and just being a mom in general. This post is about raising some awareness around breast cancer and helping in the fight to stop this disease. Together with some of my family and friends we are participating in CIBC's Run for the Cure on October 4, 2020.
So let's talk about why events like this are so important. First of all, research is everything when it comes to cancer treatment. I'm not one to know all the ins and outs of research and how exactly all of this works but I can tell you what I do know. In the seven years between my mom's treatment and mine there have been so many changes to treatment. Keep in mind we had the same kind of breast cancer. In the past they didn't typically do surgery after chemo as I had. My mom had surgery first and then chemo after. That's not to say this isn't a method they use still but it depends on the type of breast cancer and other factors considered for the best path for each individual. There are also changes to the drugs they use for chemo. My mom had one of the drugs I had for all six of her treatments whereas I only had it for three rounds and then another set of drugs the other three. They changed this because research had shown that when used for longer rounds of chemo there could be more stress put on the heart (that information I got from my oncologist). Research in cancer treatment (of all kinds) is so important in making a difference. Research takes money so enter the need to DONATE! You can donate HERE for my CIBC Run for the Cure. If you would rather run, please feel free to join my team! You can do something good for your health and for cancer research, sounds worth it I know.
I'm sorry if this is all sounding very much like a sales pitch but I'm finding that sadly I feel like I do really have to sell WHY people should donate to cancer research. Isn't that sad? At the current time before posting this, I have four donations and one of them was a self donation (because yes, I believe in giving back to this cause that saved my life) and one was my parents. I have been fundraising for about two weeks now. I've posted all over my social media, got lots of likes but likes don't stop cancer! I also find that a bit mysterious, why like a post such as that and not do something? If you raise money for cancer research in other ways though then I get that, if you don't then you should donate. Okay, my bad, I'm trying not to be so annoyed about this I really am. The thing is I can't even count how many people asked me to "let them know if there is anything they could do" when I was in treatment. THIS IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO!!!! I'm not asking for a huge donation, every penny counts. I'm not trying to make you all feel guilty, just kidding I am. If you haven't had cancer you likely don't understand how personal this is. For me it is really personal. I live in fear every day that the cancer will come back and I will have to go through this all again and what if the outcome isn't a positive one, dark I know. So I want to be able to do something to know that if I have to go through this again, I've at least contributed to the research that could again save my life and if it never comes back at least I'm doing something for the rest of the women out there who are a one in eight, one in eight who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Now that's a scary statistic.
I think I've made my point or made you annoyed, either way I think you should donate. I want to say a huge thank you to those who have joined my team and are running with me and also fundraising. As well as a thank you to those who have donated. It really means a lot!
Moving on though, since I am doing this run I am training for it as I've been running once a week as part of my workout program but not working towards any particular running goals, just getting in a good cardio session. In less than a month I have to be able to run a full 5k. Today I did 4.5k with Clara in her stroller and I added in hills because that sounded like a good idea (it wasn't, I almost died). I did however have my fastest running time in a long time which I was very proud of. I've ran lots in the past but it has been years since I was serious about it so this has actually been really good in helping me feel a little bit like the old me again.
I'm still struggling with my anxiety some days and some of the remaining symptoms that just won't give up, like the exhaustion and my brain just doesn't work right still, in many ways. I can get into all of that another day though. All in all things are slowly getting better. Clara is walking and growing so quick and I am so glad to be here to watch every second of it, including the tantrums! So until next time....donate!
-Raelene