Rack Stars and Tits for Tat...and Phase 3

This weekend was the 2011 Avon Walk to end breast cancer in San Francisco. A while ago I wrote about how my dad, Colleen, Jess, and Matt's cousins and aunt were all walking. I was looking forward to the walk because it would mean my chemo was over. I know my dad, Colleen and Nell (and probably all the ladies) were looking forward to it so that IT would be over! Well, we spent the past two days out there cheering them on and they all did AMAZING. My dad finished the first day in 7 hours...that's craziness! But they all were so inspiring and just phenomenal.

The magnitude of the whole event really took an emotional toll on me. There were thousands of people out there walking, volunteering, and spectating. They ALL either know someone who was diagnosed with breast cancer, or WILL know someone. Maggie and Amy have done this walk 4 times now. When they started walking, they didn't personally know anyone who had breast cancer. Now they do (and not just me). It was another realization of just how prevalent this disease is in our community, our world actually. I'm grateful for all of the walkers and fundraisers. Without them, the medical community wouldn't be able to make such amazing strides each year with treatment. My aggressive treatment has left me able to sleep at night now, knowing we've done everything we can to beat this. Continuous fundraising efforts will mean that more advancements will keep being made so that my girls ... Maggie's and Megan's daughters, and everyone elses daughters, will hopefully not have to go through what I did this year.

 

Team Rack Stars and Tits for Tat inspired me so much that I signed up to walk in the 2012 Avon walk!!! I'm excited to be be a part of such a great event.

And in other news... Radiation started today. 1 day down, 27 to go. And if it continues to be as easy as today was, this will be a piece of cake. I've already decided that organizing my day around my 1:30 radiation appointment will be the hardest part. The whole process took about 10 minutes. All I have to do is lie there. There's no needles poking me, no after effects, no foggy brain. The weirdest part of radiation is the machine - which looks like a paddle sort of- that rotates around my body into the precise position it needs to be to hit where the doctors determined it needs to hit. There are 3 men in white coats that call out numbers and then leave the room while the machine is on. Each position gets 2 zaps of radiation - about 15 seconds long each. I'm told that radiation is a cumulative effect, so in about 4 weeks I may be singing a different tune about it. But for now, phase 3 is BY FAR the easiest phase yet.