. It's a book that talks about people that have survived anything from a plane crash, to the Holocaust or even cancer.One story that has stood out to me was a situation where a woman was getting together with some of her friends for their weekly knitting club. As the woman was walking up the stairs to the house that they were meeting at, she fell and landed on her knitting bag. She stood up, noticed a little scrape on her knee and that was about it. But when she got into the house, she started feeling a little pain in her chest. She looked down and noticed something was sticking out of her blouse. Then she realized, that when she landed on her knitting bag, a wooden knitting needle had punctured her chest.
Some of the other people in the room had the initial reaction of pulling it out. Then they thought they should rush her to the hospital. They decided (correctly) that the best thing to do was to call 911 and let the ambulance come to her.
One thing that the woman noticed that she thought was strange was that there was very little bleeding from the wound. This ends up being a very very bad sign.
She got to the hospital and the doctors did x-rays and discovered that there was a lot of internal bleeding and that she had punctured one side of her heart. They had to go into surgery immediately.
They patched her up, and after a few days, she went home and rested. About a week after the surgery, she felt very out of breath and started getting chest pains. They rushed to the hospital and the doctors did more x-rays with the concern that maybe the wound had re-opened or a blood clot had formed. But nothing showed up. The doctors didn't know what to think so they gave her some meds and sent her back home.
The next day, a radiologist called her and said she had to come back down to the hospital immediately. When she got there, the radiologist informed her that he found on the x-rays that they had taken the day before a fairly large lump on the side of one of her breasts. So they did some more tests, and determined that it was cancerous. She was informed though that it was treatable and she spent the next year going through surgeries, chemo, and radiation.
The doctors said that if she wouldn't have been screened with all those tests, the tumor probably wouldn't have been detected until it was too late. Which means in essence, her falling on the knitting needle, actually saved her life.
Which leads me to the adventure that I took a few weeks ago by tackling the Susan Komen 3-Day Breast Cancer walk.
The walk entails walking 60 miles in 3 days.
The first day it started with a wonderful opening ceremony that got you not only a little emotional, but also excited to be starting on this journey.
I trekked through the first day and did actually very well. After I had reached the end point for the day back at camp, I felt pretty energized still.
During the walk, it was just amazing to see the support that was given at every turn. People sitting out on chairs on street corners or even in front of their houses, cheering you on, offering you water and food to keep you going. Leaving their sprinklers on so you could walk through it and cool off if you needed. You had the smiles and high fives from the safety biker guys at busy intersections giving you more encouragement (and yes, one of the bikers was actually wearing these boots...).
The next day started early and it was brutally hot out. Legs were a little sore from the day before but, not bad. Again we had some great supporters out there. I mean a lot. In some areas probably hundreds. In a way it made me feel a little guilty. I'm getting cheered on for walking. But that is very very small when you think about the victims of this disease and what they have to go through.
With the heat and a longer walk during the second day, I definitely started to feel some drag and tiredness and your feet start to feel like this:
But, that encouragement from so many people, all that positive energy, just kept me going.
Made it back to camp at a decent time and relaxed.
The next day, got up early again, took a short bus ride and then on to more walking. At this point, I'm tired because of not sleeping well, but, my adrenaline kicks in and that's what I'm using all day.
Still hot outside, but there's still all those people out there clapping as you walk by, patting you on the shoulders, telling you "You can do this." To see all that support out there, really warms my heart and I really start to appreciate every single one of those supporters.
I get down to the last half mile and it's uphill. Not the greatest course design I think to myself but, I walk up it. I crossed the finished line, grabbed a shirt, got some water, and relaxed for a couple of hours before the closing ceremonies.
While laying under a tree, I started thinking about how the walk is structured. I'm not sure if the organizers designed it this way, but thinking back to day one, you are sitting there before the start thinking about how intimidating it is to walk 60 miles. But then after the first day is over, you feel okay and don't think it's all that bad. But then the next day you start to get tired. But you feel that positive energy from the hundreds of people out cheering you on, giving you encouragement, and it helps push you forward. Then on the last day, you're running solely on adrenaline but you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The last half mile is uphill but after that, you're done.
It struck me as to how similar it must be to having to actually go through breast cancer treatments. You first are scared thinking about what lies ahead of you. But then after surgeries and treatments start, you think it's not too bad. But then as it goes on, it starts to wear on you, but the thing that keeps you going is the encouragement, support, laughter, and positive thoughts and prayers from your friends and family. Then you get to the point where you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. You've got one last trek up a hill, and then you're done.
That support is the key to this walk, and the key to beating this fast-paced disease. No matter what is going on in the world, how bad the media may display the horrible things that go on and that people do, in the end, when someone needs help, people rally around them. No matter what anyone says, there are still vastly more good, positive, helpful people in this world then there are bad.
Although I think support was key in doing this walk and in fighting this disease for people who are succumbed by it, there may be one exception of someone being able to do it almost all by themselves. That's where my story of why I did this walk comes into play.
My cousin Terry Bona was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and was told that she would have to have a full double mastectomy. Although Terry has a whirlwind of support from her family and friends, Terry was never about to lose her independence. She looked this disease straight in the eye and said "No way, Not me." Terry pushed through like a trooper and is at the last uphill part of treatment and surgeries, and is going to make it.
Terry, that will and determination that you showed is what inspired me to do this walk and to pursue doing even more to help combat this fast acting cancer. The thought of you while on this walk is what kept me going.
Thank you Terry. You not only helped inspire me to do this walk, learn about this disease more, but by doing this walk, I was able to learn a little something new about myself. I am so very happy that you're going to be with us for a long long time. You are a true survivor.
"Everyone Deserves a Lifetime."
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