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| The Survivors of Team Y Not? at Relay for Life of Sarpy County, June 8, 2013 |
This year was my second experience with Relay for Life. I am the Team Captain of Team Y Not? ~ why that name? Well, we started our team at the Sarpy County YMCA in the LiveStrong program. If you are not familiar with that program, it is a program for cancer survivors in treatment or beyond. That program got me up and moving and out of depression. It literally changed my life! For detailed information check it out at: http://www.livestrong.org/What-We-Do/Our-Actions/Programs-Partnerships/LIVESTRONG-at-the-YMCA
Cancer touches all of us: the patient, their spouses or partners, their children, extended families, friends and co-workers. I bet YOU even have known someone whose dealt with this disease. Let's face it...when the facts are that 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will get cancer in their lifetimes, the statistics staggering. In my family alone, I've lost 5 members to cancer...all had a different kind. And my sister and I are survivors. Do you think my cousins, children, and my future grandchildren will be shaking in their boots thinking "who's going to be next....me?" You bet your booty they are. I know...I've been there...and my children are scared.
That's why I Relay....not to walk in honor of my Mom who died of lung cancer in 2010...or my maternal Grandmother who died of pancreatic cancer in 2002. But for ALL of us! So that no one has to shed the amount of tears I have, or go through the pain, nausea, and chemo brain that I did, or make a "bucket list" when I thought I wasn't going to live to see the day my youngest son (age 11 at the time I was diagnosed) would grow up and go to college, or to see my daughter walk down the aisle with her Dad at her side.
I walk for YOU!!
Each year I raise my fundraising goal a little higher. Because I want to be part of the global movement to end cancer forever. Because I took advantage of some of the American Cancer Society's programs (such as "Look Good, Feel Better") and they lifted me up and gave me a positive attitude during my fight. I walked last year all night long with a knee that was in severe pain. This year I walked with a new knee (yes, a total knee replacement was needed after chemo and meds deteriorated my bones). Next year I hope I will walk stronger, longer, and farther. And every year I will keep walking for a cure. I will walk until I can't walk any longer...and even if I am in a wheelchair, I will be there.
That is the core reason I Relay. But there are so many other reasons: it is serious FUN, a party with a PURPOSE, a great time to meet and hear stories of and celebrate SURVIVORS, REMEMBER our loved ones who've past, FIGHT BACK, and a real reason to HOPE.
If you've attended a Relay for Life event before, put that on your "live" list....and just DO IT! It's an experience you'll never forget.
For more pictures from our Team Y Not? and the Sarpy County, NE Relay for Life 2013 event please visit our Team Facebook page...and it's still not too late to make a donation in honor or celebration of someone you love. We're just $62 away from our Team goal!
https://www.facebook.com/RelayForLifeTeamYNot?fref=ts
Thanks for reading....and remember, Life is Good!
Lisa
Owner/Artist and Survivor
www.cancerkaleidoscope.com
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