Update on my niece & half-marathon info

[v-ness]

hi all-

i posted a while back about my late husband's niece being diagnosed with breast cancer during a surgery for a pituitary tumor. turns out that the tumor was breast cancer after all and she also has mets to her spine. all this at age 37 and a lifetime of severe diabetes. currently all they've done for it (approved by Dana Farber) is radiation, Zometa and Tamoxifen. she's not HER2+.

because of her, i decided to do the Boston Marathon for the Jimmy Fund Walk (i jog and walk) this year and form a team. i did the entire 26.2 miles in 1999 and 2000 - before cancer ever touched my life, never knowing what a severe impact it would have later. this time i am doing the half-marathon length of 13.1 miles instead - aching bones and 12 yrs older. :)

so i formed a team called BRAVE - B for my mom barbara (ovarian cancer), R for my husband robert (esophageal cancer), A for bob's niece aimee, V for me valerie, E for everyone touched by cancer. a good friend of mine joined the team to support me. then, in an incredibly cruel twist of fate and irony, she was diagnosed with breast cancer last week herself. she had her lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy monday and is at least a 1B with at least one positive node. she is going to need chemo no matter what (she's ER & PR+ and HER2-) BUT says she is determined to still do the 13.1 miles with me unless she is physically unable (she's long been a runner).

SO now i had to revise my team name to the BRAVES to add Stacy in there. i am still waiting to get over my WTF moment.

i'm also walking/jogging for our Courtney and others - too many others - lost to cancer. the list is on my team page. if you feel that you'd like to donate to our effort, i would be touched, but regardless, i just wanted to tell you all. 89 cents of every dollar raised goes toward cancer research and patient care at Dana Farber in boston, just named the best cancer hospital in new england. i still remember all of the patients waiting at the finish line in '99 and 2000, cheering for us. if it made me cry then, i have no idea what it will do to me now after all this. but it is one CONCRETE thing i can do against cancer. i am the only one among mom, bob and aimee who can walk much less run. so i'll do it for them... and stacy ..... and courtney ..... and all of you.

valerie

http://www.jimmyfundwalk.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1000775&lis=1&kntae1000775=37B5D86C887044598BB3E61AFBDF165B&supId=0&team=5115912&cj=Y

[bejuce]

Go for it Valerie!!! I did a bike ride in June (100 miles around Tahoe) and am signed up for another one in September (150 miles, 75 each day). I'd love to start running to do a half-marathon, but I find biking easier on the joints. I'd love to hear how you get back into it and how your training goes.

[karen z]

Much luck !

[v-ness]

i would never be able to run the entire distance, but so far i am doing all right. i have been cross-training and doing weights for many months, so my quads are now better able to keep my knees in place (they've dislocated 2x in the past) and i got a new pair of Nikes that are nice and springy. yesterday i ran for a half hour solid and it felt amazing. i never expected it. i'm not in it for speed, it's the *meaning* that is important to me. i will undoubtedly walk alot, particularly if stacy is there and needs a slower pace. i'll stick by her side. so far we're within $1000 of our team goal, which is so exciting.

biking is indeed easier on the knees.... but not on my butt. :) i really believe in exercise helping tremendously when coping with cancer. i slogged through it as much as i could during treatment, though Herceptin really made me huff and puff for that year.

[Pray]

Gods blessings to you Valarie in your half marathon!