Relay for Life 2009

Before 2007 I had never been to a Relay for Life. I guess I had heard of it but it had not been made personal to me. In 2006, in July, it became very personal to me. I was sitting in my office working when my Mom and Dad both came up my office stairs. What? What would they be doing here during work hours and why are they both coming up the stairs and not just hollering something at me from the bottom of the steps? They were here to tell me that my mom had breast cancer. Double what? It was found on her annual mammogram and only a lumpectomy with no expected radiation or chemotherapy was recommended. That sounded doable. A very good Christian doctor did the lumpectomy and was confident in his diagnosis - until the pathology report came back. The margins were not clear and it was an ugly kind of cancer (ER/PR negative and Her-2-Neu positive) and it was in a lymph node. Not a sentinel lymph node but another lymph node that the surgeon just "grabbed because it was close". Since the surgeon would have only gotten the sentinel nodes, he gives God the credit for finding that troublesome one. She then chose to do a bilateral mastectomy, required chemotherapy for several months, then Herceptin every week for an entire year. She had an army of prayer warriors, kept a positive attitude, and had great friends and family (of course!!). She is now three years out and is doing great. She has worked the Survivors table at Relay for Life for the last three years. She is AMAZING.

She also placed the HOPE medals on the survivors as their names were read. One lady told me that she would only let Mom place her medal around her neck.

Kendra, Holly, and Alex. Holly is the brain behind these awesome shirts that EVERYONE loved at Relay. We each could fill in the blank as to who she is to us and what she is to us. All of her family had one plus Kendra and Iva (family members by choice).

Our group picture... Sy, Anthony, Tony, Amy, Kendra, Holly, Karla, Iva, John Jr., Connie, John, and Alex.

Kendra and Holly.

The survivor lap is a very emotional thing to watch. Many people struggle to get that lap in but they do it. And they are proud that they can. Colonel Fred Forster (right) helped carry the banner this year.

After the survivor lap, their family and friends take the next lap with them.

And, this is how they did it. Hand in hand.