Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure | My Mom’s Race

As we talked on the phone, Mom told me about how tired she’d been feeling lately…how she just didn’t seem to have the energy to do everything. She wasn’t sure why she felt that way, and I told her she just needed to slow down…and go to the doctor!

A couple months later I got another phone call. Doctors had found something suspicious, and Mom had gone in for a biopsy. The news was devastating: no, not breast cancer but uterine cancer. And from the lab results, it seemed like a very aggressive kind. They were scheduling her for surgery ASAP. I remember feeling numb…hopeless…what could I do? I don’t want my Mom to die now! And I was so far away from her here in Pittsburgh. I just wanted to hold her. I knew I shouldn’t have looked online–that instead of calming my fears, it would only add to them–but I couldn’t resist the temptation to find out more information. What were the odds, the prognosis? The news was grim.

And I prayed. A lot. Then I booked a flight to come stay with my Mom after her surgery…and counted down the days.

When I arrived, it felt as though the dark cloud had begun to lift. Initial results were good–doctors were expecting to find metastases but found none. Then the lab results came in…gone were the aggressive cells they were so sure they’d seen earlier. It was as if they had never been. And in the ensuing weeks, the outlook became better and better…Mom ended up not even having to undergo any chemo or radiation. I couldn’t believe it! It was such an incredible feeling–a life that had been taken away was given back! Three years on, and my Mom is still cancer free!

But, I know that’s not always the story for a lot of folks stricken with cancer. A lot of times, there is no happy ending. There is still so much research needed to find cures for cancer. And that’s why I am so proud of my Mom. She has signed up to walk this year’s Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure in Dallas, TX.

For those of you unfamiliar with this race–it’s a THREE-DAY hike of 60 MILES! Yes, that’s right…the participants walk 20 miles a day and sleep in tents at night to raise awareness and much needed funds for breast cancer research. I’ve never walked 20 miles in a day before…much less three times back to back! I am so proud of my Mom for doing this, and I know she’s been spending a lot of time training for it. But she can’t do it alone. I so wish I could walk it with her, but I’m photographing a wedding over the same weekend. So, I’m going to try to help her out the best way I can: spread the news and help her reach her fund-raising goal.

That’s right, not only do all of these walkers spend three days walking 60 miles, but they also raise support for breast cancer research. My Mom’s goal is $2,300. She still has a ways to go, so I want to help her reach (and exceed!) it. Breaking it down with simple math, she just needs 100 people to donate $23. Adding in some of the support she’s already gotten, she now needs 100 people to donate just about $20. It may not seem like much, but every little bit helps!

So, if you would like to donate to support cancer research and my Mom in her walk, please click on her donation page. And if you’d like to see her fund-raising progress, you can follow it on her page. I know she’d appreciate any help you can give.

And please share this post with family and friends. Let’s see how much money we can raise! I want there to be more happy endings to the cancer diagnosis! And if you’ve got a story about cancer, feel free to share it in the comments section. Let’s inspire one another!

I’m SO PROUD of you MOMMY!