Sunday, February 14, 2016

Happy Valentine's Day etc etc...

Happy Valentine's Day!  This day, February 14th, often full of news feeds of flowers and chocolate, balloons and stuffed animals, fancy dinners and jewelry means so much more to me than any of those. Don't get me wrong-hubs got me an absolutely tantalizing gift of Christopher Elbow chocolates (if you've never tried them you are truly missing out) and I left him alone in Home Depot yesterday. But this day also signifies the end of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week, and of Tube Feeding Awareness week. 
Both of which have very special places in my heart since the bald kid falls into both of those categories. 

But more than anything, every 2/14 I go back to 4 years ago when I got my official diagnosis of Breast Cancer. 
My Cancerversary. 
4 years. 
From fun and craziness of the Policeman's Ball the weekend before to the sobering, questioning reality of waiting for my biopsy results. 
I am happy to say that 4 years have flown by-and not without some lingering effects of chemo and ongoing fatigue and weakness-but for the most part have been great years. Cause I'm here. 

Because I got to be here four more years. Four years in which I got to take my son to Boston and watch a miracle be performed. 
I got to watch my daughter graduate from high school with the highest possible diploma in the district and hear her moving speech on Special Needs Families in order to get that diploma. 
I got to try and teach Parker how to drive, only realizing it was much better for my sanity to just let someone else do it. 
I got to plan a fantastic family vacation with my wonderful husband and spend every day of it laughing. 

Most of all I got to have 1,460 more days of waking up knowing I had a choice to make each day count. For me, for my family and for everyone around me. 

1,460 days doesn't seem like that many. I actually had to calculate it 3 times just to believe it myself. But in time and moments, 1,460 days is a lot. 
A lot I'm grateful I didn't have to miss. 

Since next year will be 5 years for me, I'm planning to do something awesome to commemorate it. 
My 5 year Cancerversay I'm going to commit to doing the Avon 39: The Walk to End Breast Cancer. 
39 miles in 2 days. Yep, I will walk 39 miles in 48 hours. 
I will have to wait to see exactly which locations are available for me to choose from, but I guarantee I won't be choosing one in KCMO-I'm thinking more like New York or California. 
Brian is in support of me doing this-as he is in all my crazy ventures.  And we are going to make a fun trip of my self-induced torture to help end breast cancer. 
If anyone wants to join me-I welcome the companionship-just be prepared to walk your tail off with me. 
Just like with me beating breast cancer I will need all of your help!  Once I commit I have to raise $1800 for the walk, so I will be hitting all of you up for donations and I will also be doing some fun fundraising in the way of pink ribbon pins, bake sales, craft sales, etc. Let me know if you have any ideas to help! 
I'd love to think that my walking 39 miles really will end breast cancer, but I know that will only happen with continued awareness, early detection, research and better options for Stage 4 diagnosis. 

So I will walk 39 miles for me, because I can, and because I was given an extra 1,460 days here to make a difference. 
And I will walk those miles for all still fighting breast cancer-and it's terrible long term effects (because you're never really done fighting) and for all of those gone too soon from this terrible disease. 

So on this special Valentine's Day I say 
F you cancer. Thank you for giving me those 1,460 days, I intend to live at least 1,460 more and make the most of each one.