The Weekend to End Cancer

[RoxaneB]

I hope this thread starter finds you all healthy & happy. I have a very special request to make concerning an important cause.

On September 19-21, 2003, I'll be participating in an event called the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. My Mom, a survivor of thyroid cancer, is
participating with me in this endeavour.

Together, as mother and daughter, we will walk 60 kilometres over the course of one weekend, with thousands of other women and men, through the neighbourhoods of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. To ensure our ability to accomplish this task, we have started training by walking every weekend. Over the past two weekends, we have walked up to fifty kilometers; and each weekend, the training distance will increase.

We have agreed to each raise at least $2,000 in donations by August 15, 2003. The net proceeds will support breast cancer research, education, and services through Princess Margaret Hospital.

Through work, I have arranged several barbeque lunches during the week - great idea with shutdown and all the contractors in! Plus 50/50 draws - we love 'em where I work. As well, a party has been arranged and a hall has donated their services free of charge.

In order to walk, yes, I need to raise at least $2,000...but I would love to raise as much as possible. The numbers about this killer are daunting. 1 in 9 women. 3% of men. And age is meaningless. I know a lady who is 28 years old (same as myself), with two young children, and she was diagnosed recently with breast cancer.

I would be thrilled if you would like to help support me with a donation. As well, I would appreciate if you would pass our message along to anyone you believe may be interested in also supporting me in this journey.

Maybe you could post this email at work, within your community, or to your friends. You could tell people how fantastic your Cove Collegue is and that I have set a very difficult goal for myself that will result in blisters, tired feet, sore muscles, heat exhaustion..and a great sense of accomplishment.

Donations can be made on-line in sponsorship of me. To reach my individual web page, go to www.endcancer.ca . This will bring you to the website for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. On the left side of the home page, click on Donate, then click on Sponsor a Participant. On the participant search screen, I am registered as:

First Name: Roxane Last Name: Beyette

After entering either name, hit Search, and then scroll down. Click on the name it acknowledges as found, and it will take you to my personal donation page.

I really do appreciate any help you can give in reaching my goal!

Thank you in advance for your support and I look forward to having you journey with me in spirit!

- Roxane

PS On a lark, I'm going to try to insert the link that will take you directly to my donation page...if it doesn't work, please follow the instructions above. Roxane's Donation Page

PPS Stay tuned for updates...the walking part, amazingly, is the easy portion. Asking for donations is the hard part! Even if you are unable to assist financially, please add your comments/stories to this thread.

*** *** ***

Roxane C. Beyette
Quality Assurance Coordinator
Gerdau Ameristeel - Cambridge Mill
Tel.: 519-740-2488 (ext.1409)
Fax: 519-623-2062

 

[db]

Roxane, I kinda know what you are going through. Last Feb, my wife was diagnosed with stage 3 (late) breast cancer. It was not diagnosed early due to cysts that hid the tumor. It was already in her lymph node (that is where she noticed the lump). We are blessed in that it had not spread beyond the lymph. Now, she is in treatment (she started the first week in March). Her chemo sessions are every 21 days. And she has one left. It is tough to watch how the chemo has affected her, but the worse is a couple of days following the treatment. We are expecting her to undergo a mastectomy towards the end of August. This will be followed by radiation and more chemo. She is not a survivor yet, but she is surviving (and gaining ground)

It is a tough thing, but just 15 years ago, she would not have had much chance. Now the prognosis is good. I wish I could do more than I did, but as you can imagine, I’ve been bombarded with things like your activity. I hope you and your mother have a good time together, and I pray that your family never has to go through anything like this again.

 

[RoxaneB]

Dave, thank you for sharing. I wish you..and most definately your Wife...all the best in fighting this disease. It is amazing how far science has advanced in this field and yet it continues to be vastly misdiagnosed or simply missed. I admit that I was rather embarassed to ask my doctor to show me how to do the exam...but five minutes of an uncomfortable situation is well worth the possibility of saving my life.

Your Wife sounds like strong woman, Dave. I will be thinking about her during my Walk.

 

[db]

Dave, thank you for sharing. ...yet it continues to be vastly misdiagnosed or simply missed...

In my wife's case it was really neither. She has quite a few cysts, and the cancer was in the middle of a group of them. Neither a mammogram, nor ultrasound could get a conclusive picture. A biopsy would be difficult because of the cysts. Attempting a biopsy by feel or ultrasound could not be accomplished because the doctors could not get an exact position of the tumor. We really did not want exploratory surgery either. It actually took two months for the mass to grow to the size they could biopsy it. By then Her lymph node in the arm swelled, and we all knew it was cancer.

You’re right she is a strong woman, and well grounded in faith. We will get through this (and have a big party at the end).

 

[RoxaneB]

Dave, the party sounds like a great idea! I think I'll be throwing one when (a) I meet my $2000 goal and (b) I successfully complete the 60km walk!

Did 20km yesterday in 4 hours. Had a nice clip going and the route involved a lot of big hills with some nice paths along a river. Naturally, it rained for my last 5 km, but the walk in September will happen, rain or shine, so I figure I need to get used to walking in rain.

Of course, woke up to some "leg lock" this morning, so I hit the gym to work on my abs, followed by a 5km walk outside as the sun was comin up.

Cool and fresh morning...I could actually see my breath!!!...hey, did I miss summer?!?! There was something very peaceful about walking up the hill in my final km with the sun rising beside me.

But it was all made worthwhile by soaking my legs in the hot tub and lying down in the steamroom...a little tlc for the muscle groups that will get me through the 60km.

For the past two weeks, myself and my two coworkers who are also walking have been doing bbq's at lunch (shut down with one of our two production areas...lots of contractors!) and 50/50 draws. While the website doesn't show it, I'm probably up to around $800-$900 dollars.

We're also going to be having a party in August with games like you'd find at a stag-and-doe. And we have employees that dj part-time, so music is taken care of. The hall has been donated. I joking suggested that we charge for dances...$5 for a fast dance, $10 for a slow dance, $20 if you don't want me to step on your feet!

So, I'm slowly getting to my goal. 54 days and counting!

 

[RoxaneB]

Who knew that training for this walk could be hazardous to one's health? I was talking to my Mom yesterday and she,who is also walking with me, was apparently attacked by a dog on her training walk.

Courtney, my Mom's dog, saw this black, fat creature barreling towards them and promptly hid behind my Mom. Guess they aren't kidding when the say border collies are smart...I'd hide, too!

Well, that spun my Mom around and being so dizzy, she coudn't club the other dog effectively with her walking stick. A minivan stopped to help, but the driver (smart I guess) just honked at the dog and yelled at it, didn't get out of the car. My Mom was pulled into the deep ditch, and fell on her wrist.

The owners finally came out and got a handle on their mutt. Courtney was okay, except for a bunch of lost fur. My Mom was livid..okay, but livid.

No apology from the owners. No "Are you okay?" My Mom has said if that ever happens again (and this a fairly regular walking route for her), she will call Animal Control.

It's amazing that people who live out in the country think that they can just let their animals roam free. I mean, the owners made it sound like it was my Mom's fault that she was attacked! How ludicrous!

When I'm out in my parents yard with Courtney, she is always under control. Either on her leash or tied up. Yes, when I go walking in the woods (my folks have 26 acres of trees), Courts is traditionally off her leash, but she's good at returning when I yell at her to stop chasing rabbits and chipmunks.

Frankly, I think my Mom should have gone home after that incident and called Animal Control then, but she's not one to ruffle feathers, I guess...unlike her hot-tempered daughter.

 

[db]

Sounds like a bummer!

Way back when I was a Cop, I was called to an accident scene. A driver had hit a dog, and killed it. The dog’s owners were all there. The two kids were crying (about 9 and 10), the mom was crying and the dad was yelling and screaming at the driver (who was yelling and screaming right back). The dad wanted me to arrest the driver for intentionally running over his dog. I asked where the incident occurred. Was it is the yard, or on the road? It was on the road. Did the driver swerve into the dog? No, he just sped up so he could hit the dog. The driver had time to stop, but did not. Of course the driver said he did not speed up, and did not have enough time to stop. The dog just ran out in front of him. The dog, a fairly large German Shepard did substantial damage to the left front of the car.
The dog owner became livid when I told him that he was responsible for the damage done to the car. He started screaming and swearing at me. That is when I decided to tell him he was getting a ticket for allowing his dog to run on the road. The net result was the dog owner had to pay $75 for the fine, and about $150 dollars for the damage to the car.

Boy, was that guy mad! But like I told him, it's your dog and you're responsible for it.

 

[RoxaneB]

Went back up North this weekend to the small town in Northern Ontario where I grew up. Amazing how somethings never change...but somethings do. My toboggan hills don't look so big now and the houses are looking very tired...but being on the Trans Canada highway, that town will never die.

Had a tough walk since I opted to walk the Trans Canada and Hwy17 is under some major maintenance. The shoulders were really soft, kept sinking into them, but there was a fair amount of traffic that kept me off of the road.

And just when I thought I would turn back because I felt myself tiring out, I looked up and saw a trailer with a banner on its back stating "Walk In Progress." I picked up my pace to investigate.

There was no name on the trailer that I could see, but I determined that it was a woman walking across Canada for MS. Very inspiring! If SHE can walk across the country, I most certainly can walk 60km in two days AND do a decent job at training for it!

But.....it certainly felt nice when I walked past her.

 

[db]

I took Ruth to the Surgeon's yesterday. She is finished with her chemo, and now we are looking at surgery. When the cancer was first found, it was over 11cm and there was a 3cm mass under her right arm. She was an advance Stage III.

Yesterday, the surgeon could find no cancer in either her armpit, or in the breast! The plan now is to begin with a lumpectomy, and perform a biopsy to determine if more needs to be done. This is a tremendous Praise!!!!!

25 years ago, there would have been no hope. 10 years ago, she would have lost the breast, and much of the muscle on her right side. 2 years ago, and she would have had a masectomy first, then chemo. Now, the chance of just a lumpectomy is very real. With continued research, who knows what the future will bring? Thanks for helping the research out.

 

[Jimmy Olson]

Dave,

Glad to hear everything is going well. Hopefully things will continue to go good and you won't ever have to deal with anything like it again.