College Relay for Life

I was honored to participate in Relay for Life at the University of North Dakota last weekend. My son is president of his hall and started a team. They asked me to be their honorary survivor. I was able to speak at the Luminary ceremony. I was glad for the chance to let these young people know that cancer doesn't discriminate and even diseases that are thought of as "old people" cancers, can happen to anyone. I only told my personal story up through diagnosis. There were others that told about their cancer journeys and how awful hearing that you have cancer is, and how awful the treatments were, and how it still affects them. But all other the other speakers are now considered cured. I am not. And I didn't want to bring everyone down, focusing on the worst parts of cancer, but instead empower them to avoid cancer, and feel more positive, as if they can do something about it.

My three points to make for them were:
►Listen to your body and advocate for yourself - pay attention if something changes or isn't right and keep pushing until you find satisfactory reasons.
►Family history is important - if you have relatives that have died and you don't know how, push for the answers. The older generations didn't like to talk about cancer, but it is important to know and have in your medical files.
►Keep up with recommended screenings throughout your life. You can catch some situations like cervical and colorectal BEFORE they turn to cancer - actually preventing them.

The event was a lot of fun. They had several silly games. I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with a sports complex full of people less than half my age. But that wasn't a problem - my son and I walked more laps than anyone else there! It was odd having glow sticks for the Luminary (we were indoors), but overall the event was very similar to other RFL's that I have attended. I speak next month at Get Your Rear In Gear Twin Cities, and again in July at Lakeville Relay for Life, so this was my practice for the others, although each speech will be different - tailored to the event and audience, the points I made to these young people are important and will be a part of the next two events also.

I am so blessed to have 2012 so far with no treatments so I can fully participate in these events. I hope that continues. Next week I have labs and an appointment with my oncologist. We'll see what happens then. I live month to month, just waiting for the time that I have to do something again, but I'd much rather live month to month with NO treatments, than week to week doing treatments!