Special Note: The Contributors link to the left does not work. I have listed my contributors in a special entry section in the Diary.

On April 26-28, 2002 I will be participating in the first Dallas Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day.

WHY?
Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer...
1500 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year...
1,000,000+ women in America have undetected breast cancer...
Cindy – one of my dearest friends was diagnosed last year with breast cancer.

I was with her the day she got the diagnosis. Ten days later she had surgery to remove a suspicious spot from her lung that showed up during further diagnostic testing. While still recovering from the first surgery, she had a mastectomy and the first part of her reconstructive surgery. A few weeks later I was by her side to keep her distracted while the chemotherapy drugs that would make her sick and lose her hair made their way through the IV tubes. Just after Thanksgiving - round eight of chemo was through - we laughed, cried and hugged as her chemo nurses sang “the graduation song”.

The distance of this event, as well as the training that will be required to complete the walk, are major challenges for me. However, inspired by Cindy’s spirit and the hope that my effort will prevent just one other woman from having to go through this ordeal, I am committing four months of time and energy for serious training to get ready for this event.