Please read the following. This year its personal. This is why... PLEASE READ TO THE END TO FIND OUT WHY I AM IN IT TO END IT. Dear Family and Friends, On September 6th and 7th I will be walking for the 6th time in the AVON WALK. In the past I have told you about how and why I got involved with the AVON FOUNDATION’s IN IT TO END IT CAMPAIGN and why it means so much to me. This year my reason for walking to raise money and awareness has become not only more meaningful, it has become more evident why it’s so important to me to participate in this 39 mile walk. As most of you know, two years ago, my older sister, Susie, was diagnosed with breast cancer. At first, the diagnosis seemed manageable, if that’s even a word that you can use when someone is diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told her initially the cancer appeared to be Stage 2. After preliminary tests were complete she found out that it was actually stage 3b. A very aggressive form of BC. It has metastasized into her lymph nodes. My sister did everything they said, radical Chemo, double mastectomy, and radiation, hysterectomy. The works. She was tested for BRCA, she had it, my younger sister, tested and had it as well, it skipped me, it came from my Dad. Susie was allergic to everything you could think of, and went to hell and back. At times she wanted to give up. But with three children, a husband and family rooting her on she knew that wasn’t an option. A year later she thought she was in the clear. This past October her cancer came back with vengeance in her liver. It was all over. In her mind, her world was coming to an end because “everybody knows that when the cancer attacks the liver that could be a death sentence.” It didn’t look good. But with the encouragement and guidance of a new team of doctors my sister was put on a new drug. PERJETA, developed especially for the type of cancer Susie had. It had only been approved by the FDA just 8 months prior and even the doctor didn’t know if it would work, but it was her best shot. By January, my sister’s body seemed to be a failing her, she had aches and pains in places she didn’t know she could. The doctors had no answers because they didn’t know if the medicine was working and the only way they could tell was to wait for the PET SCAN in February. By that time it seemed like my sister was saying her goodbyes. Planning for the end. We were all very devastated. In February, she took the planned SCAN and in by some miracle the test showed signs of the tumors and cells shrinking, significantly. She had to continue the chemo protocol every week until May when she would take another SCAN. In MAY the test came back NED –No Evidence of Disease. God smiled on my sister. This time. My sister’s cancer is metastatic which means she has to be on chemo every three weeks for the rest of her life. This cancer will always be looking for the next place to go and nobody knows how long the chemo Meds will work on her. The reason I tell you all of this is because without foundations like AVON supporting the research that goes into finding new medicines for BC my sister may not be here today. I am a strong believer that the money we raise in the walks all over the country helped saved my sister’s life. Both of my sisters. Nobody knows how long my sister has left or where the cancer may strike next, but I know that I have to do everything in my power to help save her life and the lives of all the people afflicted with this horrible disease. Please help me save her life and the lives of so many others. It could be your sister, or mother or best friend next. Cancer doesn’t discriminate, we are all at risk. Please help me buy my sister and thousands of others more time, literally. I AM IN IT TO END IT. Please help me reach my goal of $1800. Every donation counts, no matter how big or small. The next medicine that gets approved may be able to save her life with no if’s ands or buts. For now she bought time, but everyday she is in a fight for her life. Please help her buy more time to have more birthdays, to see her children grow up and marry and have children of their own. I cannot imagine my life without my sister in it. Please consider helping me save her life and the lives of the thousands of people who are diagnosed each year. With sincere appreciation, Sheryl 2014: Avon Walk for Breast Cancer: Santa Barbara Unlike
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 16:21:27 +0000
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