August 2024

Another August means the RFTC is back.  I found out today that this is the 30th Anniversary for the Run. This will be my 8th year in a row!  With a big Birthday just around the corner - I am  happy to have another milestone to look forward to.  That also comes with  an awareness that for some those future milestones are unattainable.  

I shamelessly ask for your continued support - I really appreciate it :)

 S

August 2023

It's funny - I have been meaning to sign up again since the team was re-started by Cheryl but I have been busy "living my best life", as my friend pointed out this morning :).

I have continued to work on balancing what I can in my life... but sometimes it's a work in progress!.  I have been able to spend time doing things that bring me happiness and fill my heart.  I am grateful to still be able to do all the things I am that I can do.  I am lucky to have so many new adventures (bucket list items) coming my way. 

I still wonder how things may have been different if I hadn't been diagnosed.. would my priorities be different?  would the urgency to have these experiences be different?

As I walked in to have my yearly scan today, the waiting room had a half dozen ladies - some visibly anxious, some withdrawn, one nervously smiled looking for any kind of human connection.   I wonder are they there for routine screening? because of a concerning lump they found? because they are also cancer warriors? For me, it's my 7th year in a row - I feel like I have been there for all of those reasons - all stressful in their own way.

Happy to be here for yet another year for Run for the Cure.  Please help me raise money by donating or joining the team!

Hugs!

S

July 2022

This August will mark my 5 year cancer-versary - a strange thought really!  I can still picture sitting in the exam room at in the Cross Cancer for our treatment consult there were discussions and graphs on 5 year and 10 year survival rates based on the pathology reports/tumor board review and suggested treatments.  That is a humbling situation to be in.  Kind of surreal and disconnected - like they are numbers... except they are numbers putting an best guess at your life expectancy.  And now here I am with 5 years experience under my belt and 6 years into the Run for the Cure.  Still wanting to make a change, still hoping to make a difference for me and for others coming behind me.  Hoping you may consider donating again.  Excited to be back in person - would be awesome to see you allout there on October 2.  Thanks and hugs - Shereen

July 2021

What a year we have all endured! Trying to imagine and navigate life post COVID is not dissimilar to navigating life post cancer diagnosis - life may regain some semblance of normalcy but it's a new normal.  There is an awareness of lots of our regular, every day life that we took for granted that will be seen a bit different now. Not necessarily bad, but different:)

One major difference I have had this year is this is the first year I have not had a personal contact with a new diagnosis of breast cancer.  Is it because cancer rates have gone down??  Nope - still a lifetime risk of 1 in 8.  Has COVID contributed to delays to seeing a GP or fewer visits in general?  Has the stress of the year caused people to ignore symptoms?  Were routine screenings being postponed/delayed?  Maybe!  Delays in diagnosis and treatment can impact treatment plans, prognosis and outcomes.  If your are due for health maintenance surveillance including a mammogram/ultrasound OR if you have any breast symptoms you are worried about - please make an appointment with your primary care provider!

This will be the 5th year for Charlie's Angels.  Togther we have raised more than $20,000.  I am hoping this year we can pass the $25,000.  Please support the Run for the Cure - you can donate, you can join our team, you can make a difference

August 2020

Another summer has rolled around and so the lead up to the Run for the Cure starts.  If this year has taught us anything it's that no never know what's coming next.  There is lots of stuff we all have realized we took for granted.  Nobody planned for COVID to take over many aspects of our lives and no one plans to get cancer.  

In the past year I have connected with several (waaaay too many if I'm honest) breast cancer patients - some younger than me, some older than me, some old classmates from nursing school, some co-workers and many of my own patients at work.  Some are 6 months in and doing well or 1 year in and doing poorly.  I had one 87 year old lady proudly tell me that she was diagnosed in 1985 and is still cancer free!  That is crazy cool!!  That's the kind of survival statistic we can all hope for.  

The run this year will be a bit different but the cause is still same - raise money to support research and treatments for Breast Cancer where the lifetime risk is still 1 in 8.... I'm hoping that I fundraise for long enough to see that number change:). I have had incredible fundraising support for the past 3 runs and I am hoping this year it is even better.  I'd love to have you donate or join the team to help fundraise!

Thank you to Cheryl for organizing the team again this year.

July 2019

Well this will be the third year that I will be doing the Run for the Cure... I have a tribe of supporters that have made Charlie's Angels Team a huge success. My first run in 2017 I was 2 weeks post operative and still trying to process the whole "I have breast cancer" thing. Last year there was a sense of triumph - acute treatments completed. Take that cancer! This year I'll be just over 2 years on this adventure! I can say first hand that the research dollars for breast cancer are making changes. Some of my long term therapy is based on "collecting data over the past 20 years" to show better outcomes for younger breast cancer patients.

If you have donated to me before - please know that I am grateful for your support. Every little bit helps! If you haven't donated previously but are considering... do it! :). If you would like to be on our team for this October -Yay! we would love to grow the team/donations!

August 2018 -

 Sitting here it is hard to believe that I am 1 year out from that life changing day when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 42. It still surprises me that things changed in an instant and that they have continued to change over the past year. Being diagnosed with breast cancer and having chemotherapy changed the way I looked (no my hair has not always been THIS curly), it changed the way I felt, it changed the activities I can do, it changed the plans I had for the fall and winter (who would have seen surgery and chemo coming when my plan was to go to Vegas?), it changed the choices I would make for myself and my health, it changed the naiveté I had and the naiveté of family and friends - I can't count the number of times I heard "I can't believe it happened to you - you are healthy and young". Life doesn't care that you have cancer and cancer doesn't care that you have a life.

They say it takes a village to raise a child - I don't know that it stops when you grow up. I have been incredibly grateful to have become more aware of my "village". I have had support and love from both people/places I expected as well as a few surprises! I have had family, friends, co-workers, neighbours all show up in different ways for me and my boys and for that I will be forever thankful. The past year has been humbling and quite a challenge.... and I truly think I am one of the lucky ones. I would still say that all in all looking back - most of my days were good, some bad and a couple were really ugly.

Continuing to support breast cancer research now that I am in the recovery/long term management side of cancer is still really important to me. I've often thought - How could we make this better? How could we make it different or manageable? How could it be avoided? Let's change the breast cancer experience... have better treatments with fewer side effects and better outcomes. Better yet - let's change the 1 in 8 odds of getting breast cancer! Say that out loud.... 1 in 8 - CRAZY!!!

Thank you for considering supporting me - by joining the team and raising money or by donations - every little bit helps!

Thank you team Charlie's Angels - you are a big part of my village :)

Hugs!

September 2017

On average 72 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every day... August 29, 2017 was my day.

Earlier that week we had celebrated our 21 year wedding anniversary and we were getting ready for our kids to start grade 11 and first year university. At 42 years old, with no family history my only risk factor was a lump that I had found - but that was all I needed.

Cancer is tricky like that!

Within 2 weeks I had met the surgeon and had my node biopsy and surgery completed. I vowed the day I found out that I would fight with everything I had, so being part of this CIBC Run for the Cure seemed like an obvious next step for me. The 5k run seems unlikely being 2 weeks post op :) but the walk I can do for sure, so I will!

I am surrounded by lots of support and love and I think I'll need every bit of it. Thanks Cheryl for starting team Charlie's Angels!

The research into best treatments and surgical interventions have made great strides in increasing 5 and 10 year survival rates for breast cancer. 100% survival rate would be awesome.

I have had many people ask what they can do to help me or my family right now. Support breast cancer research to make this better for all the women (and men) that will walk their own journey down this road. Donate. Join our team. Walk or run if you can.

Together, we can change the future of breast cancer.

Thanks in advance for your support!

S