Finding Hope means believing that you are capable of overcoming obstacles, such as breast cancer. I know first hand about finding hope. My mom is fighting breast cancer for the third time now, and this will be my third year participating in run for the cure.

Each day, I watch my mom fight, from the time she wakes up to the time when she lays her head to sleep. The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure is a very important day for people of all ages to get together and raise money to fight back against breast cancer. I am only 15 years old, and believe with all my heart that we will find a cure.

I am inspired every day by my mom and other women who have so much courage and determination with fighting breast cancer.

I love you mom, please get better.

From Jessika

Elmwood School has a proud tradition of supporting and participating in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. Making this video was a perfect reflection of our commitment and dedication to this cause that is truly dear to our hearts.

After ten years of participating in the Run, the Elmwood Eagles were thrilled to have the chance to explain the why, the what and the how of our great team. The making of the video allowed us to answer all of these questions so deciding how to meet the criteria of the submission was easy. We really wanted to do something that would allow us to show our passion for the Run—so we spent lots of time brainstorming before the shooting of the video and even more the shoot day.

We wanted to make sure we represented everyone who is involved—so the opening scene demonstrates that participation begins in Junior Kindergarten and carries through every grade, and also involves faculty and parents. Part of Elmwood’s mission is to “create compassionate, engaged global citizens,” so having girls from all grades take part is as important as fundraising—we want to build generations that are aware, involved and empathetic.

We also wanted to demonstrate all the ways we raise money—it is quite an undertaking! It seems every year we are adding new ways to raise funds, but we chose to focus on just a few for the video—our wildly successful BBQ, Bake Sale, Change for the Cure and the Junior School favourite: Pink Accessory Day!

To conclude the video, we needed to demonstrate our love of school, community and cause. For the closing segment we wrapped our school with a giant pink ribbon. The wrapping of the school was an idea that came out of our first brainstorming session. None of us really knew if it would work or how it would work but somehow it came together (in the cold of November). We think it is a perfect visual that symbolizes our commitment to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure, our school, our community and the women in our lives who have been touched by this disease. Doing our part in the fight is a legacy that every graduating class leaves to the next. And until there is a cure, Elmwood School will continue to run.

Danielle May-Cuconato

I love life and I love to laugh! I’m a singer / songwriter / musician / comedian who turned 50 in July 2009. Less than a month later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I guess I should have seen it coming – I’m the tenth cancer in my family, and five of those cancers, including mine, were breast cancer. Talk about being heir in line to the throne!I had a bilateral mastectomy, then more surgery to remove additional lymph nodes. Now I’m going through 15 months of chemo & related treatment. Because I love to make others laugh, I made up a ton of great new boobie jokes. “Let’s not think of this as a bilateral mastectomy, people; let’s call this “corporate downsizing!”

Next, I created “Adventures With Wendy” – a blog to encourage people struggling with cancer, sickness, or just with life in general:  http://wwwadventureswendy.blogspot.com  I include inspiring stories, songs, quotes & video clips. It’s great therapy for me, and the feedback I get tells me others are finding it therapeutic, too.

Soon, someone introduced me to Liliana Komorowska, an actor turned film director. She invited me to be in her documentary, “Beauty and the Breast”, and it’s been a whirlwind ever since. The film is slated for release to theatres in Fall 2010.

As they say, it’s not so much *what* happens to you as how you react to it. “You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to discourage him.”

As for this chickie, it’s gonna take more than a corporate downsizing to discourage me!

I am writing to you in order to share a beautiful poem my daughter Angela wrote.  Angela is 12 and in Grade 7 and was given a recent assignment by her teacher to write a poem about a colour.

She chose the colour ‘Pink’ and wrote the poem.  She also had to somehow ‘portray’ the poem in her own chosen way.  I know I am biased since I am her proud mother but I think her poem is just beautiful and I wanted to share it.

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Pink
Pink is a colour of hope
A colour of faith, confidence,
and everything feminine
Pink is a riboon
A ribbon for breast cancer awareness
Pink is comforting
A soft pillow to lay your head on
Pink is your best friend
A person to trust
Pink is the smell of a rose after it’s just rained
A pretty scent it is
A splendid colour it is

As I shared in my May 2009 note (Step One: Finding Hope!) I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in April ‘09, underwent a partial mastectomy & axillary node removal followed by an aggressive chemo and radiation treatment program which was finally completed as 2009 drew to a close. This prognosis was one which on every level I was ill-prepared for. I was shocked, saddened and as a single Mom, terrified at the prospect of my own mortality. I didn’t think “why me?” because c’mon lets face it – - why not me?!?! – - but the question of “why anyone?” is one which plagued me throughout (and to this day).

I was overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation and astounded that really for almost the first time in my life I was faced with a situation that I couldn’t logic, reason, negotiate or work-hard my way out of. I was again ill -prepared for just how hard the chemo would hit me. I couldn’t positive-think or will myself to feel better, no matter how very hard I tried. I felt out of control on every level and fear & fatigue permeated my very being.

I searched desperately for my inner hero – - that superwoman that everyone seemed to know who had gone through treatment while still successfully training for a marathon, but lo and behold my cape-wearing, marathon-training self never appeared. Instead, in her place I found a different kind of me – - a me I hadn’t known. One who sought to forgive herself for not being able to do it all – - or really, for months, do it at all. I fought to accept my sick and struggling self with the same kind of empathy and care I would without hesitation extend to others and struggled to recognize the assistance of loved ones not as a weakness but as gift to myself and to them, as they too had to deal with their own fears and feelings of helplessness.

This has been a journey I never would have chosen to go on and while I never did find my inner super hero and am frankly still learning the lessons of self acceptance as I deal with a slower recovery period than I had planned, I am getting there – - baby steps, but always moving in the right direction. Breast cancer has been MY marathon and I can see the finish line on the distant horizon!  Now where did I put that cape…

I think that the disease, cancer, has had a huge effect on my life and me. There are numerous people that have had cancer who are close to me who have either died from cancer, or won the fight of cancer; both being traumatic experiences. These events, of seeing people dying and watching people fighting this awful disease taught me a couple of things.

The first one is to be the change you want to see in the world. I think that this quote best describes my first feeling because after a certain point of watching my family and friends suffer, I wanted to stand up to this and make a change. I learned that sitting down and letting cancer take my family and friends wasn’t going to do much. That would be when I decided to start taking action to be that change in the world I wanted to see.

I put a team together called Team Hope for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run For the Cure.  Together, we raised money and walked to support the people who are fighting breast cancer. We did fundraisers and events to ensure we had a good amount of money to donate and then we walked/ran a five-kilometer walk to the finish line.

When you’re on the five-kilometer walk you look around at the thousands of people who are walking with you and you realize that we are all in the same situation. I watched little children walk past with signs on their backs that said I’m running for my mom, and my heart just breaks because that child has a possibility of not having a mother for the rest of their life. In that moment of seeing everyone and those children, I wasn’t only running for myself and my family anymore; I was doing it for every person who is missing an aunt, mother, wife, sister, girlfriend, who had the fight and didn’t win because life is valuable. We aren’t the only one’s living this life; there are millions of people who are in rough situations everyday and that we need to depend on each other to help each other.

In my opinion, this event called me to help others and to be less self centered because I got to see what everyone else was going through and it made me feel like I wasn’t alone to be apart of such a big community of people trying to help this one cause. Cancer did change my life forever, in good and bad ways. It took away some people that I loved very much but showed me lessons that won’t soon be forgotten.

RIP

Aunt Ruby

Auntie Marj

Aunt Alla

Aunt Emily

Aunt Sharon

Joanna

<3

It was like waking up from a bad dream! It was two days before Christmas 2005 and I was told I had breast cancer. I was given an appointment to see a surgeon on January 5, 2006. I was a very fit 40 year old woman who had always taken good care of herself. How could this be happening to me?

Not knowing how good or bad the situation was going to be, I began to worry. I told my family but not our four children. I wanted them to have a happy holiday season.

I lost 15 lbs over the holidays from the stress of worrying. When I met the surgeon he told me that he would have to remove my right breast. It was very difficult to wrap my mind around this terrible news, but I quickly went into survivor mode and dealt with it. I was scheduled to have the surgery a few weeks later on January 25.

In the meantime I did something very positive to get my mind off the cancer issues and planned a wedding. Yes, my wedding! Ben and I were married on January 21 surrounded by family and friends in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. With the help of so many we planned the event in only 13 days and it was a fabulous day for all. It was honestly the beginning of my new life.

After surgery I received more bad news, the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes. I now had to have chemo and radiation therapies.

For chemo I chose a clinical trial that used new, more aggressive drugs. This was a better treatment plan than what had first been offered to me. I wanted to go hard to kill this thing! With 8 treatments over 3 1/2 months the chemotherapy made me very sick and I suffered from hair loss and many other side effects. With my wonderful husband Ben by my side every step of the way and the endless help from our family and friends, I made it through chemo. Radiation was next and began in August with 25 treatments over 36 days with more side effects. Radiation finally ended on September 8, 2006. I am now taking drugs to lower my risk of cancer recurrence.

Going through treatments was difficult but I stayed positive and kept up my normal lifestyle. I continued to eat well, exercised and went for my runs! My oncology team could not believe how good my energy level was. It was important for me to feel good even if I was going through treatments that made me ill. I did not look sick! It was quite the opposite; people could not even tell I was going through treatment. I always prided myself on looking great and it was never an effort to do so. When you look good, you feel good!

In October 2007, I began the process of breast reconstruction. I had several surgeries and by spring 2008 I had resumed my regular physical activities and exercise programs and I could honestly say that I felt somewhat normal again. I looked great in my clothes and felt that my femininity was totally back.

I know firsthand how this terrible disease can affect not only individuals but whole families. I can only hope and wish that one day all cancers will be something of the past and that my children and your children can live free of the fear of breast cancer.

This year I decided to enter the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. I had always wanted to do this, mainly because I am a woman and I have breasts! I had some work colleagues that have survived breast cancer but no one really close to me.

I have three daughters and wanted them to see that this was important for us to do as women –young or old. Two of my girls joined me on the Run. I was team captain for a women’s team and although we had struggles getting a full team until the last minute before the run…we were able to raise a couple thousand dollars amongst the ten of us. It was a slow start but we did it and I pre-registered already for next years run. I am not sure the other team-mates will join me…some want a new “cause” but I now know that my daughters and I are committed.

Last night I got a call from my mother with bad news. One of my sisters has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Although she is optimistic, we are all worried. This is the first time in our family except for a great-grandmother who died in the 1950’s of breast cancer. My sister is in her early forties and found the lump herself as mammography is not indicated routinely unless you are over 45 in her province. She is waiting to hear what the treatment will be but it means she may not make it home for Christmas if she is starting her chemo. A lot of thoughts and feelings are affecting all of my family but now I know why I run and why I have to keep on doing it. I run now for my sister.

Krista P