If you are a regular reader of mine, you may be getting sick of me talking about breast cancer, but humor me one more time.
On Sunday, June 2, I participated in my very first “Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Puget Sound.”
To say it was a profound experience is an understatement. Not being a “real” runner, I was pretty sore the next day, but it was worth it. The love and support I felt — not to mention the sisterhood — was pretty darn awesome.
It was humbling, and sad, to witness hundreds of women in survivor’s T-shirts, including me, knowing that there are so many who have suffered with this terrible disease. Honestly, when will it end?
Yet the support from the crowd and cheerleaders along the race course was so awesome.
There was a special chute for survivors as we crossed the finish line, and when they put my medal around my neck I couldn’t help but cry. A woman on the sidelines made eye contact with me, and I don’t know who she was, but she just started hugging me and I let it all go for just a minute. Thank you kind lady.
We survivors were treated like we were really special, but the fact is we are just part of a very large group of people in the same club — a club we really didn’t choose to be a part of.
The sponsors and volunteers showered us in “swag” and I was treated to a chair massage in the special survivor’s area. A live band called Rewind rocked the park at Seattle Center, and even with tired legs, I was dancing. I raised enough money to earn a shiny gold cape, which I proudly ran in, but I was stunned to learn the top individual fundraiser brought in more than $6,000!
With the revelation that Angelina Jolie had a preventative double mastectomy, and now “Race For the Cure,” breast cancer is on everyone’s radar again. Jolie, one of the most beautiful and famous women in the planet, had guts to do what she did, but the odds were not in her favor. She carried a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which is a killer. She had an 87 percent chance of getting breast cancer.
Her announcement is now followed up by the limited release of the film “Decoding Annie Parker,” which will be shown again Saturday June 8. I saw the film after deadline, as part of the Seattle International Film Festival.
The movie is about Dr. Mary-Claire King, a geneticist at the University of Washington, and a breast cancer patient, Annie Parker. King is the doctor who figured out that BRCA1 and BRCA2 can be inherited from either parent.
The film stars Helen Hunt as King and Samantha Morton as Parker. Director Steven Bernstein, King and Parker will be special guests at both screenings and more than likely will take questions. It should be very interesting.
And so it goes. Breast cancer is everywhere. From the sea of bright pink Sunday during the survivor’s march, which was highly emotional, to famous movie stars, movies about cancer and the scars that we survivors deal with.
The bottom line is, until breast cancer goes away, you’ll never hear the end of the fight to eradicate this and all cancers.
Staff writer Linda Ball can be reached at 425-391-0363, ext. 5052.
