American Cancer Society Relay For Life

I have to tell you, I work for one of, if not the best organizations...The American Cancer Society. Last night, I was once again reminded of that, as I attended two of the Society's Relays For Life.

Relay For Life, an overnight celebration of life and survivorship, brings a community together to fight this disease that touches so many people. Every dollar raised goes toward fighting cancer in four main ways: research, education, advocacy and patient services.

One of the really wonderful pieces of the Relay For Life program is the Survivors Lap, which kicks off the event. Each cancer survivor is introduced and all survivors complete the first lap around the track before being joined by the other participants. It’s a really nice way for us to keep in mind why we participate in Relay For Life.

I took Tyler with me to the two events, which was wonderful. He really, over the last couple of years, looks forward to attending these events. He went around with me, meeting team captains, volunteers and most importantly survivors. And they were survivors of ALL ages.

In particular, there was one girl (I say girl as she is younger than I am,) that really touched me, and helped me to remember, as I have recently had some tough times at work, why I do this, why I Relay.

Her name is Sarah, and she is a 24 years old. Last year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and at such a young age. More importantly, and a key point to this story, is that she was one month pregnant.

Being told that she needed to have treatment immediately, and the chemo/radiation could hurt the fetus, she had a horrible decision to make.

She did, though, choose to turn to her faith and to God, to give her direction and strength. She decided to have what she could removed, but to hold off on any follow up as she wanted to protect this little baby, forgoing her health.

Well, I am here to tell you, that Sarah is fine, and her beautiful baby boy is 10 weeks old, and the words she said to me, I will never forget, "My baby and I are living proof that there is hope."

I love what I do. I love the people I meet. I love the stories I am told. I love the impact they have on my life and the impact, we, as the American Cancer Society, have on their lives.