Why I FIGHT BACK!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
By: Kimberly McDonald

I Relay to keep their tenacity, their will, their HOPE, and their FIGHT against cancer alive! I relay for all of them, I relay for all survivors, I relay for anyone who will ever have to endure this horrible desease. I relay for you! and I relay for me!

WHY I FIGHT BACK!

My journey actually begins about 13 years ago. Shortly after meeting my husband (at the time my highschool sweetheart) in the fall of 1995 he lost his grandfather to cancer. At the time I didn't realize the power this disease had. In the following years he also lost his cousin a professional body builder at the tender age of 30 to cancer, his youngest brother was diagnosed and treated for testicular cancer at 16 years old - blessed with early detection he was going to be OK. In 1998 after a long hard fight one of the sweetest and strongest ladies his grandmother passed away from cancer and so without fully realizing it I began what I call my journey to becoming a cancer crusader!

In 1999 I met a dear friend in Fort McMurray we met through our husbands who worked together at the time. Our friendship started as walking buddies. We were both interested in getting out in the evenings for an hour a night and this is how our journey began. We would walk 6 km's a night, but our mouths were doing a mile a minute so we quickly became close friends. We found our walks invaluable, we could organize weekend camping trips vent about our daily stress's Shelley's of being a full-time mom of 2 and mine usually about the politics at work. Our conversation and friendship began to evolve and we soon found ourselves consoling each other as both our lives were being impacted by cancer. Shelley opened up about her grandfather who she dearly missed who had passed away years before and me of my grandfather who was in the last stages of lymphoma and my grandmother who was battling cancer and recovering from major surgery.

And then in the spring of 2004 cancer hit our lives like a whirl wind. Shelley lost her dad unexpectantly to lung cancer. I was still reeling from losing my grandfather and dealing with the emotional strain of my bother-in-law being diagnosed with testicular cancer and it coming back for a third time, not to mention his brother was just reaching the 5 year remission hurdle since he was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 16. On one of our many walks we must have decided to stop asking WHY subconsciously because the words were still coming out of our mouths. Why me? Why us? Why them? Why is cancer happening to so many of the people we loved.

I think I stopped feeling sorry for myself and decided to do something to help my loved ones and anyone I could. Anyone who has experienced cancer knows first hand that it leaves you feeling very powerless and this is where I was. Another year was coming & going being ruled by cancer in a short period of time I had lost my grandmother to breast cancer, my aunt was being diagnosed with third stage breast cancer and undergoing the most aggression chemo-therapy available, my great aunt was in the final stages of ovarian cancer and I was watching my cousin's heartbreak when she had finally found true love in a long time friend only to lose him a few months later to untreatable terminal stomach cancer.

It had all been too much...for one family to endure in such a short time and that must have been my breaking point. I'd made a decision to make a difference and I started to FIGHT BACK!

Shelley and I had already committed to participating in the annual Terry Fox Run. And then in 2005 we participated in the 60 km Weekend to End Breast Cancer. I felt so exhilarated and the self satisfaction I felt is indescribable. In 2006 we wanted to share this experience and sense of accomplishment with our family members so we put together a team and registered for the Relay for Life and I haven't look back since.

 Relay for life isn't just an event it is an EXPERIENCE!

I have walked as a participant for 2 years raising over $30,000. In 2008 I was given the privilege to head-up the Relay For Life steering committee in Rocky Mountain House, as a Community we raised over $205,000. This year will be my second year as Co-Chair and I am even more excited than last year. I heard something just recently that has made me think really hard as to why I relay.

I often say that many of my family and friends have lost their fight to cancer ... but I refuse to say those words ever again. Because their FIGHT against this disease still lives on through ME! I am not willing to give up their FIGHT I watched them battle until they were physically and emotionally unable to ... and I now I know this is what keeps me motivated year-after-year is the memories of the strength each of my loved one displayed if each of them had the courage to FIGHT as hard as they did laying in a hospital bed who am I to give up. SO I FIGHT BACK in their honor ....

I Relay to keep their tenacity, their will, their HOPE, and their FIGHT against cancer alive! I relay for all of them, I relay for all survivors, I relay for anyone who will ever have to endure this horrible disease. I relay for you! and I relay for me!