April 10, 2008 my world changed forever. I heard the words " your daughter has stage 4 very aggressive cancer." It was roughly 4ish in the afternoon. This is the day cancer entered my world officially. While "I" was not the one with cancer, it could have been me since it was my child and my heart. I claim this day as the day cancer entered my world and changed me forever. No, chemo did not go thru my body and i did not get sick and lose my hair, but Heather did and I was there every single moment of this ordeal.
If you have been a peep for any amount of time you know that when a milestone anniversary comes along I have to "mark" it with something extraordinary. This upcoming 2018 10th anniversary of cancer is no different to me. (Again I did not have cancer but I will mark these dates)
In May, 2015, I ran a 10K at Disneyland and then went into the park for about 30,000 steps that day. Huge mistake and it sent me into a huge Fibromyalgia flare but it finally led to a diagnosis and medical help. This has taken me nearly 2 years to finally get back to "feeling" like me and have some energy. Stress is a huge flare inducer but I was predestined to have this and I blame my birth mother, cancer and Heather for dying.
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| Meeting up with Scott after 30 years... |
I am making new lifestyle changes this year to get my cholesterol back in control and this includes diet and exercise. I have about 12 pounds I need to lose. For me I can workout and be effective but if I have something to work towards I do better.
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| Starting corral very early in the morning |
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| Stopping to take a photo in front of the castle |
Until today I have been toying with the idea of running 2 half marathons in 2018 to mark the 10th anniversary of cancer. I wanted to do this to be able to get the "coast to coast" medal from Disney. This means I need to run a half marathon in Florida at WDW and one in California at Disneyland and of course there are lots of races to pick from, but I have chosen my two that I want to run for this milestone year.
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| Minnie's house and her cute mailbox |
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| Heading into California Adventure Boardwalk |
I chose the Princess Half Marathon at WDW for February 2018 because this is sponsored by the Children's Miracle Network and they support kids with cancer. I thought this was perfect on the Princess end and also the cancer end. Today, I got my final confirmation that this is meant to be for me to do. Next year, 2018, is the 10th anniversary of this race. So the 10th race year and 10th cancer year...it is perfect.
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| The medals to prove we DID IT!!! |
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| The miles and stats |
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| The Route |
The next race will be the Disneyland Half in September. I am very pumped for this challenge and hope that everyone will support me and all my ups and down as I begin this next "crazy" idea. I am open for anyone who would like to join Bill and me as we run, walk and crawl to the finish line. It would be a great way to get in shape and have some Disney fun. Registration for the Princess half Marathon is May 2, 2017 for the race February 22-25, 2018.
"If you dream a thing more than once, it's sure to come true..."
~Aurora, Sleeping Beauty~
