Breast cancer walk raises $690,000 & counting
By Nancy Kriz |
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Weather confined the walk to Commons, but did not reduce the crowd.
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Thousands turn out despite rainy weather
CENTRAL VALLEY — The normal sea of pink attire was mixed with umbrellas and rain gear last Sunday, as over 6,000 people braved the inclement weather to participate in the American Cancer Society’s 14th annual “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk last Sunday at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley.
The walk, hosted by the outlets, raised $690,000 and counting to be used for breast cancer research. But equally importantly to participants was the opportunity to celebrate breast cancer survivors and to honor the memory of breast cancer patients no longer alive.
Survivors like Chris Taylor, who is known within the Monroe-Woodbury School District as the nurse and health teacher at Smith Clove Elementary School in Central Valley, is well aware of how important the event is for those whose have been touched by breast cancer.
“My type of breast cancer was a very aggressive form,” said Taylor, a nine year survivor who frequently talks to groups about the disease. “The prognosis was very poor.”
Taylor underwent surgery and then chemotherapy treatments for three months. She was then “fortunate enough” to enter into a clinical trial focusing on a new drug.
“It was chemo once a week for a year,” she said. “But the wonderful thing was that the trial was stopped early because they found the women that were receiving the drug were surviving. They began offering it to all women.”
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That drug, said Taylor, was Herceptin, now considered a standard drug of choice for breast cancer patients.
“If there wasn’t the money available for research for my type of cancer, I probably wouldn’t have survived,” she firmly said.
Taylor’s story mirrors the thousands who were at the walk and even those who stayed away due to weather conditions this year.
“I think under all the conditions we had, it was a fabulous day,” said Lorraine Fitzpatrick, director of the Hudson Valley chapter walk. “Everybody was smiling. The forecast was worse than the actual weather conditions.”
Fitzpatrick said walk organizers knew some survivors opted to stay home due to the weather, even though they initially had plans to attend. And, that was totally understandable.
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“The weather conditions may not have been the best for them,” said Fitzpatrick. “When your immune system is challenged because you’re going through chemotherapy and radiation, and you’re in different phases of your treatment, you have to keep in tip top shape. But, their teams were out there on their behalf. Their teams were just as strong.”
Central Valley resident Nancy Hartigan’s team, “I Love Lucy,” was out in full force on Sunday.
Hartigan lost her mother to cancer. Lucy, the team’s namesake, went through two separate bouts of breast cancer, she said. When she finished treatments from her second breast cancer diagnosis, she was then diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Hartigan’s mother-in-law also died of breast cancer. Sadly, both women died a day apart from each other.
“It was horrible, but there’s always a positive that comes out of something like this,” said Hartigan. “I had been doing this walk since 2000, and now my family is more involved with the walk as a ‘family.’ As the years go by, more and more people (in my extended family) are walking or supporting.”
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The rain didn’t bother Hartigan because of the importance of the day.
“I’m a very emotional person,” said Hartigan. “It’s such an amazing feeling on that day. We (her family) know our story. But when you look around, there are so many people and the amazing thing about them is their energy levels are so high. There’s no sadness.”
While the total amount raised was currently lower than last year, Fitzpatrick felt that considering the state of the area’s economy and people tightening their financial belts, the $690,000 raised was a significant achievement.
“The fight to get research dollars and support dollars for breast cancer research is stronger than any other conditions,” she said. “We want to keep all cancers in the forefront of all our minds. In this economy, this is a big accomplishment. We’re grateful to everyone who helped. And, weather won’t stop what we have to do.”
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Taylor, who lost both her parents to cancer, has a sister with breast cancer. And just last year, Taylor successfully recovered from renal cancer which included the removal of her kidney.
“It’s been worse,” she said, of the weather. “There have been many years when the weather was just so cold. We had a great turnout.”
But there was something more important she wanted to stress.
“The thought and face of cancer has changed,” she said. “It’s not a death sentence anymore.”
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