I remember when my mother asked me to walk. "We're all walking in Charlotte. Are...you...in?" she chanted over the phone from my Aunt Ann's Avon Walk in Chicago. I'm pretty sure I was feeding at least one baby at the time, and I felt instantly panicked. I wanted to, but I could not imagine how I would be able to train. How could I do that kind of training when I was still not getting a full night's sleep, still not able to get a shower but every few days, still breastfeeding two very hungry babies, and was just two months out from being on daily blood pressure medication?
Even so, I committed to doing the walk. Now I look back and feel like it was the Lord calling me out - calling me out to be with Him, calling me out to reclaim myself, calling me out to begin to process our brushes with death this past November, calling me out to give back. This walk has blessed me more than I can ever give back to it, and I am so thankful.
Everyone has a reason for why they do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I am walking for my family, in two ways. First, my family knows the devastating effects of cancer. Eleven of my family have been diagnosed with cancer. Three of these were breast cancer. Four of our family members passed away as a direct result of their cancer, leaving behind a trail of grieving loved ones.
I am also walking for my own nuclear family. Last November, both Caleb and I almost died. Medical research played a key role in the saving of our lives. Caleb was born with a coarctation of the aorta, a "smallish" heart, and an misshapen valve. The coarctation - a narrow place in his heart - had to be removed at just 14 days old. I cannot convey how terrifying it was - to see your baby become unresponsive, to know you could not help him, to see him attached to all those tubes and IVs, to literally hand your newborn to a stranger in OR scrubs and pray, pray, pray that you could hold him again. Those days changed us forever.
Because someone went before us and did the medical research, my son lives today.
I walk for me. I too almost died. My blood pressure shot out of control following the birth of the babies. For several days, nurses and doctors worked round the clock to make sure that I did not have a stroke. I was so sick that I was only allowed to go to the bathroom, and I was not allowed much time with my newborn babies. After five days of hospitalization, the doctors finally got my pressure controlled via a combo of three blood pressure medications. The final diagnosis was moderate congestive heart failure, pulmonary edema, and severe anemia. I was sent home on bed rest, and it took me four months to ween off the medication.
If it had not been for medical research, my children would be motherless.
I walk for my children. Did you know that 1 out of 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer? I have three precious daughters. I don't wanted any of them to war with breast cancer.
And so I walk. I walk so that maybe someday, there will be a cure. I walk so that maybe no one will feel the pain I felt as I watched Caleb suffer or the pain I felt as I wondered if I would make it home. I walk so that my children, my family, my friends might be free of this fear.
Will you partner with me? In order to participate, I must raise $1,800 by my walk date, but I am aiming for the stars and trying to raise $2,100 by October 3rd. The money I raise will help provide access to care for those that most need it, fund educational programs, and accelerate research into new treatments and potential cures.
Again, will you partner with me? Will you invest in you and your family's future health? Will you give? You can make a donation to my fundraising campaign by clicking on the "Donate to Katie's Walk" button on the right side of this blog. It will redirect you to my personal Avon Web Page, where you can donate by clicking on the pink "Donate Now" button. If you prefer to write a check, just contact me and I'll send you the information and form.
Would you also pray for me? That I and my team would be healthy (no more blisters or throwing-up, please!). That the money we raise together would be a blessing to those suffering. That each woman, man and family touched by that money would somehow feel a touch of a loving God. That this journey would bring glory to the Lord, the Ultimate Healer.
Lastly, I'm going to be blogging about my experience on my Avon Web Page as I continue to train. My goal is to blog after every time I walk (usually about four times a week).
See you soon!
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