Cancer Sucks: My Story

I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the young age of 29.  It stopped my life for about a year (I had to take time off of work) and treatment lasted for about 5 years: everything from surgeries, several rounds of chemo, radiation and blood transfusions. I was unfortunately someone who got lots of side effects from various drugs.  If it said 1 in 500,000 people might experience this or that, I was that "1" that experienced it.  It sucked!

I'm happy to say that I've been cancer free for years now.

My talk at the Think Pink Fundraiser for The Princess Margaret Hospital Walk To End Breast Cancer - June 2008

I was asked to give a talk at the Think Pink fundraiser for The Walk To End Breast Cancer - Team Shoppers Drug Mart. Raising money for breast cancer research at Princess Margaret Hospital.

I was really nervous about speaking about my story in front of a large audience and almost backed out. I'm glad that I did it because it ended up being a real empowering experience for me. After I gave the talk, I can't count how many people came up to me after and told me how I touched them in some way. I can't believe how many people shared stories of how they lost a mother, father, brother, sister, friend and even dog to cancer.

I'm hoping that I was able to make a small difference in raising cancer prevention awareness and hopefully some money for the event. Obviously it's a cause that's near and dear to my heart.