Monday, September 13, 2010

A Way of Giving Back to My "Lifesavers"



Yesterday was the High Speed Chase for the Cure, a 5K run and 3K walk, which raises funds for the Cancer Institute of NJ through the CINJ Foundation. I formed the Team High Five a few weeks ago to celebrate my five years as an ovarian cancer survivor and to honor the five gyn-oncs at CINJ , their nurses and their staff . I consider them all my "Lifesavers". I along with the other members of High Five - Nick, my husband , and two long time friends Terry and Joan met at the Rutgers Athletic Center. Theresa, my daughter, was a virtual walker from all the way out in Kansas. It was great seeing so many CINJ folks, Candace, Michele, Dena and of course Dr Gannon- the surgical oncologist who did the surgery for my recurrence.

It started out as a cloudy, cool morning in the 60's. But as fate would have it just as the run/ walk started it became a cool and very wet rainy morning. That did not stop us or the hundreds of other runners and walkers from completing our task. It did though make me go a bit slower- I didn't want to slip on the wet road. We finished our 3K walk in around 30 minutes.

I finished the walk with a wet hat and soaked pants since my Rutgers red poncho couldn't cover everything. But I was thrilled that Team High Five was able to raise over $1000 for CINJ. I love going to my donor page and seeing the little thermometer fill up and listen to the cheers as the the stars shoot out of the top .

It felt great to give back to the people who saved my life.
Dr. Rodriguez, Dr. Gibbon, Dr. Nieves, Dr. Hellmann, Dr. Wagreich yesterday's walk was for you. Thanks!


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing! I am blessed to be treated by the talented doctors and nurses at CINJ.

1 comment:

Becky said...

Hi Dee -
Thanks for sharing - your blog is great! You do so much in the name of ovarian cancer survivors. I work with Navigating Cancer and we would like to highlight what you're doing. Its ovarian cancer month - how do I contact you?
Thanks, Becky
becky@navigatingcancer.com