Time to do some serious walking
I leave in a couple hours to help set up our Walking with Jane site for the Greater Fall River Relay for Life. Tomorrow, I head to Randolph for the New England Carcinoid Conference before returning home for Relay Friday afternoon and Saturday.
…we want to reach journey’s end.
This morning I went to the barber to have my hair cut down as far as he could get it before coming home to finish shaving my head. I challenged donors two weeks ago to donate to decide the fate of my hair for this event. Needless to say, they went with bald. It feels strange having no hair on my head.
Our turn to hit
But that is the lengths I will go to to take cancer down and draw attention to carcinoid/NETs in particular. Our Relay site will be wrapped in zebra colors and include zebra flags and pin the tale on the zebra. It is all about raising awareness and getting people to think beyond saving second base.
It feels strange having no hair on my head.
For too long, carcinoid hasn’t even been allowed to bat. Two years ago, at a major cancer conference, when I shouted out zebra at one point, no one knew why my answer should count–including the people in charge. That has begun to change–but only begun to. It will take a lot more effort from all of us to put us on the same playing field with breast cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer.
Moving forward
After Relay, I hope to get a few days off, but getting those days will be tricky. I have sponsorships to garner for our Jimmy Fund Walk effort, paperwork to get ready for our lawyer for our final approval from the IRS, a yard sale on July 4th and a t-shirt to finish designing.
…carcinoid hasn’t even been allowed to bat.
But I also know I need some time to think about things other than cancer. For patients and caregivers in the middle of the fight of their lives, that is not an option. Working to fund a cure, however, is a journey of 10,000 miles. Cancer may never sleep–may never take a day off. We humans have no choice, though, if we want to reach journey’s end.
