I am writing this post today from my infusion chair at Dana Farber. I realize that I have not posted much often and the only excuse that i have is life…. life is very busy right now as i am sure many parents are feeling. School, activities, events etc. are keeping our family very busy. So here is a brief recap of all that has been going on in our life and in our cancer land!

The 2019 Jimmy Fund walk took place on September 22nd. It was a hot day this year but we all did so well and the day was very successful. Every year that we sign up i wonder if people are sick of doing the walk, sick of the fundraising etc. and every year I am in awe of the people that support and come all the way into the city to walk and show support. We have raised over $23,000 this year and the donations are still coming in! Our total for the past four years is over $120,000 donated to Metastatic Breast Cancer research – we should all be very proud! Our team continues to grow and the love that is shown and felt is immeasurable. The song I used for this years slideshow was introduced to me by my friend Paul after he lost his mom to breast cancer. The title is “Fight on Fighter”. Perfect for me and all my fellow cancer fighters!!

A local company (out of Braintree) recently was looking for breast cancer patients to partner with them on a campaign that they were working on. I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of those patients! I recently met with the team at Oofos to hear what their mission was and why breast cancer research is so important to them. Oofos is a footwear company that “creates an incredibly comfortable shoe” geared towards runners and athletes for their recovery. I have several pairs of these shoes and they honestly feel like you are walking on clouds! One of their first employees was a woman named Duncan. Duncan was diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer and was treated here at DFCI. Through her hard work, she and the team at Oofos created “Project Pink” where a portion of the sales of each shoe is donated to Breast Cancer Research!! Since April 2019 (6 months) , Oofos has donated $250,000 to breast cancer research. I truly enjoyed meeting everyone at Oofos a couple of weeks ago and sharing my story with them. I also enjoyed meeting the other patient partner, Sharon. It is amazing how nice it is to speak with other patients who just truly understand what you are going through. Check out their shoes at www.oofos.com

The month of October is always a little tough since it is breast cancer awareness month and this horrid disease is everywhere you turn. While tough, i am so thankful for the support i have seen not only this month but always. I feel that those close to me are feeling the need for more research towards a cure and how important it is to raise the funds for this research. Quinn’s cheerleading community hosted a “Pink it up Game” this past weekend complete with vendors, raffles and an amazingly yummy bake sale. A portion of the proceeds from this event are being donated to our Jimmy Fund Walk team! To see the cheerleaders wearing pink shirts with Cabral’s Crusaders on it was very heartwarming. I am so thankful to everyone that took part in, organized and ran the event. To know that my family is surrounded by so much support is amazing.

Behind the scenes, I am dealing with some things with my cancer. My tumor markers are rising and have been for the past few months. Could mean nothing, most likely means that this current line of treatment is no longer working for me. I will be scanned next week to determine what is going on and what the next steps are. So please say an extra prayer for good scan results.