Race for the Cure

About a year and a half ago I got a phone call from my mom. We chat all the time, so I was just expecting the usual banter about our dogs, friends, life, etc. But this call was different. She called to tell me that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I can't imagine how hard it was for her to break that news to me over the phone, and when she told me, it was like the wind was knocked out of me. I crumpled up into a ball on the couch and cried.

A few weeks later she had her right breast removed. My mom is so amazing; I remember walking into her hospital room only hours after the operation to see her sitting up in bed smiling, so happy to see me.

Shortly after that, my mom began chemotherapy. That was when it all became very real to me. She has always been a strong, active woman, but the drugs sapped her energy. I went back home to be there with her for a chemo session, and seeing her hooked up to an IV drip of poison, exhausted and weak, broke my heart. When her hair began falling out in clumps, rather than sit and wait for it all to come out, she shaved it off. We celebrated her strength with champagne and tears.

Even though she had a gorgeous wig that looked fabulous on her, Mom opted to go around bare-headed most of the time. I'm sure it made some people feel uncomfortable... Oh, that poor woman has CANCER. But it made me so proud to see her hold her bare head up high, looking the world directly in the eye and saying, "yeah, I have cancer. So what?"

Mom is healthy now. Last year I walked by her side in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Baltimore. I was about six months pregnant, so I like to joke that I was "waddling slowly towards the cure."


This year my mom is once again organizing a team, but unfortunately I can't join her on the walk. Please consider donating to her team. She says it better than I could:

October 14th is just around the corner and I'm shamelessly soliciting for donations to Komen Race for the Cure. Last year was a crazy one for my family, friends and myself. I'm happy to report that I'm cancer free and life is beautiful. Of course, there are so many, too many, who are just learning of their own cancer or in the throes of it all. Komen's research has been working hard and making progress in discovering new ways to eradicate this disease. I met with an extremely bright researcher from Texas last week and there is so much good being done on the cellular, molecular and other levels that it is theirs(and mine) extreme hope that this disease will be something that our daughters and our granddaughters will never have to face. Please consider donating again this year to the Komen Race... Thanks in advance, Kathy and all of "Team Ciambruschini"