A year ago my family and I helped to raise nearly $10,000.00 for Whatcom County’s Relay for Life benefiting the American Cancer Society with a fair bit coming from readers of this blog. The event itself was inspirational and heart warming. We closed out our fundraiser feeling hopeful and full of love.

If you remember my post from a year ago, my family has battled cancer on many fronts – that battle continues. This year I return to the Relay for Life fundraising feeling differently, however, than I did last year. This year I’m angry.

I am angry that my mother had to battle this disease. Three times in a row. That my grandfather and aunt had to as well. I am angry that I have had to watch my 37 year old cousin fight for her life with next to no help from any available treatments. She fought through countless rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. And then did it again with new chemo drugs and radiation treatments when those weren’t working. When it was clear that those traditional methods weren’t going to be effective she was left with very little choice. I’m angry about that. She made the choice to enter into a clinical trial at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance in hopes that a new trial drug would be able to calm the aggressive cancer she had been battling for nearly two years.

I’m angry that that did not work either.

I’m angry that she had to suffer through “treatments” that were anything but.

I am angry that her three beautiful daughters have to watch their mom go through this.

I am angry that her mom has to watch her baby go through this.

I am angry for my family.

I am angry for her fiancee.

I am angry for her friends.

I am angry for me.

More than anything though I am angry that we don’t have more options. I’m angry that this is as good as we can do…?

With as much anger as I have for all of this I have not lost hope. I have hope that with every dollar we raise we bring more people further away from this anger and closer to healing light. If you have been touched by cancer in some way then you surely know well  both the hope and the anger I feel. And you also know how important finding a cure is. Please help support the cause if you are so inclined by visiting my team’s page:  We Fight Cancer Together.

 

Thank you.