The Symbolism of Relay for Life

Good day and Happy weekend!

Regina's Relay for life is 2 weeks away and many other Relays around the world are underway.

Not that alot of people ask why I Relay, as part of my reason is apparent. I thought I would share some of additional reasons.  For me this event is more then just raising some money to help in the fight to make Cancer History.  After attending last year for the first time, and not really knowing what we were doing, I realized this event is not about the money.  The money is secondary.  The showing of support, celebrating survival and honoring those we have lost - that is the biggie.  Yes - I relay to raise money which will help support those in need.  I also Relay to raise awareness about the disease and to show others there is hope.  Before attending last year I "had hope" but there was a wall blocking belief or faith in hope.  That wall was crushed and destoyed while standing on the side lines for the Victory Lap.  What I saw walk by me was hope as there were survivors bearing tags of survival for 15 years, 20 years, and more - each one took a blow to that wall and I found belief in hope.  The core reason I Relay now is to help crush the walls other may have blocking them from believing in hope.  Be warned there Big C - the sea of Yellow shirts is a powerful force - and we are coming for you in waves. 



Here is what the course of the event represents:

• As the participants arrive to start Relay they are strong and ready for the challenge.
• That newly diagnosed cancer survivor hopes they too are ready for the challenge – the challenge of their life.
• As the evening goes on it gets colder and darker and the participants start to wonder what they have gotten themselves into - just as the emotions of the cancer survivor gets colder and darker and they too wonder what is in store for them.
• Once night has come the Luminary Ceremony begins - where every candle we light represents the life of a loved one.   Some have survived or living with Cancer and some have lost their battle.
• But these lights will guide you through the night.
• This represents the time the cancer patient gets help from family, a doctor, or maybe the Canadian Cancer Society – where we will help light their path through their journey.
• Now you walk through the night.  Giving up and going to bed is tempting but you go on exhausted, and push through a sleepless night.  As do those battling Cancer. They become exhausted, some sick, not wanting to go on, possibly wanting to give up, but they can’t.
• Around 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. we are nearing the end of Relay and for the cancer patient, it symbolizes nearing the end of their treatments.
• You’re tired and so are they but you’re almost there..
• There light at the end of the tunnel.
• The morning sunrise brings a new day full of life and they know they will live to see another day.
• You maybe exhausted and weak, just as the patients are going through treatments.
• But there is hope in the new day!

Together we can make cancer history and bring hope to those faced with this challenge.

Take care all and keep smilin

Jason

Path of Hope

Good day all.  
 

 What's up doc?




    

 Treatment tip:  for those who may read this and be going through Chemotherapy treatments or know someone going through Chemo, mouth sores maybe a concern.  I had mouth sores initially every couple weeks with treatments and used Baking Soda mouth rinse and paste to ease the pain.  Then started using Baking soda as a mouth wash as part of my daily routine which helped.  Then I switched to Sensodyne Baking Soda toothpaste - have not had a mouth sore since.  I suggest trying it out.  May not work for everyone - though it has for me.  Just wanted to share.
        
     Treatment update:   Had a nice visit with my Oncologist on Tuesday and had the chance to review the surgeon's report from my recent exam, in a little more detail. Which gave us a little more information and some further insight to the state of the disease. When diagnosed there were some nodes which are no longer there and the main site causing the "narrowing" appears unchanged. Everything else looks clear from the exam.  (which did not include the liver - so that spot as of now is still there)   Then we had an interesting conversation about what we see as the next steps, which we have had in the past as well, just not with much support or agreement from the doc. 

    This my vision, which we all agreed upon,  I am calling  the "Path of Hope".    Next step is an MIR, which is part of the 3 tests I was expecting, though could be as far away as 10 months.  10 months is a fair amount of time, and is mostly because the request is elective and not "emergency".  In the mean time though Chemo will keep going as scheduled and regular CT Scans as expected.   The MIR will help to paint a clearer picture of the disease status in the liver and if the liver spot is actually cancer.  It could be scar tissue or other dead tissue. (hope)  Then once the MIR is done we will look at the PET scan - providing final clarity to the situation and if ultimately a surgery can happen to rid me of this disease.   When these conversations started a couple of months ago the doctor was hesitant to go this route.  This time he agreed with us and was certainly more positive that these are good steps to be taking.  When we began this stage of the process a couple of months ago we were expecting a 6-8 week process, which went to 6-8 months to now being an undetermined amount of time - more then a year.  So we will continue on with the process and look for positive progress.   The Path of Hope is the journey.   


Keep smilin everyone and have a great long weekend. 

Jtee