Mincepie is Walking 60 Miles and I Need Your Support!
Susan Mince's Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day 60-Mile LA Walk Pledge Page. #4655
My mission is to raise public awareness of the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade and exceed the $1,900.00 minimum fundraising entrance requirement, while improving my self-esteem, mental and physical health, and achieving the hardest goal I have ever set for myself.
My sister Christine lives in California and works in a Pharmaceutical Cancer Research Lab. Last year Christine mentioned that she wanted to join the 2001 Avon Breast Cancer 3-day walk since it was related to her line of research; however, the event was already closed for enrollment. This year she signed up early and since there are no walks in the Cincinnati area where I live, I decided to go to California and join my little sister for the biggest challenge of our lives. This 60-mile walk will beat our last joint adventure of hiking/camping in the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a week. (Well almost a week, I guess 1 night at a Reno resort casino doesn’t count as camping, ha?) In addition to my little sister’s involvement with this cause, there is another family tie to this crusade. Our mother is an Accountant for none other than AVON (Springdale, Ohio)! So, I guess you can say we are keeping this all in the family one way or another.
As for myself, there are two major personal reasons why I am making this commitment to train, network for pledges and ultimately complete the Avon Breast Cancer 3-day 2002 walk in Los Angeles with 2,999 other people. (Walking with my sister Christine rates number 3, sorry Chris!)
The first reason for my commitment to this walk is that I am currently undergoing treatment for major depression and anxiety. As of this time, I am still disabled due to this illness that started in August 2001. By setting this huge goal for myself I am forcing myself to interact with people, get out of the house, exercise, eat and sleep. These are all activities that are major challenges for me on a daily basis. With the constant help from my support system, I hope that this 60-mile walk will be additional therapy to help me overcome my depression/anxiety while accomplishing something that I have never done before in my life.
The second reason for my commitment to this walk is that I am just one of the millions of women in the unknown breast cancer risk category. My doctors have not been able to tell me at what risk I am for developing this life threatening disease. Although, there is no family history of breast cancer, I have a 12-year history of hormone therapy to help control female reproductive issues. By the age of 28 I had undergone 2 drug-induced menopause and then surgical menopause due to the removal of my ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. That was 5 years ago, and as of this time (4/2002) there still is not any definitive research that indicates one way or the other how all these drugs, hormonal changes and no pregnancies effect my chances of developing breast cancer. Since I’m in the unknown risk category I will start having mammograms next year at the age of 35. So, this is my 2nd reason for joining this 3-day breast cancer crusade is to help others like myself as well as all women in the world today and the years to come. With everyone’s support we can fund the research to find the answers to the breast cancer questions and ultimately prevention and a non-invasive cure!
Christine, I can’t wait to kick a lot of asphalt with you!
Thanks for reviewing my site and please support myself here at http://mincepie.pledgepage.com and Christine at
http://dancingtoes.pledgepage.com in any way that you can. Please forward our pages to all of your family and friends to help support this great Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. I hope to hear from or see many old or new family and friends in the near future, so thank you in advance for your support and encouragement!
PS: We won’t discuss how old we all are OK?
Love,
Susie
mincepie007@hotmail.com
Participant # 4655
Event Code # 3DLA-2002
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