Running for a cure at breast cancer fundraiser
The cancer diagnosis, when it came, was a shock, but not all that surprising to Linda Doyle.
Her mother had been diagnosed with the disease at age 53 and, given that family history, Doyle’s health had been closely monitored by doctors.
After many routine tests and no call-backs from the doctor’s office, Doyle did receive a fateful phone call that some additional imaging was required.
“Hearing those two words, breast cancer, the world kind of goes silent,” Doyle told hundreds of people attending the annual CIBC Run for the Cure in City Park on Sunday.
But after the diagnosis, Doyle says, was determination.
“For me, it was, ‘Okay, let’s get this done,’” Doyle said of her resolve to begin treatment with a positive attitude as soon as possible.
Doyle now calls herself a 30 month survivor of breast cancer, but her goals include dancing at the wedding of the youngest of her seven granddaughters.
“I’m pretty darn sure I’ve got 30 years left in me,” Doyle said.
The number of participants at this year’s Run for the Cure appeared down from previous events, likely owing to the cool and drizzly weather. But those in attendance responded enthusiastically to some pieces of life advice offered by six other cancer survivors who took to the stage.
The humorous tips included one to enjoy simple pleasures, such as ‘eat french fries, enjoy that glass of wine and go ahead and wear that bathing suit.’
Another woman suggested people should take more pictures of flowers, and fewer selfies.
One woman, who was diagnosed at age 38 with breast cancer, said she believed the disease had shown her how powerful she could be, in terms of overcoming it.
In the crowd, Marion Clayton was dressed head to to in pink, from a spray-painted pair of old runners to her cap taped with pink feathers.
“I’m here today in memory of some good friends who aren’t around anymore,” Clayton said, her voice breaking with emotion.
“But the good news, the really good news, is that progress in cancer treatment has come so far that a diagnosis doesn’t have to be the same kind of devastating news it used to be,” Clayton said.
Still, one in nine women are diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives, the Canadian Cancer Society says.
Thirteen per cent of cancer deaths in women are attributable to breast cancers.
But mortality rates are much lower than they used to be, and 92 per cent of B.C. women diagnosed with breast cancer will live at least five years from that point.
In 2017, the CIBC Run for the Cure in Kelowna raised almost $400,000 for breast cancer research, part of the $4.8 million raised across B.C.