The Big C

Cancer fucking sucks.

I haven't written much about it here to preserve some shred of internet privacy (ha ha!), but I have a family member currently battling cancer and several others have endured or succumbed to the disease.  It's a nightmare, the treatment, the hope and disappointment, the pain and grief, the fear... but the worst, I think, is the feeling of helplessness.  I am not good at standing idly by.  I'm a problem solver, a solutions person, and it is a terrible thing to be simply unable to make a difference.  I can't keep tumors from growing.  I can't keep organs functioning.  I can't make the disease go away.  And because of distance, in this case, I can't even make casseroles.

I really need to make casseroles.  (remind me some other time to write about how I express love by feeding people and how good it is that my husband has such an impressive metabolism.)

Anyway, so, because I can't cure cancer by myself, and because I can't even make casseroles, I am doing what I always do to keep on an even keel: I'm running.

I'm running a marathon.  26.2 miles.  And I hope that those miles can be something more than the achievement of a personal goal.  I hope they can be some small contribution toward making cancer less of a nightmare.  The American Cancer Society does amazing things for people living with cancer, for cancer research and for cancer survivors.  I am so grateful that ACS exists, and that they do the work they do.  I hope you'll all help me make a difference, help me find a way to do something, because cancer just fucking sucks.

Here's what you can do:

Go here to donate-
http://www.active.com/donate/acs2011/aliceforacure

Go here to post support and encouragement for my training runs-
http://www.dailymile.com/people/Alice17

Go here to learn about prevention, risk factors and screening for common cancers-
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/index



Thank you.