Cancer touches everyone. After losing a childhood friend to multiple myeloma, a cousin to brain cancer, watching an aunt go through treatments for stage four lung cancer that had spread to her brain and my mother recover from breast cancer treatment and surgery, I wanted to learn more about the disease. I started reading “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” by cancer researcher Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee. I was astonished to learn that cancer was first identified over 4,600 years ago by an Egyptian physician. We’ve made so many medical advances yet cancer is still the second leading cause of death in the United States. Are you kidding me?
The Prevent Cancer Foundation is working to help reduce the number of people who are diagnosed or die from cancer every year. In addition to educating the public on ways to prevent cancer, the Foundation encourages everyone to get screened in order to detect cancer in an earlier, more treatable stage. That’s why I put together a team for this year’s Prevent Cancer 5k Walk/Run & Health Fair, to raise money to help people get the screenings and treatment they need.
Research shows that up to 50 percent of the cancers diagnosed today can be prevented. The 5k raises money to fund lifesaving research and education programs to reduce the number of people diagnosed with cancer. That’s why I’m here.
I started a team called the Real Housewives of McLean as a tongue-in-cheek nod to living in the ‘burbs of DC and raising two amazing boys with my husband Toby. Right now we actually have more men and children on our team than we do “housewives!” But I did it to laugh while raising money for a very serious cause because sometimes you have to smile and joke when the topic is something as terrible as cancer. We will be walking, running, laughing and celebrating the lives we have lost, the brave loved ones we know who are fighting today and those who have successfully beat cancer. They are our heroes!
So get creative and get moving to make your own team at the 5k. Your hard work will help people across country learn about the importance of cancer prevention and early detection.
I hope to see you there!
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