This Year Me and my family relayed for the very first time in Memorie of my grandmother who passed away last year due to cancer. I was very honored to be in such a special event it touched me very much how wonderful this event is and how so many people come together for one day and relay for all those who are still fighting and for all those who lost the fight to cancer. I made a promise to myself that as long as they have this wonderful event that me and my family will be there to relay.

Our Next Relay for Life will be held

Feb 28,2009 Miami,Florida

thats where i am from

and the kickoff party will be held on

Sept 17,2008

I can't wait for next year's Relay!

I have been participating in Relay for Life for a few years now. I'm not a veteran by any means and never claim to be. The reason I started Relaying is because I have lost loved ones to cancer and don't want others to have to go through that so I Relay to help raise the money needed to combat this vile condition.

 Recently, however, I have become disappointed in others who participate. This prior weekend I participated in the Labette County Relay for Life here in Kansas and was quite disappointed in a few of the teams. Due to possible inclement weather the layout for the Relay had been slightly altered and when word came that storms were coming, the committee made the decision to move the Relay into the LCC gymnasium, which had been the plan all night due to the possibility of storms.

Once the word had arrived that the Relay would be moved indoors, several of the teams overran the decision of the committee and decided to pack up and go home. This is a sad travesty and a disappointment. I just have one thing to say to the teams that decided that since they would have to endure some hardships they were going home.

help

It often surprises me how many lives the effects of cancer have touched... because for so long I have felt like the only one.

I am starting a Relay team this year because both of my parents have cancer and Iw wish not a single more soul to endure such hardships, especially not children, daughters, sons, and relatives. When I was in 7th grade of Middle School, just four years ago for myself, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. My dad was diagnosed in his teenage years. Even after the diagnosis, assessment, surgery, chemo, radiation, and continuing appointments, I still do not talk of it much. The week that my mother was diagnosed was coincidentally Spring break and upon returning to school I uttered not a single word of what had happened... looking back I find it surprising, but at the moment it just seemend natural. I thought it was my responsability to reconcile with what was happening, but looking back I think it should have been anything but.

Everyone out there needs to be aware of the massive amounts of support available to them when dealing with the effects of cancer on loved ones. I have always avoided speaking of it, discussing it, or mentioning it, and for those very reasons it slightly frightens me that I am starting a team. I know I will have to confront issues and feeling that I have surpressed for so long.

first, i am new to this forum (and am typing with a broken arm so forgive the bad spelling and lack of caps).

i did my very first relay for life last night in fresno, at the fresno state campus. it was an amazing experience and i am ready to do it again.

i am a cervical cancer survivor. i was diagnosed on my anniversary last year (happy anniversary honey, i have cervical cancer)...i was 35 and had 6 year old twins, a husband, and was in generally good health. so how can this happen to ME? i learned a lot last year, not just about cancer, but about myself. in june it will be one year without cancer. my family went through hell while i tried my best to remain strong and plucky, and give "good face" to any who asked how i was doing (i discovered most people really didn't want to know as they were uncomfortable with it).after chemo, radiation, brachytherapy, and more time in the stirrups than any woman should suffer, i got the news of success. i have been loudly and proudly spreading the word since...using myself as a living, breathing example of why people need to support the acs.

It was the end of August 1997. I was invincible – just like any other 26 year old who had the world in the palm of her hand. I partnered in a family business with my father.  My husband, Pat, and I were married for nearly 6 years, and we were celebrating our son’s 2^nd birthday.  Life was good.  But life, as we knew it, was about to change.  Lance Armstrong was all over the headlines with his cancer diagnosis and I remember the media feeding frenzy covering his battle with testicular cancer. His face was on the cover of every magazine.  I remember thinking pitifully, “Wow... I didn’t even know you could get cancer there.......”.   And off I went in my merry little life. The next week my husband Pat went to our family doctor on a follow up visit for a groin injury.

I posted my story on Squidoo to try and reach a lot of people.

It is here: squidoo.com/relay4er

I also have a myspace for our Relay here: myspace.com/relay4er

...My nightmare started when I was in High School.  My home economics teacher and mentor was diagnosed with breast cancer.  That year some of the teachers and students put together a  team and started to relay.  I didn't know much about relay then.  I had a great weekend and raised alot of $$.  A couple years later my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It was then that I knew that I had to have my own team.  It started with just my aunt and I, and just continued to grow.  I have been actively involved with relay for 5 years now and have been a team captain for the last 3.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend my summer.  I enjoy relay and my team has fun with it too.  I have since gotten my boyfriend and his family involved too.  My mother is a 3 year survivor this may and even she joins us every year and walks her butt off!  I want to thank all those who get involved and lets have another great year!  Hats off to Relay '07!!!

I'm a 3 year breast cancer survivor.  My story is a little different from most in the fact that I found out I had cancer after it was out of my body.  I had a breast reduction and when they biopsied the tissues taken out they then discovered that I had cancer.  I am now on tamoxifen for two more years but I was so lucky that I had the surgery when I did.  When I went to my surgeon to have the stitches out the surgeon was on voice rest so the nurse told me that "by the way you had cancer" I couldn't believe my ears and how casually she told me.  So now I'm the chairperson for our Relay.  Our Relay is going into its third year.  We still have a long way to go to build it up.  If anyone has ideas on how to get the community involved I would appreciate the input.  I can't seem to get people involved.  I have been the chairperson since our Relay began. 

The beginning of our story was when my aunt was in the hospital battling breast cancer.  As I saw her lying there, I began thinking...Why wasn't this caught earlier???  Maybe there would have been a chance. At that point I promised myself to get checked over to make sure I was ok, since I was feeling rundown and not feeling quite right. 

After one doctor dismissed my symptoms..I quickly found another.  Breast cancer was a thought...did I or didn't I have something going on?  Yes, I did, but it was in the kidney my new family physician told me.  Yes, it was cancer.

 Right after my experience going through what had to be done, a cousin suggested.."Let's get a relay team together" in honor of Julie and our aunt, and for everyone in the family and friends who have gone through this."  So, we did.