My 2004 Avon Walk Experience

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  In 2004 I participated in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in honor of my mom who had just undergone a mastectomy.  After my walk, I wrote my thoughts down about the experience.  Today, I share my thoughts with you:

 

 

 

Well my weekend is over and my Avon Breast Cancer walk is nothing but a memory - an exhausting, emotional, life-changing memory.

It all began on Saturday October 2, 2004 when the alarm went off at 4:45 AM. I woke up after a mediocre night's sleep with my friend’s 2 cats. The alarm was so loud that it jolted me off my friend's couch and I fell into her coffee table and then slid across the floor. I hate the morning. I managed to turn off the alarm before waking up the entire apartment building and sneak around in the dark to get dressed and repack my duffle bag. It was still dark when I left and met a friend on the corner to share a cab to South Street Seaport where the festivities began.

For weeks I had been preparing for this. I had fundraised and with the support of family and friends I raised over $3500. For six months I spent almost every weekend walking the trail from the Massapequa Train Station to the Bethpage Park and back. I also had to mentally prepare for this. I also had to accept the fact that I'd be using port-a-potties all weekend.

I met up with my team of eight and we headed up the stairs for the opening ceremony. We heard from women who are walking for all different reasons. I looked around and saw how many women had decorated their shirts. Some had names on them. One woman wrote "To my mother who lost the battle." That's the one that hit me. It made me realize how thankful I am that my mother is a breast cancer survivor and not a breast cancer statistic. I'm lucky for that. Many of the walkers that I met could not say the same thing.

During the ceremony, we learned about the "Every Three Minutes Ribbon." Every three minutes a woman in the United States is diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Every three minutes a random person was given one of these ribbons. 670 were given out during our two days together. That means that 670 women were diagnosed with breast cancer while I was walking. I never got one, but 2 of the 8 people that I walked with got them.

The most beautiful sunrise came up over the seaport. We learned that together New Yorkers raised 7.2 million dollars for the 2004 walk. Our city had the most money raised and the most registered walkers. We stretched our legs. We held hands. We cried together, and we were on our way.
We headed uptown along the west side. We passed the World Trade Center site. That was the first time I'd been there since the attacks. Posted are the names of those killed in September 11th. I stopped to find one particular name. It was the name of a man whose wife had given me a generous donation.

We continued on passing Chelsea Piers and all of the cruise lines that leave from Manhattan. We passed a group of children who were with an organized group cleaning up the shore and studying pollution. We stopped for lunch after 10 miles. We stretched our legs and continued on for the last 3 miles of the day, which were the hardest. We finally ended the day at Fort Tryon Park in the 190's.

We were bussed to camp on Randall's Island where we were greeted with cheers and love and hugs and lots of support. The sky was ready to open up so we tried to get our tent set up ASAP. Luckily there were boy scout volunteers to help us. The boys set up the tent for us and I was able to get inside and take a little snooze while the rain came down. Some of the other walkers were out walking in the rain. I didn't envy them.

At the campsite there was a wellness village with medics, massage, yoga classes, and free flip flops. I raised $3500 and walked 26 miles and all I got was a lousy pair of flip flops. Of course the massages were booked up in about 5 seconds, so I made an appointment to see a chiropractor. I explained to him that "I'd like an adjustment because I have a torn lower disk and if it's not too personal, my right butt cheek is really tight." Being a professional, he was very nice and was able to work the knots out of my butt cheek, as well as adjust my spine. I think I heard every bone in my body crack as he put me back together. I was very tight, but after that I felt much better.

We woke up to have dinner, which was a giant disappointment. There was so much food the entire weekend, but the meals were not very good at all. The snacks were wonderful. Every few miles we had choices of cookies, chips, nuts, pretzels, granola bars, apples, bananas as well as Gatorade and water. But the meals were awful. Saturday's dinner was sweet and sour chicken, chicken chow mein, steamed veggies and spinach salad. I ate the veggies and some mediocre strawberry ice cream. It was a good thing that I filled up on snacks all day and wasn't terribly hungry. One of the wonderful walkers was able to lie, cheat and steal for a corn muffin, so we split that as well.

That night we had some live entertainment, but I left to get away. The band was really good but I didn't have the energy to sit and listen to them. They were very loud. Instead I headed to the showers and took a nice warm shower on a truck. Yes, you heard me right. They brought in shower trucks. It wasn't as bad as I thought. One of my team members had rented a hotel room in case it was pouring, but we all decided to stay for the full experience. So instead of showering at the Marriott, we showered on trucks.

So I headed to bed and went to sleep. At 1 AM I woke up to go to the bathroom. I almost dropped my flashlight in the gross, blue, port-a-potty water. That was close. It's a good flashlight and I would not have gone in after it. I headed back to the tent, but I was so ridiculously thirsty that I could not go back to sleep. So I started walking around the campsite to find a crew member to get some water. Of course the crew was asleep, and the grounds were so quiet. It was so strange to have 2700 people all around you, yet the only sound you hear is the cars going by the Triborough Bridge right above us. Yes, I can say that for one night, I slept under a bridge. So I headed towards the security guards who told me to check the kitchen tent which only had leftover sodas from dinner. Finally I headed into the medical triage tent and was able to find a box with bottles of water. I got back into the tent and had a hard time getting back to sleep since I was up in the night air. Finally I was asleep.

5AM -  My goodness was is windy. I thought we'd blow away. I was up and shivering. I was searching through my gear for my gloves but I didn't want to wake up my tent mate so instead I just put the sleeping bag over my head. Finally at 6 AM it was time to get up and start the day. So now I'm exhausted and have had two short and interrupted nights of sleep.
After packing my bag and taking down the tent, we finally headed off to breakfast, which was another disappointment. After tasting fake eggs, chicken fried steak and a very dry biscuit, I settled on coco puffs. (Avon's intentions were good with a nice choice of breakfast food, but the food wasn't very good.)

We stretched our legs and left amidst the cheers of the crew and volunteers. Starting off on day 2 was much more difficult than day 1, but we got the momentum up and went. The first bridge we crossed was a green walking bridge that I always saw from the FDR and wondered where it led. Now I know it leads to Randall's Island. We continued heading downtown through the streets of Manhattan along 1st Avenue. Just like day 1, we stopped every few miles to stretch, eat and hit the bathrooms. I felt like I was constantly hitting the bathrooms because I was drinking at least a bottle of Gatorade every few miles. I was so afraid of having one of my fainting spells so I kept hydrated and ate salty snacks. We continued on, crossing the Manhattan Bridge and then stopping for lunch. This was my favorite part of the weekend. Not because the lunch was so great. It was a soggy turkey sandwich that I didn't even finish. The big chocolate chip cookie was good. It was my favorite part of the weekend because we ate at a park in Brooklyn between the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge. The sun was shining. It was the most perfect day. I laid down on the grass and just took in the sunshine and terrific view.

Getting up was tough, because I was relaxing for a good 30 minutes and my muscles were tightening. We encouraged each other, knowing that we were so close to finishing. All we had to do was cross over the Brooklyn Bride and get back to the seaport. I pulled myself off of the ground and continued on. We crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and admired the beautiful architecture. We found ourselves in lower Manhattan and were less than half a mile from the finish line. Finally it was in sight. We saw the two pink towers with all of our signatures on it and a crowd waiting to cheer us on. One walker said to me, "We all walked for different reasons, but we all walked for the same reason." We were on the other side, crying, hugging, laughing, and congratulating each other. We walked 26.2 miles, the length of a marathon.

I was so proud of myself for walking, but that's not even what this experience was about. It was about unity, sisterhood, support, raising money, sharing stories, breast cancer education, breast cancer research and finding a cure. I heard so many stories about loved ones lost, yet this wasn't a sad weekend at all. Just the opposite -  it was so uplifting. It was so refreshing. I couldn't believe the positive energy that surrounded me for two days. One person was nicer than the next. One person was more positive than the next. One person was more supportive than the next. The women who went through the hardest struggles were the first to lend an ear. As the walkers were crossing the finish line, they'd go back to cheer on the next walker. I couldn't get over how many survivors were walking 2 in my group alone. Our oldest walker was 76 years old.

The walk was amazing. It wasn't easy, but it was amazing. It really gave me an appreciation for the beautiful city of Manhattan. I crossed bridges. I visited parks. I walked along the water. I would have never thought to do those things on my own.

Finally it was time for the closing ceremony. The walkers marched in together chanting, singing, clapping, cheering. The crew marched in together. They were the ones who made the weekend possible. We heard more stories. We heard more statistics. Every 3 minutes a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. That means that during my walk, 670 women were diagnosed. Every 14 minutes a woman dies from breast cancer. That means that during my walk, 145 women were lost to this disease.

Breast cancer affects everyone. That's why I took this walk. My mother is a breast cancer survivor. One day I may be diagnosed with breast cancer. I don't want my future daughters and future nieces to ever have to hear the words "You've got breast cancer."

I share all of these personal thoughts with you because you've all supported me. You've supported me through donations, by giving me advice, by listening to me talk about my concerns, by helping me through my mother's ordeal. Although my walk is over, the battle with breast cancer is not. Because since you've begun reading this, another  woman was just diagnosed.

Thank you for your love and support.