For one day every June, more than 10,000 Western New Yorkers make their way to the University at Buffalo and Roswell Park Cancer Institute for The Ride For Roswell. Tom Cunningham and his family, friends and co-workers started riding in 2011 after Tom’s wife, Cheryl, was diagnosed with brain cancer.
On her 25th anniversary of being cancer-free, breast cancer survivor, Heidi Fornes, reflects on her diagnosis and how her outlook changed when she decided to spend just one day with Roswell Park.
I have been battling cancer successfully for 11 years. Looking back at my first diagnosis — stage 2 breast cancer, at age 42 — I downplay it now, because what happened next was so tragic.
As a 25-year cancer survivor, a “veteran” if you will, there is a natural tendency for newly diagnosed cancer patients to gravitate toward me. After all, I’ve “been there done that.”
“I am very blessed. Regardless of what happened, God helped me to get through all of this. And I believe in my heart that God will not give you anything that you cannot handle. He gave me Jim. Jim got me through every single day of this past year.”
I’m not one to worry about what comes next. I live in the moment. That’s the attitude I had nearly 20 years ago when I was first treated for breast cancer, and that’s how I took it two years ago when a routine mammogram showed that my cancer had come back. I was not the least bit concerned about having a mastectomy. But this time, after the mastectomy, my surgeon suggested that I consider breast reconstruction.
Although Alexis is only 9 years old, cancer has been a part of her young life for nearly three years. Long trips from Jamestown to Roswell Park for treatment are not easy, but she finds ways to stay positive by listening to her favorite music, staying active and embracing those around her.
Regardless of how or when you choose to share your experience, remember that your voice could make a difference in someone’s life. All I can hope is that my words might reach another survivor and remind them that they are not alone.
I remember it like it was yesterday. I left work to go to my doctor’s appointment and planned on being back to the office in time for a meeting. Little did I know my entire life would flip upside down that afternoon.