Remembering Nan's Battle.

In May of 2007, my mom was diagnosed with terminal small cell carcinoma. By the time the cancer was found it had already spread from the lymphnodes of her lungs to her liver. For seven long and at times, very hard months, my mom fought against the disease through chemotherapy, pain medications and lots of rest but on December 13, 2007 at 1:05am, she took her final breath and at last, her battle was done.

In lieu of flowers, our family asked that memorial gifts be given to North Memorial Hospice and we were (and still are) in awe and great appreciation of the gifts that came in. Because of these generous gifts, North Memorial recently placed a brick in memory of my mom at their residential hospice in Brooklyn Center, MN.

For the seven months that the cancer ravaged through her body, my mom made the most of the time she had left. She wrote letters to loved ones, speaking of special things she wanted them to know and remember. She spent time with her family. My parents renewed their wedding vows. Though we had no idea just how soon she would be gone, we jam packed our time together living life to it's fullest.

Watching my mother battle cancer and my father battle a broken heart have been the hardest, truest, most helpless times I have ever felt in my life. All along I asked them, what can I do, what do you want, what do you need. But there was nothing I could do to make it better or to make it all go away and be a bad dream.

I still can not make my mother come back to life and I can not go back in time and change things, but I have realized that while my mother's battle is over, mine has just begun.

Lung cancer is the worlds number one cancer killer. Yes, you read that right. More people die from lung cancer each year than any other cancer. I was just as surprised.

Nobody talks about lung cancer. But I'm talking about it now.

On September 13, 2008, my mom will have been gone 9 months, or 275 days. And on September 13, 2008, my family and I will be lacing up our shoes and participating in the Twin Cities Lung Run/Walk.

Will you join us?

And if you can't join us, for whatever reason, whether it's that you live in Texas or that this just isn't your thing, will you please consider making a tax deductible donation to A Breath Of Hope. Your donation will help increase awareness and fund research for today's number one cancer killer.

If you are interested in walking or running on September 13 go and register at A Breath Of Hope. Adults are $25 and children are $10. Once you've signed up please join our team at Remembering Nan's Battle page. You can also make your donation on our team site.

Maybe this sort of thing is not quite your thing, I'm with you, I am. This sort of thing wasn't quite my thing either. Until it hit home. And took my mom. Way too soon.

So think about it, leave me a comment or send me an email if you have questions or are thinking about joining our team. Or like I mentioned above, visit our team page, Remembering Nan's Battle.

Her battle may be over, but here's to hoping that someday, somewhere, this will no longer be such a battle.