15.53 Miles!! Wow!

I have a sore on the bottom of my foot that is the size of a dime. It feels like there is a sharp rock in my shoe with every step. I used it as an excuse to keep from walking - because it hurts so bad. I'd walk a few miles and then stop. But walking alongside a breast cancer survivor, all my excuses to stop walking were thrown out the window. My little sore is NOTHING compared to the emotional and physical trauma that sufferers and survivors have to endure for the rest of their lives. In light of that, I walked about 7 miles on a numb foot.

My walk today has given me a new outlook on life and a renewed purpose for completing the Susan G Komen 3-Day For a Cure! :) Now I have to finish raising the minimum in order to walk!!!

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Thanks for reading! ~ Deanna

Week Day Training!

Well, I didn't have much time, but the time I did have, I used well! I got another mile in today. Whoo-hoo!!!

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Thanks for reading! ~ Deanna

Last Sunday's Walk....

Here is my Sunday walk - first real walk on my foot. Wasn't SO BAD, but it wasn't pretty either. I am getting there, slowly but surely!

This Sunday, I am planning to walk 15 miles - around Stone Mountain 3 times.

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Thanks for reading! ~ Deanna

Didn't Get Very Far!!!

So, the sore on my foot is a bit more painful after the first mile, and even worse by the end of the second. Which means: I didn't walk much past mile 3 and finished limping. But I did walk!! And after I was done, I went out and got the pain reliever I didn't think I needed when the doctor told me it was going to be painful.

Here is the route I walked:

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I plan to walk more today, now that I have the pain relief stuff. But, I am going to wait until dusk, so that it is a bit cooler!!

Thanks for reading! ~ Deanna

Training Begins Again

I bought new shoes today, along with all the stuff the doctor told me I needed to have for my feet. Tonight, I begin walking again.

I am really looking forward to it, as all the set backs have really gotten under my skin.

I will post more once I have finished walking!

Thanks for reading! ~ Deanna

Status Update

Just got back from the doctor! I have to wear soled shoes at all times, and I need to wear extra padding and Alabama chrome (aka: duct tape) on the part of my foot that is messed up, but other than that, I should be good to go! I am going to start my evening training back up this evening, and pray I can get enough training in to be in EXCELLENT shape for the event.

Illness & injuries SUCK!!! I am so glad I am on the "other side" of this!!!


Thanks for reading! ~ Deanna

This year, so different....

Here I am 63 days away from walking 60 miles, and I feel utterly defeated. Between the stress over the mammogram, the controversy regarding the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the lack of participation (to the point 1/2 of next year's events are cancelled), I am lost. Everywhere I turn, there is more and more controversy facing me. I have only raised 43% of the required monies to participate, and am having problems asking people to donate. Well, I ask, but the response I have been receiving makes it harder for me to ask again, or ask others, so the donations are not coming in as they had in the past.

Three years ago, when there was a training walk, there were several walkers and new people every time. This year, it seems that the attending walkers are just us - the training walk leader the few teammates that can join us (4 people at most). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE our walks even when it is just 2 of us; I am just so saddened that there aren't more people participating and the lack of participation is so VERY apparent when there isn't anyone there.

I feel that I am stuck - but I have such a supportive team, and a husband who won't let me quit no matter how heartbroken I am (he's been fixing that as much as he can....) that I can't be stuck anymore.

I have got to get my butt in gear (and in shape) so that 63 days from now I will walk with my head held high for all 60 miles!!!

Thanks for reading! ~ Deanna

Mammogram Stress Relieved??

I haven't be able to write lately. I had been so stressed over my diagnostic mammogram - the unknown of why they wanted me to come back, the fear of what they were going to tell me. Then, when they told me it was "something that meant nothing, come back in 6 months" well, that just caused more stress, even though I don't have cancer!

It appears that I have a growth that is 7 mm in size that appears to be an abnormal lymph node in my breast. This abnormality could mean nothing, but it could mean that the lymph node is fighting something they don't see. They want me to come back in 6 months.

In dealing with getting the insurance all worked out, my insurance specialist informed me that there are several hospitals, including the one I went to, that are working a sort of scam where they tell people they need to go in for re-scans every 6 months, and that these diagnostic scans are not covered by insurance and they end up paying for them out of pocket, like I had to for the one I just had and the one I will take in 6 months.

So, here I am now, wondering if the 7 mm abnormality is actually something that needs to be watched or if it was just a way for the imaging center to earn income. Breast Cancer SCARES me - I know way to many people affected by it not to be scared. I am going to get my scan in 6 months, and see where it goes from there.

But, I am spinning. I don't even know how to stop spinning - so I am going to dedicate the rest of the year to raising awareness. In talking to my friends, many of them have similar diagnoses, and they are all getting their scans as directed. I just don't know what to think.....

Anyone else out there with these issues???

Thanks for reading! ~ Deanna