Tillsonburg Relay for Life
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Tillsonburg Relay for Life participants were introduced to guest speaker Virginia Armstrong’s friend ‘Daisy’ Friday night.
“As I went through chemo I traveled back and forth to St. Thomas and I met so many wonderful friends,” said Armstrong, who being treated for breast cancer. “After that I did 25 radiation treatments, and I traveled to London. Often I drove myself. I was very fortunate, I was able to work through all of my treatments. I worked from home (for the Downtown BIA).”
Staying positive, and trying to be proactive before chemo, she wanted to get a wig before her hair fell out.
“We headed off to London to the wig store. I was dreading it, I thought I’m going to be there for hours picking out a wig. I tried on two, and they weren’t right. The clerk said, ‘Virginia, I just had a wig come in yesterday, I think you’re going to like it.’”
“It was ‘my’ wig,” Armstrong smiled.
“So sure enough, two weeks after chemo, my hair started coming out. It was coming out in clumps, and I had to call my daughter and say, ‘bring over the shears because it’s hair-cutting time.’”
Pausing for a moment, Armstrong put on a wig, introducing everyone to Daisy.
“My newest friend during chemo was Daisy. This was me last year, 32 pounds heavier, long blonde hair. This was Daisy, she was named in the chemo department in St. Thomas. She kept me warm at night, she made me hot during the day, and I had so many compliments on my new hairstyle. A lot of people didn’t know I had a wig.
“I now have a real appreciation for bad hair days, now that my hair has come back.”
Armstrong explained how she was a breast cancer survivor, just 10 months out of treatments.
“Last year I sat before this same stage in a wheelchair, hardly able to walk because I had just had my last chemo treatment. I was surrounded by my family and friends, wondering when would I ever be normal again… I focused on living one day at a time, with humor, and with a positive attitude. I would often remind myself that there were a lot more people worse off than I was.”
Going through cancer treatment, she said, is often called a journey. But Armstrong did not want to call her ‘story’ a journey.
“It was more an adventure,” she said, noting a definition of adventure as ‘a chance of danger, loss, the encountering of risk and a bold undertaking.’
“I believe anyone who’s gone through chemo and radiation has had, seriously, a big adventure.”
When she found out she had cancer, just before Christmas, she recalled delaying telling her family and friends until after the holidays.
“I had 23 people to my house for Christmas, we celebrated, had fun and we lived in the moment.”
She soon went in for surgery, followed by four months of chemo.
“Having been on both sides of this situation, losing my sister three-and-a-half years ago at the age of 47 to breast cancer, I know what it’s like to be the caregiver, and I know what it’s like to be the victim. I have to say, that all the caregivers out here tonight – you are angels, absolute angels. For me, it was much more difficult being the caregiver than being the victim. As a caregiver, you have that helpless feeling and you don’t know what to do or exactly what to say. But when you are the victim, you can choose, you can choose whether you’re going to look at life in a positive or in a negative.”
Armstrong also looked at it in a positive, and she never gave up supporting her community.
“Despite the many side affects and the risks that accompany chemo, I did choose to stay involved in my community.”
Julie Dawley, co-MC, agreed, noting in her introduction that Armstrong “has made it her passion to make Tillsonburg the best, by being involved in this community through both her career and volunteer fundraising opportunities.”
“Cancer taught me how fortunate I was,” said Armstrong, “in family and friends. As I look out at this crowd tonight, I see you there, smiling and still supporting me.”
GOOD START
The 12th Tillsonburg Relay for Life, held annually at Annandale School, was already off to a good start Friday night in fundraising, said Tillsonburg Relay for Life chair Steve Kyle.
“We’re over the $100,000 mark. We’re off to a really good start, and seeing what comes in tonight.”
Funds were also raised Friday night through a silent auction in the Annandale gym, luminaries, as well as food concessions.
“We want to thank all the participants – we think it’s a really important community event, to get out here and support our cancer survivors and their families,” said Kyle. “There’s so many more being affected, but at the same time, many more are being cured. Because now they tell us cancer is the most curable of all the diseases. So that’s a really good sign.
“And again, survivors, thank you for coming, thank you for sharing your courage with us. I think you’re an inspiration for everybody who may get this disease, or who has this disease.”
One of the most often asked questions, said Dawley, is where the Relay for Life money goes. She outlined some Oxford County highlights from the past year.
“In 2012 we were able to provide volunteer driver transportation services to over 109 cancer patients living in Oxford County, and we provided 1,835 free client trips, driving in total 96,000 kilometres.
“We provided transportation to 310 escorts, just people who wanted to be there for that person who was going through cancer treatments.
“We provided 16 children and their families with transportation and pediatric assistance.
“We have 73 volunteer drivers who donate tons of time to transfer patients,” added Dawley, noting two of them would be recognized Friday night.
“We distributed hundreds of cancer pamphlets and risk reduction messages promoting healthy lifestyle choices.”
In total Relay for Life raised more than $553,000 in Oxford County last year with 354 survivors walking in Survivor Victory Laps.
“The remarkable impact of your efforts in the fight for life can be seen in the faces of thousands cancer survivors who are alive today,” said co-MC Jodi Aspden. “We are so pleased to invite the cancer survivors who have joined us here to kick off our relay with the Survivors Victory Lap. As we all surround the track to cheer them on, these amazing survivors are both those who have found success in their battle with cancer, and those who are still facing the disease.
“The Survivors Victory Lap provides an opportunity for survivors to thank those who have helped them, and who continue to help them through their cancer journey.
“Thanks to advances in research, funded by events like ours, there are so many inspiring stories of how people are fighting back against cancer.”