Celebrating a Survivor

Sammy Jo, Aimee & Cassie

On September 27, 2010 my cousin Aimee's life changed forever.  She was in the shower when she discovered something very concerning under the skin of her right breast.  Suddenly she knew exactly what she had discovered.   She got a mammogram immediately.  Aimee didn't tell anyone until October when she was officially diagnosed with breast cancer as she had feared.  After getting three opinions on how to proceed she chose the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for her chemotherapy and Brigham and Women's Hospital for her lumpectomy, both in Boston.  She's never regretted this decision.  Her doctors at Dana Farber admitted they had never seen such a rigid, jagged tumor like Aimee's that had presented itself so suddenly.  Despite the tumor, Aimee still thought she was too young for breast cancer at just 41 years old, but there was no denying what she had discovered that day in the shower.  Aimee braced herself for a complete shift in her life and turned to her family for support.

Aimee with daughters Cassie & Sammy Jo and husband Mike

Aimee's husband had very recently battled bladder cancer when she discovered her cancer. Her family had scarcely gotten through her husband's ordeal when Aimee was next  diagnosed with breast cancer.  Aimee's family includes two daughters as well, Cassie and Sammy Jo.  Cassie was in the Air Force and at the time of her mother's diagnosis and was stationed in Hawaii.  Sammy Jo was in high school.  Both girls took their mother's diagnosis with great difficulty. Cassie was so far away and Sammy Jo was trying to get through the every day challenges of high school. Aimee never thought people in her life, some of whom she barely knew, could be so incredibly supportive.  Even her twin sister's husband, who she hadn't gotten very close with yet, stepped in to help get Aimee by regularly transporting her to her treatments.  Her husband Mike also enlisted his sister Diane, who is a nurse, to bring some of her treatments to the house.  Travel became one of the more exhausting aspects of her treatment. This is clearly one of the most touching pieces of Aimee's story.  She still gets choked up about the overwhelming commitment her family and extended family has towards her.  Keith and her sister-in-law rearranged their schedules to support her treatment.  Aimee says it is still overwhelming to accept so much support.  

Aimee during one of many difficult chemo sessions

The hard parts of Aimee's treatment included 6.5 months of chemotherapy, a lumpectomy which removed ten lymph nodes under her right arm and caused her to develop Lymphedema, radiation every day for 3.5 months, and painful tattoos for precise radiation.  One long and difficult year passed for the whole process.  Chemo was the worst according to Aimee.  Her husband's sister Diane, a registered nurse, came to her house every week to give Aimee her shots to reduce travel.  Chemo caused Aimee extreme fatigue.  She started losing her hair which was traumatic. She suffered memory loss from the strength of her chemo doses.   Radiation caused severe sunburn like symptoms.  Aimee also battled extreme nausea.  Sammy Jo helped her mother cope with the hair loss which was very upsetting to Aimee. Sammy Jo cut Aimee's hair when the time came and eventually shaved it when too much was gone to bear.  

Sammy Jo & Aimee, pre-diagnosis  

Aimee was prescribed Tamoxifen for 5 years post treatment.  She must accept the life changing side effects of this drug in trade for reducing her risk of developing cancer again.  She initially had check ups every couple months which lessened to every 6 months.  She battled some complications and challenges along the way too.  Aimee developed severe allergies to some of her meds as well as cysts.  She had to see an oncologist regularly and now has two mammograms every year.  A year after finding that telling tumor in the shower, Aimee was cancer free.  It has now been 2.5 years that Aimee has been cancer free but the battle is still fresh in her mind.

Mike, Cassie, Sammy Jo & Aimee celebrating a family milestone

Aimee's daughter Cassie was about as far away as she could be, stationed in Hawaii with the Air Force during her mother's ordeal.  I can imagine the desperation she and Aimee must have felt, wanting nothing more than to be together during this difficult time.  They stayed close in touch and Cassie found a way to harness her energy that would benefit more people than anyone ever imagined.  Cassie was kind enough to send me this summary of her selfless efforts:

 After my mother was diagnosed with cancer, I started working very closely with the American Cancer Society (ACS), the Hawaii branch. I started volunteering for multiple events throughout the beginning of 2010, and eventually worked my way onto the committee. I was the volunteer liaison for multiple events between 2010-2012. I primarily dealt with recruiting military members stretching across the 5 primary bases (Air Force, Navy, Army and Marines) throughout the island of Oahu. 

I recruited over 5,600 volunteers supporting 10 Relay for Life Events on multiple islands, and 3 annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC) events (held every October during breast cancer awareness month). Each Relay for Life event raised on average $150,000, totaling $1.5 million, supported about 200 cancer survivors, and accumulated about 1,100 participants. The MSABC events grew each year, the 1st year we had 4,500 walkers and raised over $230,000, the 2nd year we had 5,100 walkers and raised about $312,000, and the 3rd year we had about 5,500 walkers and raised about $350,000. I arranged members of my Air Force unit at Hickam AFB, to get together a team for 2 Relays. We personally raised about $5,500 for both events.

I also worked closely to set up a new section of the ACS with Staff Partner, Michelle Hashimoto, who was in charge of the ACS DetermiNation program. This program was focused on promoting athletes to run races fully sponsored by the ACS. We would supply the athletes with a coach, nutritionist, pay all of their registration expenses and provide them with an ACS bib for their race. In return, the athlete would raise $1200 or more through donations for the ACS for their race. We supported 18 athletes while I was working on the program, which participated in 10 races to include: 3 Honolulu Marathons, 2 Lava Man Triathlons, and 2 other Iron Man events and 3 other marathons on different islands. 

I could not be a caregiver for my mother because I was stationed too far away, so I frequently volunteered my time and efforts for the individuals in my community who suffered the same fate as my family. I went to youth group events to support children whose parents were undergoing the same treatment as my mother, and encouraged the children to remain strong and continuously positive. 

I think I speak for everyone who has heard this story, that you are my hero Cassie and your mother is so lucky to have you.

Aimee & Cassie, pre-diagnosis

Meanwhile back at home during her treatment, Aimee also recalls Sammy Jo playing softball during her treatment and struggling to get to her games.  She wanted to be there so bad but was feeling terrible.  Aimee found that going to see Sammy Jo play softball, even if she had to drag herself there, helped her feel she was supporting her daughter.  She was so proud, and being there to watch Sammy Jo was like therapy; it made her feel like a normal mom.  Wanting to be at the games gave Aimee the strength to live, she says.  Normal things like going to softball games helped her find her strength.  Sammy Jo recalled her mother's diagnosis was in October, breast cancer awareness month. At the time her family was not sharing her mother's diagnosis. While Sammy Jo's softball team raised money for breast cancer, she was quietly coping with her mother's news.  When Sammy Jo's father was diagnosed with bladder cancer she was only 10 years old.  When her mom got sick it was surreal that it could happen again to her family.  It was a tough time for her being so young and scared for her parents.  Sammy Jo felt terrible being in school all day because she wanted to be with her mom every step of the way but was confined by the pace of high school.  Aimee tells Sammy Jo that every day when she came home from school she was so helpful and it meant so much to have her there when she could. They all still reflect on that year quite a bit.

Aimee's twin sister Angela & husband Keith

Some other silver linings include her sister Angela saying that Aimee found an inner strength she never knew she had.  Aimee's family supported her the whole way, and as they shared their stories with me it became clear that this family's bond was her guiding light.  Aimee feels the best things that came out of this unfortunate situation include how supportive people were and still are.

Aimee's family is fiercely dedicated to one another and have dealt with some very difficult decisions.  They lost their house due to cost of Aimee's treatment.  Extended family flew Cassie home for holidays as a gift that year, which meant the world to Aimee during this incredibly difficult and challenging time.  In the end, Aimee's family told her they didn't care about losing the house. They told Aimee the house is replaceable, she isn't.  Home is where your family is.  

Aimee & Sammy Jo having some fun during a difficult year

In speaking with Aimee and her family about her battle with breast cancer, I simply feel grateful that she is here to tell the tale.  I see how it has brought her family closer together and more in touch with their health.  I feel closer to them too and I am grateful for that.  I will bring a prayer flag up Mount Shasta in honor of Aimee's strength and courage thanks to her family's generous support of my climb.  I look forward to flying Aimee's flag on that summit and having it with me through the climb.  I will pull from her strength to make that summit and to get others there along with me.  And I hope to get to know Aimee and her family more from going on this journey together.  Thank you for sharing your story Aimee, your strength impresses me more than you know.

Revisiting Climbing & the Equator

I started climbing in college.  Although I have climbed, I'm no "climber".  At one point I wanted to be a climber, but that went away with many other college experiments.  I rock climbed indoors and out, did a little ice climbing and a little mountaineering down in Mexico.  I was in an outdoor program with climbers so I was becoming one, really only by association.  I was an Outdoor Recreation major and had done an outdoor semester and climbing was all part of it, in and out of class.  

Once I transferred from Colorado Mountain College to Unity College in Maine, I had to do an internship.  So I went back to Colorado and student led a program called Outdoor Semester in the Rockies. I went from one outdoor focused college community to another and back again, all the while surrounded by climbers.  I dated a climber too of course and he wanted to do some more substantial climbing while we were still in school, something exciting and a little risky.  He wanted to go to Ecuador, land of "Gentleman's Mountaineering" and ecotourism.  It would be exotic but not terribly difficult climbing, just our speed.  So myself, my boyfriend, and two of his climber friends went to Ecuador for three months in the fall of 1999.

Endless steep agricultural hillsides of Ecuador pave the way to the volcanoes

We had our tourist moments

 We did find some rock climbing while we were there, but our mission was to climb higher elevation volcanoes.  We hit the coast, the jungle, got mugged, got pretty lost and eventually based ourselves in Quito at around 9,000 feet in elevation.  By doing this, we would acclimatize to the altitude and it was all up from there for the higher, glaciated volcanoes we hoped to scale.  We started small with some local adventures to some of the lower elevation peaks that were not covered in snow.  We would have started climbing right in Quito on a well known and visited peak called Guagua Pinchinca, but it decided to blow up when we arrived for the first time in about 300 years.  After that our travels became more difficult since all of our approaches were covered in volcanic ash.  Everything became a lot more real and a lot more interesting as well.  

October 1999 eruption of Guagua Pinchincha in Quito, Ecuador

Guagua Pinchincha at sunset from a crag somewhere

Battling a freshly ash covered approach

After adjusting our already loose itinerary we started to venture further and further away from Quito.  We took buses, taxis and rode in the backs of trucks to get to our base camps.  We walked through grazing "toros" and past ferrel dogs, got lost and had gear stolen.  We visited villages, markets and stayed in hotels, hostels and inns.  We all got sick at one point or another, some of us with nicer scenery than others.  It was all part of the journey.  The people were as amazing as the scenery too.  Some of the peaks we climbed included the Illinizas, Cayembe, Cotopaxi and Chimorazo.

Illiniza Sur

Chimboraza and a cute little llama

 We climbed above the equator, the ocean and the jungle to high places with views of this incredible country that only the condors and climbers see.  We got off the beaten tourist path and mingled with farmers and local guides.  We planned each excursion out of Quito as a team and each adventure had a new and different set of views and surprises.  We climbed a dozen volcanoes while in Ecuador.  We had the full experience and all made it in and out of South America safely.

View of Cotopaxi and me

When we started planning our trip to Ecuador, I remember talking about it with my friend Micah at a party.  He had been there and he made it sound way over my head.  He was right.  I am eternally grateful that I was asked to go on that trip, it made an enormous impact on me and formed many of my decisions later in life. Thankfully, I had the boys to drag me along through the mountains and up the more intimidating and difficult routes we took.  In the end, I learned a bit about climbing but I learned way more about why taking risks that have meaning are so worth it.  I think my being part of this trip helped the boys gauge the risks they were willing to take with the non-climber girl as part of the team.  And I, of course, added some drama to the adventure as girls always do.  Seemed like a fair trade.

 Sunrise on Cayembe at 18,996 feet.  The highest point on the equator.

And now I face re-entry to climbing 15 years later as I prepare to climb Mount Shasta this June.  I'm not intimidated by the climbing this time, or the boys.  I'm feeling most intimidated by the intensity of this climb's meaning for myself and all of the other climbers.  We will all be there to honor ourselves and those who have battled their way up metaphorical mountains and have both reached summits as beginnings and unfortunately as endings too in the wake of breast cancer.  Our team will climb Mount Shasta with common purpose.  We will join each other towards our own summits, whether we actually summit or not.  This climb will have more meaning than any climb I have ever done. I can't wait to waive my prayer flags in the wind and bring with me the brave people who have climbed their way to their personal summits even though it was not a path they may have chosen, had they been given the choice.  I climb for them and will always be inspired by them.  I will bring their strength with me up Mount Shasta.  I took a risk signing on to this journey but it is already paying off, just like Ecuador did.