Nancy Dwyer Chapman Is Helping to Battle Breast Cancer in the NY Avon 3-Day
I'm Taking Up the Fight Against Breast Cancer - One Step At a Time
The battle against breast cancer really 'got personal' for me last year. My sister-in-law, Dr. Patricia Ruze Chapman, was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ and underwent a simple mastectomy at the age of 42. She's a one-and-a-half year survivor, and she got me involved in the Avon 3-Day Breast Cancer Crusade, as she participated in the Baltimore-Washington walk in May. If that wonderful and strong woman could walk 60 miles in three days to raise money for breast cancer research, clinical care, support services and detection & awareness programs, how could I do anything less?
In fact, the photo to the right is of Patty's husband, my brother John who's pushing the stroller containing his and Patty's two kids, Nicky and Paul, and me. We walked with Patty on June 1 in the National Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C.
Patty is not the first person near and dear to me to be diagnosed with breast cancer, undergo a mastectomy and survive. My late godmother, Ruth Perkins Forste, was a 30 year breast cancer survivor, and my very dear, dear friend, Robina (Bean) Carter, is a 12 year breast cancer survivor.
You've heard the statistics - one in nine women will develop breast cancer, and it is the most common cancer for women. You may not know that 75% of breast cancers occur in women who are not obviously at risk or that breast cancer is not limited to women. An estimated 203,500 new invasive cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States during 2002. An estimated 39,600 women will die from breast cancer. Breast cancer is the leading cancer among American women and is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women ages 40-59.
Men can develop breast cancer, too, although it is a far rarer occurence. It is estimated that 1,500 men will be diagnosed and 400 men will die of breast cancer during 2002.
Research into this devastating, deadly and disfiguring disease is ongoing and producing results, with improvements promised in the years ahead. There is a current controversy over mammography, its efficacy and recommended frequency, but Patty was diagnosed after her first mammogram, yet mammography centers are closing for lack of funding. Research, early detection, clinical care and support, all desperately need funding, and that has to come from the private sector as well as the government.
And that's where I am literally stepping in to do my part. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and from October 11 through 13 I will be walking sixty - yes, 60! - miles with over 6,000 women and men from Rockland Lake State Park to Pearl River, NY to support the crusade against breast cancer and to raise money for breast cancer research. Unfortunately, owing to security concerns and attendant expense, the walk will not go from Bear Mountain to Manhattan.
Each participant (just like my sister-in-law survivor Patty in the Washington 3-Day) must raise a minimum of $1900 in order to particpate. I have vowed to make my minimum and much, much more. But in order to do it, I need the generous assistance of friends, family and others who are willing to donate big bucks to beat breast cancer.
I need your help, and I call upon you to be generous in your giving to this very, very worthy cause.
I'm happy to report that as of October 1 I have raised over $6000, with a few more promised contributions still to arrive. It's a day and a half before THE WALK and my fundraising has now surpassed $6400!
I have made a financial, physical, temporal and emotional commitment to the New York Avon 3-Day Breast Cancer Crusade Walk. I have trained for five and a half months to toughen my tootsies for the hills and the hoofing for those sixty miles. I will be walking publically to celebrate the survivor stories of Patty, Bean and Aunt Ruth. If you have a person you'd like me to celebrate as well, your donation will guarantee that I will carry (and wear on a special shirt I'll make) her (or his) name with me on my 3-Day Walk. If you have someone whose memory you would like me to honor, your donation will guarantee I walk in remembrance of that person as well.
The spirit of the Avon 3-Day Breast Cancer Walks is founded in HumanKindness and determination to help to find a cure for this devastating disease. "Hope springs eternal in the human breast," and with your generous help, we can help to make the hope of better detection, care and a cure possible.
Nancy Dwyer Chapman
1 Brooklands
Bronxville, New York 10708
nancy.chapman@verizon.net
"The Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day, New York"
This fall, thousands of people will walk 60 miles from Rockland Lake State Park to Pearl River, NY in a remarkable event called the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day. It's 72 hours of all-out commitment to the cause-a living, moving monument to the power of human kindness. We're walking to honor our loved ones, to celebrate breast cancer survivors, to help more people survive this deadly disease, and ultimately, to find the cure that will eradicate breast cancer for good. Net proceeds will benefit the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, to fund better access to care for medically underserved women and to find a cure for breast cancer.
The battle against breast cancer really 'got personal' for me last year. My sister-in-law, Dr. Patricia Ruze Chapman, was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ and underwent a simple mastectomy at the age of 42. She's a one-and-a-half year survivor, and she got me involved in the Avon 3-Day Breast Cancer Crusade, as she participated in the Baltimore-Washington walk in May. If that wonderful and strong woman could walk 60 miles in three days to raise money for breast cancer research, clinical care, support services and detection & awareness programs, how could I do anything less?
In fact, the photo to the right is of Patty's husband, my brother John who's pushing the stroller containing his and Patty's two kids, Nicky and Paul, and me. We walked with Patty on June 1 in the National Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C.
Patty is not the first person near and dear to me to be diagnosed with breast cancer, undergo a mastectomy and survive. My late godmother, Ruth Perkins Forste, was a 30 year breast cancer survivor, and my very dear, dear friend, Robina (Bean) Carter, is a 12 year breast cancer survivor.
You've heard the statistics - one in nine women will develop breast cancer, and it is the most common cancer for women. You may not know that 75% of breast cancers occur in women who are not obviously at risk or that breast cancer is not limited to women. An estimated 203,500 new invasive cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States during 2002. An estimated 39,600 women will die from breast cancer. Breast cancer is the leading cancer among American women and is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women ages 40-59.
Men can develop breast cancer, too, although it is a far rarer occurence. It is estimated that 1,500 men will be diagnosed and 400 men will die of breast cancer during 2002.
Research into this devastating, deadly and disfiguring disease is ongoing and producing results, with improvements promised in the years ahead. There is a current controversy over mammography, its efficacy and recommended frequency, but Patty was diagnosed after her first mammogram, yet mammography centers are closing for lack of funding. Research, early detection, clinical care and support, all desperately need funding, and that has to come from the private sector as well as the government.
And that's where I am literally stepping in to do my part. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and from October 11 through 13 I will be walking sixty - yes, 60! - miles with over 6,000 women and men from Rockland Lake State Park to Pearl River, NY to support the crusade against breast cancer and to raise money for breast cancer research. Unfortunately, owing to security concerns and attendant expense, the walk will not go from Bear Mountain to Manhattan.
Each participant (just like my sister-in-law survivor Patty in the Washington 3-Day) must raise a minimum of $1900 in order to particpate. I have vowed to make my minimum and much, much more. But in order to do it, I need the generous assistance of friends, family and others who are willing to donate big bucks to beat breast cancer.
I need your help, and I call upon you to be generous in your giving to this very, very worthy cause.
I'm happy to report that as of October 1 I have raised over $6000, with a few more promised contributions still to arrive. It's a day and a half before THE WALK and my fundraising has now surpassed $6400!
I have made a financial, physical, temporal and emotional commitment to the New York Avon 3-Day Breast Cancer Crusade Walk. I have trained for five and a half months to toughen my tootsies for the hills and the hoofing for those sixty miles. I will be walking publically to celebrate the survivor stories of Patty, Bean and Aunt Ruth. If you have a person you'd like me to celebrate as well, your donation will guarantee that I will carry (and wear on a special shirt I'll make) her (or his) name with me on my 3-Day Walk. If you have someone whose memory you would like me to honor, your donation will guarantee I walk in remembrance of that person as well.
The spirit of the Avon 3-Day Breast Cancer Walks is founded in HumanKindness and determination to help to find a cure for this devastating disease. "Hope springs eternal in the human breast," and with your generous help, we can help to make the hope of better detection, care and a cure possible.
Nancy Dwyer Chapman
1 Brooklands
Bronxville, New York 10708
nancy.chapman@verizon.net
"The Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day, New York"
This fall, thousands of people will walk 60 miles from Rockland Lake State Park to Pearl River, NY in a remarkable event called the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day. It's 72 hours of all-out commitment to the cause-a living, moving monument to the power of human kindness. We're walking to honor our loved ones, to celebrate breast cancer survivors, to help more people survive this deadly disease, and ultimately, to find the cure that will eradicate breast cancer for good. Net proceeds will benefit the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, to fund better access to care for medically underserved women and to find a cure for breast cancer.