The Chicago Breast Cancer 3-Day

Team @s A Promise! prepares to start walking What a privilege it was to participate in the Chicago Breast Cancer 3-Day for 2006!

The Breast Cancer 3-Day is a 60 mile walk to raise money and awareness for breast cancer treatment, early detection and prevention. The money raised benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, as well as the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Research Fund.

I signed up for the Chicago 3-Day back in March, I believe. Adrienne's and my dear friend, Peggy Favorite, had made it easy for me to decide to participate with her in the 3-Day as a road to healing for me and a way to make something positive out of the tragedy of Adrienne's untimely death. She and I created a team called, "@s A Promise!". The A-T-S of "@s" are Adrienne's initials.

The organization of the event is phenomenal. They gave me a training schedule, support e-mails from coaches every few weeks, advice on selecting shoes and clothes, tips on preventing and treating problems such as dehydration and blisters, even a packing list of what to bring and what to leave at home. Once we got there, they had taken care of everything. We took our bags to the luggage trucks, filled our bottles with water and gatorade, then stood with our fellow walkers for the Opening Ceremonies.

The Opening Ceremonies included a few brief speeches from organizers and sponsors, and a few stories of survivors and previous walkers. It was highly motivational and stirring, with fast-paced, loud music in the background and lots of cheering throughout. It included a group of five survivors who walked in together and were honored on behalf of all survivors.

The conclusion of the Opening was the beginning of the walk. We all walked to the front of the stage and through some gates into a channel that lead through the rest of the assembled walkers, families and friends. Everyone was in very high spirits and there was a lot of cheering and clapping. It was terrific. There were around 2000 walkers, fewer than there have been in some years past, I understand, but a substantial number nonetheless.

My Day 1 walking partners, Janice and Christina

Then we walked. The first day was to be around 23 miles. We walked from Vernon Hills, Illinois (a northwest Chicago suburb) to Lincolnwood, Illinois (another suburb just north of Chicago). Part of the route was on a trail along the Des Plaines river, but most of it was on sidewalks through neighborhoods. It was really hot! I think the temperature was around 85 for much of the day. About a month or so ago, Peggy developed a pain in the tendons of the arch of her right foot. She was able to walk about 10 miles the first day, then was "swept" on to lunch and then to base camp. I walked the rest of the way with a couple of women who were also walking alone. They were very good company, and we had lots of time to talk and become friends. I heard all about their children, their husbands and families, and about why they each chose to do the 3-Day. Although I didn't walk with them again on Days 2 or 3, we continued to greet each other and sometimes ate together and got introduced to each others' new friends. This is one of the joys of the 3-Day: getting to know new people and finding out their motivations for walking.

One of the pit stops

About the last three or four miles of Day 1, I started to feel a bit of a blister on the ball of my right foot. Just before we arrived at base camp, I felt it break. When I got to camp and was able to look at it, it was quite large and starting to be pretty painful. I went to the Medical tent and they told me how to take care of it, both for the night and for the next two days. The Medical staff, like all of the crew for the 3-Day is all volunteer. They were present at each "pit stop" to give advice, bandages, antiseptic and Motrin (an official sponsor of the 3-Day). I think I arrived into camp a bit after 4:00, but before 4:30. I was tired and hot, but my tentmate had arrived before I did and had the tent all set up. I went to take a shower pretty quickly. The showers were available in large semi truck trailers, and they were quite good. The water pressure was good, the showerheads were good and there was plenty of room to dress and prepare. It felt really, really, really good to wash off the sweat and dirt from a long day of walking.

That evening, they fed us spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, green beans, and lots of other stuff, with some kind of weird eclair things that were a nice try, but didn't quite make it. At 7:00, they began the program. There were some announcements, then some introductions and brief speeches, including one from the Medical Director, who told us to pay more attention to hydration, as they had had to take several people to the hospital.

The coaches had asked me if I would be willing to speak that evening and tell my story, which I was happy to do. I asked Peggy to stand on stage with me as I told it, since she was a big part of it. Here's what I said:

My wife and I are members of the Baha'i Faith, followers of Baha'u'llah. As such, we believe that everything that happens in the world fits somehow into God's Master Plan. We found comfort in that when my wife faced her initial diagnosis of breast cancer five years ago, then endured surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, more chemo, hormone therapy, a vegetarian diet, MRIs, CT and PET scans, blood tests, doctors' visits and more alternative therapies than I can count. It was, perhaps, even more of a comfort when the cancer metastasized into her bones after two years of remission, triggering more radiation and chemo, more frequent scans, and, perhaps most significantly, a feeling of impending doom, deepened by each heightened tumor marker level and new hot spot on the scans. The assurance of God's love and His involvement in our destinies comforted us when the cancer spread to her liver, making further chemo impossible. And it comforted us as the toxins that her liver could no longer process rapidly destroyed the functioning of her body and mind and pushed her into the next plane of her existence. Adrienne Stengel died on January 8th of this year, exactly 8 months ago, at the age of 47. I miss her more than I could ever possibly express.

[At this point, I asked Peggy to come to the front of the stage with me.] My dear friend, Peggy Favorite, who was also a good friend of Adrienne's (and a breast cancer survivor herself) suggested to me -- no, relentlessly pushed me -- to participate in the 3-Day. When my grief had waned a tiny bit, I saw what a great idea it was. I would be moving forward, step by step, mile by mile, into my new, post-Adrienne life. I would have a purpose, a focus for the difficult months ahead. I would be able to know, to feel in my aching muscles and blistered feet that I was doing something to help myself heal, and to help others avoid the pain that Adrienne had gone through, and her family and friends had gone through with her.

Setting a goal of $1000 for each of Adrienne's 47 years was my idea, and I'm not sure Peggy thought it was such a good one. [Peggy rolled her eyes and shook her head to show that she had been skeptical.] But she and I worked towards it, anyway. As of yesterday, we have raised $51,355. [Wild cheering and applause and even a standing ovation!] It's a tribute to Adrienne and it's evidence of the powerful spiritual effect one person can have on others. Adrienne touched many people in her too-short life and now, through the generosity of those people, she will touch many more in death. Is this the plan that God and Baha'u'llah had in mind when they called her home? I don't know, but I can't help but think Adrienne is here with us, joyful and admiring of our efforts, as we walk together on behalf of those we love.

After my story, they asked me to stay on stage briefly as they mentioned that I was the number one fund-raiser for the Chicago 3-Day. Many people told me later that they were touched by Adrienne's story, and by the fund-raising we had done. After this part of the program, the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra played for us. One of their members had died from breast cancer in the last year, and they donated their performance.

Me and the New Balance Cheerleaders

Day 2 was about 22.4 miles (according to the route card -- we constantly felt that the distances they told us we walked were shorter than the actual distances). We were to stay in the same base camp the second night, too, so it was a giant loop north. We went up as far as Winnetka and Northbrook, walking near Lake Michigan, then turned south and returned through mysterious pathways to Lincolnwood. I believe I arrived at around 4:45 on Day 2. Peggy walked 5 or 6 miles, wanting to try to save her foot and do the entire walk on Day 3, if possible. I walked with a number of nice people after she had been swept. I ended up the walk with two members of the "Texas Ta-tas" team. They were doing both the Chicago and the Dallas walks (for reasons I could never quite understand). On that day I also met Jan Webster, who is doing all twelve of the 3-Day events this year. She still needs to raise about $4,000 to meet the requirements of all twelve cities, so if you haven't yet donated to me and would like to divert it to her, feel free (www.the3day.org/seattle06/janwebster).

Clowning around at a pit stop

For me, Day 2 was all about the pain my blister was causing me. I put stuff on it, changed shoes, changed socks, tried different strides, etc., but it just kept hurting. Every time we stopped (which is pretty often--they have pit stops about every three miles along the way), I had trouble bringing myself to start again. By the end of the day, even stoplights were problematic. It took me about 50 steps after even the briefest stop to get going again in some kind of rhythm. I thought about getting swept, but I never did. (They have sweep vans that drive by all the time, shouting encouragement, but also picking up anybody who just can't go on. They transport you to the next pit stop, where you can rest and refresh and decide if you want to try to go on, or get on a big bus to go to lunch or base camp, whichever is first. Each van had a different theme, from Hawaii to the March of the Penguins, and the folks inside were terrificly inspiring as they drove past, honking, waving and playing music at high volume. Their primary job is to pick up folks that just can't go on, but they make a big point of offering encouragement to all of us along the way.)

Triumphal entry into camp on Day 1 My tentmate, Dale Spenner, and me

Peggy was waiting for me about a block away from base camp, and took good care of me. She escorted me to my tent (which my tentmate, Dale, had already set up), and went and got my gear for me. I collapsed there for a short time, but then roused myself to go eat dinner. I really could barely walk, the blister was hurting so much. We had an excellent dinner of chicken marsala (sp?), wild rice, salad, broccoli and chocolate chip cheesecake for dessert. I took a shower after dinner then returned to the big tent for the evening's program. They had open mike karaoke, and there were some good (and one bad) performers. I would have liked to have done it, but I've never done karaoke before, and I don't know any songs well enough to do so. If I had known, Peggy and I could have written new 3-Day words to some song and done that; it would have been a blast.

The Disco Knights get down Peggy and I play along with the Disco Knights

The organizer stood up to say that they had a very special prize to give away. They had been given some tickets to the Oprah Winfrey show. They drew names of members of the crew for one set, but they decided to give the other set to the highest fund-raiser for the event (i.e. ME!). That should be fun. I'll hear from somebody about it in the near future, I guess. Peggy wants to go with me, so that's probably what we'll do. After that, they had a disco band that played for about an hour and a quarter. I could barely walk, but I could dance! It was so much fun! During the dancing, I had several women come and offer to go to Oprah with me if I needed an escort. I suppose I should have gotten all of their phone numbers, but I didn't. :(

About 3:00 am, I was awakened by the sound of rain on the tent. It wasn't terribly hard, but it was steady. By 3:30, I was dodging little puddles of water under my sleeping bag. By 4:00 it was intolerable and I got up, dressed and went to the big tent to wait for breakfast, which started at 5:00. I got a little bit of sleep in a chair waiting. Breakfast was wonderful and my foot felt much better after a night's sleep (well, part of a night). Still, I had to take down the tent in the rain, and it was also much colder. I wore a long-sleeved "@s A Promise!" shirt with a short-sleeved one on top of that and my sweatshirt on top of that and my rain jacket on top of that. I pity the poor folks who will have to open up all of those tents, dry them out and clean them and get them ready for the next 3-Day. They will probably smell pretty awful by the time they're able to take care of that.

This team name was pretty typical

Because we had done major extra mileage the first two days, the last day was a pretty easy one. They encouraged us to take our time, because all they had at the end was a holding area, which was wide-open, outdoor space. Peggy walked the whole way, although she was in terrible pain by the end. My blister hurt, and my right calf was a bit sore, but I did okay. It rained almost the entire day. When we arrived at lunch, the rain was really coming down hard. Lunch was in a schoolyard. They had opened the school itself, though, and we could go in and get out of the rain once we had eaten. We all lined the halls and stairways, and most of us stayed there for an hour and a half or more. By the time we left, the rain had dropped to more of an annoying drizzle. It really was miserable walking with blisters and pain in the cold rain and wind, knowing that we would be standing outside at the end of the day. But they had cheering stations along the way where local residents and friends and family could come and cheer us on, offer us candy and goodies and shout words of encouragement. I couldn't help but smile over and over as we kept encountering more people. Many of the crew, after they had finished their various assignments, came to various places along the route to cheer us on.

Dan showed up every few miles, clapping us on

The last part of the walk leading to the "holding area" was right along the edge of Lake Michigan in Lincoln Park. The wind was really chilly, but the rain had stopped by that time. Peggy and I were both hobbling along, but pretty much everyone was going slowly by that time. When we arrived at the holding area, we were greeted not only by a long line of family and friends, but also by walkers who had arrived before us. We went through a long double-line of supporters, getting high-fives and cheers and clapping and hugs and tears. Once we had scanned in and gotten our victory t-shirts (mine blue and Peggy's pink since she is a survivor) we went and joined in the line, too. It was really fun greeting people, particularly those that I had gotten to know a little bit during the three days. They were playing upbeat music and we were dancing and clapping and cheering and having a great time.

The survivors enter the Closing Ceremonies

At 4:15, we began marching in a line, eight abreast (some said 16 abreast, but that may have been in poor taste) into the Closing Ceremonies. The walkers entered first into a fenced-in area, surrounded by supporters. Rich and Becky Hillman greeted me on the way in and gave me two lovely roses. I didn't find them again afterwards, but it was great knowing they were there. Ed Lausch (Peggy's husband) and their three boys were all there as well. After the walkers, the crew entered into a circle inside the one for the walkers. Finally, the survivors entered into the very inner circle. As they came in, all of us walkers removed our shoes and held them high above our heads to honor the survivors and to let them and the world know that it was all about them. When they were all assembled, the five members of the circle of survivors from the Opening Ceremonies came in together and raised an empty flag. This was for us to fill with our vision of a future where there was no breast cancer. They announced that the Chicago 3-Day had raised more than 5.1 million dollars that will be used for breast cancer research, including prevention, early detection and treatment. I was pleased to realize that Peggy and I had raised 1% of that money ourselves.

It was a very moving ceremony and I cried through the whole thing. I kept thinking about Adrienne and how happy she would be. And I thought about her and many others who had lost the fight against breast cancer, and hoped that our small efforts, the small amount of pain we had suffered and the small amount of money we had raised would help make it so others do not have to go through the huge effort, the huge pain and the huge expense that is associated with the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. And I thought about how much I miss Adrienne and how each of the people there had been touched by their own encounters with breast cancer.

There are so many stories, each one sadder than the one before. But we also heard stories of hope. One woman at the Day 2 evening program talked about her own experience. She had been given a test for the BRCA gene, which is associated with about 6% of the incidences of breast cancer. She tested positive, and was advised that she could have a "preventative" hysterectomy and double mastectomy. She was feeling pretty down about this prospect when a friend told her what a gift she had been given. Through scientific research (funded by the Komen Foundation), her condition had been detected and she had been given a chance for a life free from breast cancer. She had the surgery done earlier this year, and the pathology report showed that she already had a very aggressive form of breast cancer that had not been detected by mammograms and other scans. So, the work that is being done made a big difference in her life, and in her sister's life and in the lives of many others. The 5-year survival rate for breast cancer is now over 95%, which is a huge jump from what it had been in 1982 when the Komen Foundation was created.

I don't know if I'll ever do another 3-Day. I'm sure I won't do one for several years, as it is just too much time and work, and puts your life virtually on hold for a period of about six months. But I do not now and don't think I ever will regret that I participated in this amazing journey. I know I made a difference. And I know that each one of you that contributed, either with money or support or both, also made a difference. I thank each and every one of you.

Team @s A Promise thanks its sponsors

I want to give a special thanks to our corporate sponsors, who each contributed at a high level to our fund-raising efforts.

Tired and sore, but at least we're done!

I want to thank my friend, John Hunckler, who walked with me on many of the training walks I took in preparation for the 3-Day. I don't know a better gift he could have given me than so much of his time. He was constantly supportive and eager. Thanks, John!

Finally, I want to give a very special thanks to Peggy Favorite, my friend and Adrienne's, for all that she has done for me. It is thanks to her that I did the 3-Day in the first place, and her wise counsel throughout the preparation time was invaluable. But beyond that, she has given me friendship, love and support at a time when I needed those things more than I ever have in the past. Thanks also to Ed Lausch for letting me have so much of Peggy's time this year and particularly this last weekend. Peggy, I can never thank you enough for the gift you have given me.

Love and hugs to all of you. Please pass on this website to others that you think might be interested. If you have never done a 3-Day yourself, consider it. It will change your life and it will save many more.

@s A Promise!

The Breast Cancer 3-Day