Lung Cancer 5K Run/Walk Harrisburg

Not pushing my wife’s wheelchair for the MS Walk 2012 this past Spring felt emasculating. Yeah I was recovering from lung cancer surgery but we all know the old adage, ‘excuses, excuses’.  

Meeting with my thoracic surgeon after my 4 month follow up CT scan from lung surgery I first became aware of Pennsylvania Lung Cancer Partnership’s Free To Breath Lung Cancer 5K Run/Walk  Harrisburg, this upcoming Saturday morning.

Awareness and fundraising events have always been about my wife’s Multiple Sclerosis. After decades pushing her wheelchair did I suddenly want to get involved in something about me? I was in no position to try fundraising I am still trying to pay my medical insurance deductibles. So why?

Meeting others like me would be nice. We must be somewhere. I know from MS Walks the ‘if only for a couple hours’ feeling my wife gets when MS is the reason people are there and not the reason they are not.

Reading the Pennsylvania Lung Cancer Partnership’s web page I realized I have to and I kind of have to ‘now’ – of their seven on line “Inspirational Stories of Strength” only four remain alive battling lung cancer and of their four “survivor blogs” two bloggers have died in their battle with lung cancer and the remaining two have not been heard from in over half a year.

That is the point of all this. There are far more survivor stories that end shorter than others. There are far more people affected by losing someone to lung cancer than by surviving lung cancer. This has to change.

Thanks to early detection by my PCP, Nichole S. Scicchitano, MSN, CRNP of Blue Mountain Family Practice (PinnacleHealth) and successful surgery by my thoracic surgeon Troy Moritz, DO Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery, PinnacleHealth, I was able to even begin my lung cancer odyssey to find out just what I am really made of.

Plus the near daily 5K training walks have just been icing on the cake of life.

related entries: Free To Breath Lung Cancer 5K Run/Walk Harrisburg

Patrick Leer

BLOGS:

Caregivingly Yours, MS Caregiver @ http://caregivinglyyours.blogspot.com/

My Lung Cancer Odyssey @ http://lung-cancer-survivor.blogspot.com/

health lung cancer harrisburg pennsylvania