Relay this Weekend! Like, RIGHT NOW!!

For my aunt, Irene Olson . . .

I have been participating in the El Dorado County Relay for Life in Placerville, California since I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009.

This September 6-7 Relay will be a uniquely emotional one as I dedicate my fundraising to my aunt, Irene Olson, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just three months ago and died less than a month later. Mom and I were her caregivers for what turned out to be the last week of her life, and it was a life-changing experience.

Much like being a cancer survivor . . . you do not fully comprehend the emotions of being a caregiver to a cancer patient until you have actually lived the experience of being a caregiver, especially when the cancer patient is dying. I was helping my mom take care of Irene and trying to keep Irene company giving her a fellow cancer patient to talk to about what she was feeling and experiencing, but I think the most important role I played during that time may have been as a conduit of information and support to the rest of the family, especially my cousins (Irene’s kids and grandkids). I was constantly texting and blogging not only to keep people informed about Irene’s treatment and health, but to try to help them deal with the insanity that is losing someone you love to cancer.

I can’t quite explain how I do that . . . it mostly has to do with emphasizing the positive while being honest about the negative reality, trying to relay little tidbits and stories that would help them smile or remember something they loved about Irene so they would feel close to her during her treatment even if they were geographically distanced. And at the very end, when we were all together with Irene in the hospital, I tried to be sensitive to the sadness they were feeling while also telling them things to help them smile . . . little stories about things Irene had said or done, or about idiosyncrasies she and my mom both learned from my grandma, Inez. I can’t believe how close we all became in a matter of days there at the end. Insanity. Cancer is insanity.

That’s as well as I can explain why this particular Relay for Life means so much to me. More than anything else, I am doing this in memory of Irene.

As for my own story, well, I think it may be most succinct to simply give you, as my next post, the musings that I shared with everyone when I was the opening speaker for the Relay for Life in 2011. My speech was titled “Survival is a Curious Thing.”