Relay for Life 2019

Our annual Relay for Life took place last weekend and I'm 100% serious when I say that I'm still riding that high from our event! Apart from a Relay several years back (when McAlister's was there with the tea), this was seriously one of my top favorite Relay events for me!

A little back story in case you're wondering what in the world I'm talking about - I'm an oncology nurse, I work with patient's who are receiving radiation. I absolutely love what I do and love working with cancer patients. When I transitioned in this department about 12 years ago, my boss introduced me to the idea of Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society and asked me to join their team. After attending one relay event, I cried like a baby and was hooked!! I now sit on the event leadership team and at this year's relay, I was in charge of making sure the activities and games took place in a timely manner!

I also twisted my friend Kim's arm and encouraged her to join the committee with us to be my activities co-lead! We had SO much fun this year!

The Louisiana Ghostbuster's team picks one relay in the state of Louisiana each year to attend and fund raise for. They literally had the gear, the sirens, and the whole 9 yards! It was so cool to see and a huge hit with the kids!

My hospital team! :)

Our band this year was phenomenal. I visited another relay last year where I heard them play and loved them! I'm so glad we were able to snag Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs this year!

About half an hour before this aired, I was told that I was going on the news. (Basically it was a game of "not it"! Thanks, guys!) Thankfully, it all went ok. Although I don't mind public speaking, live things still make me a bit nervous!

Right at 7 p.m., our event kicked off with opening ceremonies and the survivor lap!

A new addition this year was the confetti poppers for the survivor lap. This was yet another idea we saw while visiting a local relay this year and loved it!

As official "activities chair", that meant we also had the opportunity to taste test all of the yummy goodies for the sweet off!

Our theme this year was the "Colors of Cancer" where we encouraged each team to pick a diagnosis/cancer they've been affected by and go with that cancer's color. A lot of teams (our hospital team included) decided to go with a multi-color approach to support all of the different cancer diagnoses out there.

The above dessert was the winner! That sugar cookie was seriously the bomb.com. I don't even know if that's a phrase anymore, but I'm using it anyway. 

The cake/icing was delicious, too...and the spoons/forks they provided were also painted to match their theme! 

This team's theme was around the color teal because their mom passed away from cervical cancer. 

We had probably 15 desserts to taste. Poor things, right?

We also had a photo booth there with a personalized backdrop (from a green screen). We also each received a 4x6 printed photo and a digital version as well. Pretty snazzy!

I'm glad we stopped for a picture when we did because we were so busy, we never saw the photo booth again! 

At 9 p.m., all of the generators and lights were turned off and we took a few moments during the luminaria ceremony to honor our survivors and those who've lost their battle with cancer. My grandfather (pictured on the bags above) lost his battle with lung cancer my senior year in high school.

This is truly a reverent and personal time and one of my favorites of the night.

Another addition this year was the inclusion of fireworks after the luminaria ceremony. They were SO neat to see and the show was pretty great, too!

Brayden loved the fireworks!!

At the end of the night, we not only reached our goal, we actually exceeded our goal by $10,000!! As I mentioned,  this event was one of my favorites ever and I loved how everything/everyone came together to fight this terrible disease we call cancer!

Until next year... :)

Have you ever participated in a Relay for Life event? If so, what was your favorite part of the evening?

2014 Bark for Life SWLA

This past weekend, our area held its 2nd Annual Bark for Life event with the American Cancer Society.

Just like humans, our canine friends can be affected by cancer, too. This event is to fight back against all forms of cancer and honors the caregiving qualities of our sweet and loyal furry friends.

Bark for Life is a much smaller version of Relay for Life  and involves animals. Our Bark for Life is a 3 hour daytime event and includes fun and games for dogs and kids alike. (If you aren’t familiar with Relay for Life, it’s a worldwide event put on by the American Cancer Society and is the largest overnight event in the world, raising millions of dollars for cancer research each year.)

Leading up to the event, I was incredibly worried about the weather. Last year, it was misty/rainy the entire time, so I was hoping for a better outcome this time around.

Friday night, a huge storm rolled through our area and stopped us from setting up ahead of time. Thankfully, we allotted plenty of time on Saturday morning to set everything up and before I knew it, we were well on our way into the event!  The only hitch with the weather this year was the wind. Tents that were held down with tent stakes were even uprooted from the ground. It was craziness. At least the sun was out – it was definitely nice to see the sun!

Pixie came out to play this year!

The city declared March 29th as “Bark for Life Day”!

Our emcee for the event was a local news morning show meteorologist – he did an awesome job!

This is Lil Bit. She’s our official 2014 survivor pet and was diagnosed with breast cancer several months ago.  Our pet/human survivors walked the first lap of the track and were followed by the caregivers/supporters.

We had a boneyard set up to honor and remember our special canine friends who have crossed over to the rainbow bridge.

The winner of our pet costume contest was Buddy. He’s a rescue and is one of the sweetest dogs you will ever meet…the total opposite of his costume!

Throughout the morning, we had several guest speakers – a local Pet Therapy group and the K-9 Unit. Both were great!

We also had egg races and an Easter egg hunt for the kids!

Lil Bit won the raffle basket and is completely deserving of every item inside. My heart goes out to this sweet baby and her momma.

My work group was a huge support – they are awesome and I was glad to have them out there at the event!

We would not have been able to hold this event without our wonderful volunteers and committee!

I appreciate each and every one of them, more than they will ever know!

Another year down…can’t wait to see what Bark for Life 2015 has in store!

Have you ever participated in Relay for Life?

Grandfather Update

There’s no beating around the bush so I will get right to it.

During my grandfather’s colonoscopy on Friday, they discovered that he has colon cancer. It’s a very early and small-ish tumor and it was oozing, which played a big part in his drop in blood counts. He was also taking a low dose blood thinner which is what played a huge roll in his rapid blood loss.

After lengthy discussions with the surgeon, the gastroenterologist, the cardiologist, and his primary care doctor, we’ve weighed all the options and decided that it would cause him more harm to remove the tumor at this point. He would have to endure general surgery and he’s 92 years old - anesthesia and recovery from a procedure like that doesn’t have a good outcome with someone of his age with his health issues. I’ve told everyone, we just want to be reasonable and we want to do the right thing - unfortunately in this case, there is no right or wrong answer. I don’t want to push anything on my grandfather that is not reasonable, which includes surgery or any type of treatment. His physicians do not believe that the tumor will cause him additional harm in his lifetime (perforation of the bowel, blockages, etc). They think something else will get him before the tumor will.

We also had the opinion of an oncologist but he’s NOT who I wanted my grandfather to see and when I found out who was on call, I already knew what his determination would be before he even came in the room. I’m making an appointment with an oncologist of MY choice this week, not for chemo…just to discuss options and his opinion.

The hospital my grandfather is staying in is NOT the one I work at and he’s on the heart floor, not the oncology floor. Let’s just say he (and we) have had less than “excellent” care this hospital boasts. Most of the nurses don’t know me, which also means they don’t realize who I know, including the oncology nurse manager of the hospital. I’ve already spoken with her and she gave great advice and told me to call if I need anything.

Anyway, my grandfather is bound and determined to get back home. Whether that happens or not, we will see. At the moment, the plan is for him to go back to the care center to resume physical therapy and go from there. Thanks again for all of the prayers and concern! We appreciate it more than you could possibly ever know!

Also, don’t forget about my Zensah Argyle Compression Socks Giveaway! Ends on Friday!