You may or may not know that my sister, who walked with me in the 3-Day last year, has a blog. On it, she talks a lot about her dog and cereal (her 2 great loves!) but she also talks about pancreatic cancer. If you’re wondering why someone who walks in breast cancer events is blogging about pancreatic cancer, it’s because her mom has pancreatic cancer. She was diagnosed earlier this year with the cancer, and is currently undergoing chemo.
November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, but we’ve found that most people don’t know much about pancreatic cancer at all. You probably know someone who died of pancreatic cancer in your personal life, and you definitely know of a few famous people who died of it. People like:
- Actor Brock Peters, who played Tom Robinson in “To Kill A Mockingbird” – one of my favorite movies.
- Actor and directory Michael Landon, who played Pa Ingalls on Little House.
- Actress Joan Crawford, one of the greatest female actresses in the 1950’s.
Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of all cancer deaths in the U.S, but it receives the LEAST amount of federal funding among all cancers.
Before the 3-Day walk this year, I went off to the drugstore for supplies to carry with me. I needed to get blister band-aids, plenty of Advil, and my very own tube of Freeze It. I knew from doing the walk in 2006 that my calves would be killing me by the end of the first day, and I also knew I didn’t enjoy using greasy pain relief creams. 
Sure enough, my calves were screaming at me with every step I took on that first day of walking – step after step after step will bring on that kind of pain quickly! When we were done walking for the day, and all showered, I grabbed my tube of Freeze It and rubbed it all over my calves. Freeze It Gel is amazing – I already mentioned that it’s not greasy at all, and it doesn’t have that old lady smell like the other pain relief gels have. I’m too young to smell like a nursing home!
By the end of the 3rd day, you can see I was a mess. My ligament was hyper extending, and my shin splits were marching to the beat of their own (very slow) drummer. I was rocking an awesome farmers tan, and had dunked my hat in cold water so many times it permanently shrunk. And I’m planning to walk AGAIN next year? Let me tell you, I see a lot more Freeze It in my future! You can use it for a muscle strain, or sore, over exerted muscles, arthritis pain, or for an aching back or neck. So…I can use it during the walk, when my calves revolt against me, and after the walk, when my back aches from camping for 2 days 
Just rubbing it on feels good – it tingles and it’s warm, and then cool…it’s instant relief!
What do I have to do to get Freeze It to sign up as a walk sponsor??
When I started our team for the Avon walk in NYC next October, I knew for sure it would be me, Tara, and Kim walking. I didn’t expect anyone else to join us, but I’m sure glad others have! My online friend Deb joined as soon as I formed the team, and a friend of Kim’s from NJ joined this week as well. I have a neighbor interested in walking, and I’m trying to convince my sister to join us as well. It’s going to be exciting enough to pound the streets of New York City for two days, but it’s going to be amazing to be surrounded by wonderful friends like these!
Due to time constraints and my trip to Las Vegas this week, I never did get around to recapping the 3-Day in Tampa for you all. I was reminded of that this Monday when I wore my 3-Day t-shirt and ran into a fellow walker wearing HER t-shirt in the Tampa airport. Small world, huh? Until I can get my recap typed up, I’ll leave you with this – I’m walking in a 2 day walk in NYC next year! So far, I’m being joined by a new friend I walked with this year, Tara, and a friend in New Jersey I’ve never even met, Deb. Kim also plans to join our team. Donations are happily accepted
I’ve been remiss in sharing the people who sent me cards and letters during the walk. After such a horribly hot day on Friday, our first day, it was so nice to come into camp, take a cold shower, and relax by reading the notes from all of you.
I received cards from Tara’s girl scout troop, a card from each of my children, a letter from my husband, my mom, a card from my friend Kim, and cards from bloggers Mr. Fab, Jennifer, and Laurie.
I can’t even tell you how nice it was to get cards from people I’ve never even MET telling me how proud they were that I was walking!
Edited to add: My sister Cheryl is also a blogger, and she also sent me a card! (It was a Yoda card that played music, too!)
