Race for the Cure brings downtown to life on a sleepy Sunday
PORTLAND, Ore. - Thousands of people got up early Sunday morning, put on some pink and headed to downtown Portland to support the fight against breast cancer.
It was all part of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, an annual run/walk event that helps raise money for breast cancer research and the organization's work in the community.
One look down Naito Parkway on Sunday and you could see just how many people the disease has touched. Some of the faces were those of survivors, others were of those who are in the midst of their battle with breast cancer and then there were all the friends and family who were there to support them. And of course many people walked 'in memory' of someone dear to them that they had lost.
Rain was in the forecast for the Race for the Cure and there were showers early on. But by the time the first group of runners stepped up to the starting line, the rain spouts had been turned off.
KATU is a proud supporter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and our own 'Think Pink for the Cure' team joined all of the others who walked or ran in solidarity. The fight against breast cancer is a cause that is close to our hearts here at the news station. Two of our colleagues are survivors - AM Northwest Host Helen Raptis and Reporter Shellie Bailey-Shah.
Every person who has had a run-in with breast cancer has a story to tell about their own personal fight. In the weeks and days leading up to the race we talked to many people about how the disease affected their lives.
One of the survivors we talked in-depth with is Yvonne Nydigger, who walked in this year's Race for the Cure with her husband by her side (the two are pictured at right in a photo taken at Sunday's race).
Nydigger's world changed on May 1, 2010, when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, specifically an Invasive Lobular Carcinoma.
It's a scary form of breast cancer because it can spread to the rest of the body. In Yvonne Nydigger's case, she had a large mass in one of her breasts.
"Lobular cancer forms deep in the breast in the lobe area and when the cells break loose, they scatter like a spider web," she explained.
Nydigger discovered the cancer herself - she had just come home from a cruise prior to her 50th birthday and noticed something was wrong. She said she felt a lump and went in to see a doctor the very next day. A few days later she got the diagnosis.
Her treatment began with chemotherapy. She then opted to have both her breasts removed and after that she decided to have radiation treatment just to make sure it was all gone. As of last November, it was and she is now looking forward to this coming Tuesday when she will go back to the hospital for reconstruction surgery.
Through it all, Nydigger has learned a lot about herself and about life, especially what she calls the 'in between' moments.
"So many people go from point A to point B or from morning to night or from work to home and they don't take time to notice that time in between when the little things happen," she explained. "And when you go through something like cancer, you are suddenly faced with the opportunity to stop and take a breath and look around you and really decide what's important in life."
What's important to Nydigger these days is her husband, her family, her friends and her involvement with Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
"Susan G. Komen creates that feeling that everyone can make a difference," she said. "As a group we don't all have to do everything but we can all do something."
"I am constantly awestruck by the stories of how Komen has reached out and helped women who are single parents or not working or don't have transportation or can't pay their bills or need emotional support," she added. "These are all parts of Komen that sometimes get overshadowed by the incredible research work they do. And that's important but there are two sides to the coin. And I think if people understood the difference that one person can make, they would rise up and say 'I'm going to be that one person.' "
Last year was Nydigger's first time walking in the Race for the Cure and it certainly wasn't easy for her to participate.
"I postponed my final chemo a week so I could walk in the race," she said. "I was so weak and I was so tired and I didn't know three days before if I could even walk."
But she said once she arrived in downtown Portland and saw all of the people who were there, she found the strength she needed.
"I got down there in that sea of pink and I found the strength to face my last chemo," she said. "I walked and I had such joy."
Last year her goal was to just be able to finish. This year she set her sights on a different goal.
"This year I walk for all the women coming behind me," she told us when we talked to her last week. "Because I'm on the other side. I'm a survivor now and I'll continue to walk for all the women who are coming behind me and for all the women who went before me - both the ones who made it and the ones who didn't."
In Her Own Words
Nydigger was one of several women who went on camera for us to talk about her experience with breast cancer, starting when she first got the diagnosis. "It's like your world comes to an end," she told us. "We (my husband and I) cried and then we picked ourselves up and said 'ok, we're going to tackle this head on.' " Watch the video for more of her perspective on the disease.
Her Advice for Others
Don't take it for granted that you won't get breast cancer
Nydigger said while her father did have prostate cancer, there is no history of breast cancer in her family. She wants women to know that they should not feel 'safe' from breast cancer just because no one close to them has had it.
"It's a disease that has no concept of boundaries," she said. "It does not recognize any of the criteria that we all think makes us immune. It can get you."
"This is a disease that takes our mothers, our daughters, our husbands, our sisters - it takes their lives," she added. "It's not just having the flu. It takes their lives. And that's what we are hopefully going to see an end to."
Get your mammograms and do your self exams
As any woman who has had breast cancer will tell you - mammograms and self exams are the key to early detection. If Nydigger had not noticed that something was wrong with her body, things would likely have been much worse for her.
"Every woman should have a mammogram but every woman should also be doing self exams," said Nydigger. "Everyone needs to know their body. They need to know the changes. They need to know the nuances so that if something happens that someone doesn't catch, you're catching it."
Choose the treatment that's right for you
Nydigger made the choice to have both her breasts removed and while that's not an easy decision to make, it's the one that she decided was best for her. For some women that might not be the case. She said either way, each person has to make their own decision about their own body.
"Every woman has to make a choice," she said. "Every woman has the opportunity to make a choice. And the good news is that there's no right way and no wrong way. It's whatever way is right for you. For me, I felt that because of the nature of my cancer, the peace of mind I was getting (from having my breasts removed) was the best choice."
Some of the Moments That Touched Her
We sat down with Nydigger for an extended one-on-one interview last week. We talked about everything from the details about the type of cancer she had to how she and her husband sat in front of their computer and 'shopped boobs' for her upcoming reconstruction surgery. Between it all, there were some poignant stories she shared with us that we'd like to share with you as well.
On losing her hair...
"My husband and I decided that we weren't going to have my hair loss be the beginning of losing a battle. We didn't want it to feel like we had lost something, that we had lost our footing or lost our gain on this disease."
"I had my husband go and buy the spray paint - pink spray paint at Walgreen's, gotta love them. And I put on my makeup and then we had some fun with pictures."
"And you know I didn't cry once that whole day. We were laughing so hard and we had so much fun. And it was almost like doing a Halloween costume. You know how you get into it and you're like 'oh I could do this and that.' And by the time he cut off my hair, it had been such a shared experience that it wasn't a sad thing."
"So for me, that was kind of an amazing realization. That losing your hair didn't mean losing yourself. You could still have fun, you could still laugh, you could still have a good time."
It's amazing how a scarf can make you feel...
For Nydigger, it was tough at first to look at herself in the mirror after she lost her hair. One day she put on a beautiful scarf that a friend had given her and she said she suddenly felt fabulous.
It's a feeling she wanted to share with others. Through friendships she had formed through her CaringBridge blog, she collected dozens of scarves that she took to OHSU.
"So I took the scarves to the hospital. And as I was going in I was carrying over 90 scarves. And I was carrying them by the armful in bags. And they were all bright colors and beautiful. And as I walked into OHSU, the elevator door opened in the basement and a woman was coming off the elevator in a wheelchair and her husband was pushing her."
"And I backed away, you know like you do to get out of the way, and she came out and he kind of positioned her on the other side. And I started to get back into the elevator and I turned around and I said 'excuse me, would you like to have a beautiful scarf?' And she looked at me and you could tell she was like 'who are you, what are you doing?' "
"I said this is a gift from people who care and it's for a woman going through what you're going through. And I would love it if you would choose the one that makes your heart happy. And she picked out a scarf and she looked at me and I said 'do you know how to wear it?' And she says 'no.' "
"So I took off her hat and we put it on. And I showed her husband - I had him come around the other side. And I said let me show you. And he tied a bow and he walked around in front and he looked at her and he said 'honey, you look beautiful.'"
"And right there I knew. I mean it was so powerful. It was like God said this is something you can do."
There is still compassion and kindness out there...
"After about my fourth chemo, I was starting to have a hard time and I had been in the house for quite a few days and I needed to get out. I was tired of looking at four walls. So I thought, I'll go grocery shopping. So I toodled down to the grocery store but didn't realize that not only do you have to shop, you have to actually check out and drive home again. And I got to about the last thing and I was realizing I was getting really, really tired and not feeling well."
"And I had my breast cancer bracelet on and obviously bald in one of my scarves and all that. But I went up to the checkout area and they had two checkout stands open - one was the express, which I had more than five items, and at one there was a woman unloading what looked like enough groceries for a camping trip for two weeks. "
"So I got in line behind her and I'm standing there and I can't even start unloading because she had so much stuff. And I'm standing there and I can feel everything draining out of me. I can just feel... it's like someone had pulled my plug. I don't think I ever felt as close to that as I did at that moment."
"And behind me a woman and a young girl walked up. She was I'd say maybe 7 or 8 years old. And they had a handful of groceries, not a whole lot. And I said 'why don't you guys go ahead, I'm going to take a while.'"
"And she looked at me and she said 'no.' And there had been no conversation behind me. It wasn't like they had stood there and talked about this."
"She looked at me and she said 'no, we'd like to help you unload your cart.' And that little girl, with her mom not saying a word, started taking everything out of my cart and putting it on the conveyor belt. And I'm standing there and I'm crying and I'm watching this and it was like there are angels everywhere - there are angels everywhere."
"And she got done and I took off my pink bracelet and I said would you please have my bracelet. And she took it and put it on. And her mom and I are looking at each other and we're both crying now. And I just looked at her and said 'bless you.' And she said 'no, bless you.'"
All photos by Shannon L. Cheesman, KATU.com Producer/Reporter, unless otherwise noted.