Race for the Cure

Last Saturday my family joined Race for the Cure in downtown Houston in honor of my Dad who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer.  I was especially proud of Isaac for walking the whole 5K.  He dragged a little in the middle but with encouragement from the "fans" on the sidelines, he made it to the finish line. After the finish line, I carried him on my shoulders:

"The American Cancer Society estimates that about 2,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are diagnosed in men each year and approximately 450 men die from breast cancer annually. Male breast cancers account for approximately 1% of all breast cancer cases."  http://www.imaginis.com/breasthealth/bcmen.asp


Dad has been undergoing Chemo since June.  The original plan was to shrink the tumor with the Chemo and then remove it.  However, in mid-September an ultrasound determined that the tumor was not shrinking.  Dad's doctors decided to do a modified radical mastectomy (or as we joke about in my family, in his case it was a man-stectomy).


I had the honor of shaving Dad's head just before his hair started falling out.

Dad did great with the surgery and recovery and just had his stitches removed.  This week he will meet with his doctors to determine the schedule for his continuing chemo treatment and the addition of radiation treatment.

                                                                                              

Some of the guys in our family also shaved their heads in July in Dad's honor. In this picture, they're all sporting mohawks because we just couldn't resist the fashion statement.

I cannot express enough how amazing my dad has been through all of this.  He has just had a chunk taken out of his chest and he presses on with his everyday life with as much restlessness, cheerfulness, and determination as ever.  The morning after he came home from the surgery, he was up early making pancakes for his grandkids.  If you know him at all, you are not surprised. He's a real man.

Here's what I wrote about him in EveryMom:

"No one would ever accuse my father of being anything other than a man.  He stands for principles higher than himself and he does not back down in the face of opposition.  His faith in God, leading by example, along with his and my mother’s commitment to always be involved in our youth group experiences, largely influenced both my sister’s and my close walks of faith that we enjoy today.  In high school, he stopped a bully from beating up a smaller kid, promising to meet the big guy later to finish it off.  When they met up again, my dad refused to fight, although he was pushed around by the bully before the guy lost interest and left him alone.  And yet, this same man is willing to be dressed up as a fairy queen by his grandchildren, earrings, necklaces, tiara, wings, and magic wand included.  Now that is a man!"  

(And yes, that is also Isaac wearing full fairy queen get-up.  He's training in his grandfather's footsteps.  It may seem goofy, but honesty, there could be no better role model!)