Bowling brings cancer awareness Copyright © 2008 GALLUP As a very private individual, Sandra
McKinney may have been the most surprised person in the bowling
alley when she picked up the microphone. It was Oct. 3, 2007, and she wasnt sharing bowling
information, a funny story, or a joke. She was sharing information
about the personal journey on which she had embarked, and she had
a message for the other 35 women in her weekly bowling league. Exactly three months before, on July 3, McKinney had
gone in for her annual mammogram. The appointment hadnt been
cause for concern because McKinney is the kind of woman who does
monthly self-exams and regularly schedules annual mammograms. Now
on Oct. 3, she was beginning her first afternoon of radiation treatment
for breast cancer Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Stage 2. McKinney has her own name for the disease: The
Evil-C. The tears started immediately and my voice was
cracking with emotion, McKinney recalled of her impromptu
speech at Gal-A-Bowl, but I told my entire ladies bowling
league that I was dealing with breast cancer and that I was to start
my radiation treatments that very afternoon. McKinney also had a message for the other women that
morning: schedule an appointment for their own mammogram, regardless
of their age or health history. I explained through my tears that I had no history
of cancer in my family that I knew of and I was still in shock from
this diagnosis, but I expressed that if it could happen to me, it
could happen to others, too. According to McKinney, her fellow bowlers were supportive,
and she knew a few of them had faced breast cancer, mastectomies,
chemotherapy treatments, and radiation in their own lives. Several
other women promised McKinney they would schedule mammogram appointments.
I am so very glad that I found my voice that
day to encourage them all to get their mammograms, recalled
McKinney. Shortly after McKinneys break-out speech,
another woman in the bowling league was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Because both womens cancer was detected early in McKinneys
case the cancer hadnt progressed to the lymph nodes
both only had to have radiation treatment, not chemotherapy. As
they went through treatment, McKinney said, they encouraged each
other with notes and thoughts and hugs. Looking back on her cancer treatment a year later,
McKinney admits it was difficult to be freshly facing breast
cancer during the month of October while faced with a barrage
of Breast Cancer Awareness Month public service campaigns and her
own emotional struggle to wrap her mind around the reality
of her cancer. However, while seeing and hearing those public reminders,
McKinney said she prayed that other women were paying attention
to the message. Its the reason she spoke out at the bowling
alley, and its the same reason she agreed to a newspaper interview. Just be vigilant about your own health,
said McKinney, who urged women to be proactive about their
own health care by doing monthly self-exams, getting annual
mammograms, and seeking second opinions if necessary. Nov. 19, 2008 will mark the one year anniversary of
McKinneys last radiation treatment. She is grateful to Dr.
Jeffrey Long and the New Mexico Cancer Center. Without the center,
which just opened months before her diagnosis, McKinney said she
would have been forced to travel to Albuquerque or Phoenix for treatment.
She is also grateful to the people in her life that supported her during diagnosis and treatment: her husband Jackie, her friends, and all those who prayed for her. One group of biker friends was particularly faithful in their support, she said. As members of Ministers to Motorcyclists, McKinney said they stopped wherever they were each day to pray for her at 1:30 p.m. New Mexico time the very hour she was at the cancer center, receiving her daily radiation treatment. |
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