I run for hope, I run to feel
I run for the truth for all that is real
I run for your mother, your sister, your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life

Every year our founder gets a note from the breast cancer center in Reno, where she underwent her treatment, to share her story to help raise awareness to the importance of cancer screening. Discuss with your healthcare provider about the need for cancer screening in the era of Covid-19. You may fall into high risk categories that require annual screening. You may fall into categories where screening is recommended every two years. If you are high risk? your health care provider can help you schedule a safe screening.

Our founder was diagnosed in 2013 with breast cancer.

Cancer, reactions and treatments, do not come in a “one size fits all” package. Many people know someone that has been stricken with some form of this disease. The treatments for the physical diseases are advancing rapidly. Each patient an individual: a body that contains a unique spirit.

“I knew there was something wrong. The only real symptom I had was a sensation of dread  that I couldn’t shake. About a month later I found a lump. I knew immediately what it was. I remember reassuring the young man that came into the room after the mammogram to tell me I needed a biopsy, that I already knew. He was so nervous.

I was driving down the highway checking on some wild horses and my phone rang and I pulled over. The nurse told me the results of the biopsy. I had cancer and I needed to find a doctor. I hung up then said ‘I have cancer’ out loud. I sobbed, body wracking sobs, for about ten minutes. I had no idea how I could deal with cancer living like a nomad. I put the truck in drive and went back to work.

The depression that came with the diagnosis was the worst for me. I found myself having to figure out how to leave my life to fight for it. Those thoughts were killing me fast. My doctors worked hard to create a treatment plan that allowed me to keep working. It involved short term, very intensive treatment. I was not a good patient, I hate hospitals. I have had a life with too many hospital visits. Cancer was not something I could muscle through or run from, I tried. At one point they did threaten to tie me to a hospital bed and my doctor followed through on her threat. I had a form of cancer probably caused by drugs I had been given over a decade ago for a medical emergency. After eight surgeries, and treatments that left me really sick, I am still here. I struggle every day with the effects of treatment on my body, and the psychological ramifications that touch every aspect of my mind, every single day.”

Many of you have lost someone to cancer or knew someone that fought this disease and came out the other side. I urge everyone to take a moment and remember them today. In that memory take a step forward, even if it is one step. Make a screening appointment for yourself, volunteer a few hours to aid someone undergoing treatment or make a small lifestyle change like starting to exercise. Most importantly remember to celebrate life, tell those that matter to you that you love them.” ~ Laura Leigh, founder of WHE

In 2013 we were given permission by Melissa Etheridge (agent) to use the song “I Run For Life” in our year in review, the year our founder began her battle with cancer. WHE continued to “Run For Life” for the wild horses…

About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. In 2020, an estimated 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 48,530 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.

About 2,620 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men in 2020. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 883.

As of January 2020, there are more than 3.5 million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.

About 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic mutations that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations.

Discuss with your healthcare provider about the need for cancer screening in the era of Covid-19. You may fall into high risk categories that require annual screening. You may fall into categories where screening is recommended every two years. If you are high risk? your health care provider can help you schedule a safe screening.