Learning how to dance in the rain

In the jumble, bustle and haste to do our jobs, raise our families and get to a better place in our lives….once in a while something causes you to pause, give thanks and count blessings.  One of PFA’s own, Steve Cox, shared with us  the speaking engagement his wife has on October 15, 2010.  If you have read his All Star Teacher profile then you know about his wife.  I thought I did.  I read his profile…then I read this…a bio sent to me from Rally for the Cure in Des Moines, Iowa…and saw a quote that made me stop, look, listen and learn……it was about not waiting for the storm to pass….but learning how to dance in the rain!

I feel compelled to share this letter not just to support my mom, a breast cancer survivor, or Pam Liewer our awesome All Star Teacher, or the wife of our beloved National In-Service Director, Steve Cox…I feel compelled in that the message to “dance in the rain”   is an idea that brings hope to whatever hardship is at your doorstep.   This is a life lesson and could not be more beautifully stated than this bio I read of Cyndee Cox.  It also reminds me, as the Founder of Project Fit America, that there are over 1,000,000,000 charities in the United States..while we want your support and will work day in and day out to earn it….what we also stand for is the advocacy of giving to the many good works of our fellow charities.  This group Rally for the Cure is one such neighbor we are proud to promote!  Please take the time to read…

Learning to Dance in the Rain

A  Story of Survival:
Rally’s 2010 Guest of Honor, Cyndee Cox

For those of you who attended the 2009 Rally for the Cure, one of the most poignant moments was when Keynote Speaker, Diane Boyd, asked the participants a few questions. Diane, a 26 year breast cancer survivor, was flown in as a surprise to Gary Scholl, her son to tell us her story. As Diane spoke, she asked the participants to stand if they knew a mother, sister or daughter with breast cancer. She then preceded…a friend, a neighbor, an aunt? Within 3 questions and what seemed like one degree of separation, the entire room was silently standing. We all know someone…someone who has been affected or touched by this disease. This is why we Rally.

This year our Rally Guest of Honor is Cyndee Cox. And like Diane, her story is one of strength, perseverance and determination. Cyndee is a 44 year cancer survivor, and breast cancer is just one of 5 cancers she has battled throughout these 44 years. If you do not know Cyndee personally, there is a good chance you are one degree of separation away from her husband, Steve. Steve has been a member and tennis player at Aspen and throughout Des Moines for years. I met Steve at Aspen, but it wasn’t until we traveled together on a mixed team that I heard of Cyndee’s struggles. Although Cyndee “does not talk about it a lot,” she has agreed to have her story told for this year’s Rally. Her life is truly inspiring for those who are still struggling and for all those who continue to Rally for the Cure. It is a life of survival: about not waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain. This is her story.

Cyndee and Steve met in October (22nd to be exact) of 1966 on a blind date. Steve was instantly smitten with Cyndee and her beautiful, long blond curls that covered fine, shorter, softer, dark red (her birth color) curls at the hairline of her neck. Later, he would find out, the change in hair texture and color that he so noticed on that first date only comes from new growth after cancer treatments. Cyndee recalls she was equally attracted to this guy who played the guitar and could make her laugh. That was 44 years ago. Shortly before their first introduction in 1966, Cyndee’s survival began when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of eighteen. She proceeded with what was recommended in those days – weeks of radiations treatments surrounding the area of her neck where the tumor was removed. Her doctor preformed what would be Des Moines first Lymph Angiogram, a 4 ½ hour procedure that would detect if the cancer had spread to her abdomen. Groups of doctors, interns, nurses and administrators watched as this first-of-its-kind procedure was performed in Des Moines. Many of these same observers were there with Cyndee, cheering, when the results of final tests came back negative.

Then in June of 1983, Cyndee was diagnosed with cervical uterine cancer. She had a hysterectomy and she once again carried on until October of 1987 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although Cyndee had already become all too familiar with the “C” word, it was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer that she was the most scared. With three boys, David, Spencer and TJ, the youngest only in 3rd grade, she remembers praying that she would live long enough to see him graduate. She would proceed with a lumpectomy and still more radiation. Steve and Cyndee recall the doctor going to the archives in the basement of IMMC to retrieve x ray/radiation records to review so that the procedure would not re-radiate the same vulnerable tissue that was so heavily targeted in 1966. The procedures were successful.

Again, Cyndee was moving on with her life. Then in 1997, the very year of TJ’s graduation from high school, another storm…more rain… rectal cancer was detected. Cyndee recalls the moment when she asked to renegotiate her previous terms: This time “I hoped and prayed I would live long enough to be a grandmother and if so I would be the best grandma I could possible be.” After enduring yet more radiation and this time chemotherapy, Cyndee was pronounced cured of this cancer. In 1992, 2001 and again in 2005, Cyndee has been treated for skin cancer. During these treatments each cancer was removed and upon examination was further removed with additional surgery.

During her 44 year struggle with cancer, Cyndee has seen it all. She has endured radiation in 1966 that went for 4 ½ minutes to more precise, targeted radiation treatments of 20 seconds in 1997. But during it all she never gave in…never gave up hope. During both her breast and rectal cancer treatments she continued to work, scheduling radiation and chemo treatments around her day as a special education teacher for Meredith Middle School where she worked for 26 years. She has definitely learned to spin, twirl and grab onto Steve’s hand in that rain. Her baby boy, TJ, is now 32 years old and she is the best grandma she can possible be to son Spencer’s four children.

Cyndee’s strength and fortitude is nothing short of extraordinary. Early detection, advancing medical procedures and research, a strong faith, the love and support of family and friends and a fighting will to live has certainly contributed to Cyndee’s survival. She also notes, “Humor has been my saving grace for me all along.” Then Steve chimes in, “That’s the only reason she has put up with me all these years.” She flashes Steve a smile both indicating that he is indeed a funny man but also confirming that their 44 years together is grounded in a foundation that goes way beyond his keen sense of wit. They look at each other as if they are on that first blind date back in 1966. I believe they are dancing together.

Thank you, Cyndee, for sharing your story and for Rallying for the Cure. Cyndee is just one example of why we Rally. The mission of Rally for the Cure has been to emphasize the importance of early detection in the successful treatment of breast cancer and to support the mission of Susan G. Komen for the Cure to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease. According to Komen for the Cure, each year breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women ages 35-54, and the disease also accounts for more than 75% of all cancer deaths in women 55 years of age and older.

We all know someone… a wife, a mother, a daughter, a grandmother… a sister…a friend… a neighbor…if not personally, we all know someone within one degree of separation. Please join us at Aspen Athletic Club on Friday, October 15th from 6 p.m to 9 p.m and Rally for the Cure.

Thank you.

Lynette Brown
Aspen Rally for the Cure Volunteer