Team “Hope for Evi”
2010 Seattle Brain Cancer Walk
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Walking with Evi Stratton, Mélanie’s mother, diagnosed January 2010
I’m really proud of the work mom has done. She did the chemo and radiation – which was a nightmare and only made things worse – and has decided that she won’t do it again. She’s following a vegan diet, has given up alcohol and won’t touch sugar or artificial sweeteners. She’s taking walks with me every day and drinking lots of good water. She’s taking supplements and is determined to beat this thing. She looks great. She’s still pretty dependent on me to get her around and read for her, as her vision has not improved (she lost vision in the right side of both her eyes, that’s how we knew something was wrong), but the doctors keep telling her that may come back, so she has hope.
We don’t have cancer in our family. When they found a ‘mass’ in mom’s brain, we didn’t immediately visit the idea that it might be cancer, and certainly not such an aggressive form as glioblastoma multiforme that we would be told we’d lose mom in three months. What an insidious disease – no cause, no warning, it’s almost like losing someone in a car wreck with just enough warning that you feel you might… just…save…but with no real hope.
Mom is still trying to figure out what she did wrong, as if she could have prevented it. She says that she’s always eaten well and doesn’t even use a cell phone! What the hell? I get that. What the hell.
Thank God mom is so stubborn, though – because here it is five months out, and she’s doing great. She even came to the walk with her “granddogs.” Her 60th birthday is in August, and she is determined to see it (and beyond!)
The Seattle Brain Cancer Walk began in 2008 and is part of a national fundraising event that endeavors to raise awareness about brain cancer. Donations go to fund brain cancer research, treatment and comprehensive care for families, adults, and children in the Pacific Northwest.
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