Newsletter: Summer Issue 2024

Aug 6

Celebrate Life! with CBCF

This annual event is a real reflection of what the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation is all about- creating a personal connection of community to those battling cancer.

We invite all of our clients, their families and caregivers for this amazing celebration each May. It’s an opportunity to meet our staff & board members and give our clients a chance to come together and support one another through their journeys. We hear many times about the strength that some patients draw from meeting others who have gone through similar battles and overcome them.

A huge THANK YOU to The Garden for hosting this event and to Travis Svilar with Firehouse BBQ and our incredible Board Members for the delicious food.

Watch Your Mail!

At CBCF, we believe that supporting our local cancer clients is a year-round commitment, and our Summer Mailing Campaign is a wonderful opportunity for our community to come together and make a positive impact. We made it simple to sign up for reoccurring giving to make supporting our foundation as easy as buying your morning coffee.

While Country Sweethearts is our biggest fundraiser each year, CBCF continues to need support throughout the year to continue our mission. June & July are the months where donations are at their lowest. However, the need for support doesn’t take a break.

Did You Know..?

Protein matters! Per the American Cancer Society, people with cancer often need more protein than usual. After surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy, extra protein is usually needed to heal tissues and help fight infection.

That’s why our office is so grateful to carry protein shakes in-office available for free to all of our active clients. The majority of these protein shakes have been donated by community members and businesses and we are so thankful for their support in serving our local neighbors with cancer.

Upcoming Events

White Out to Wipe Out| Aug 15th
Join us as we kick off the ML Round-Up Rodeo at their Cancer Awareness Night! Wear white to help us honor those we've lost to cancer and celebrate with those who have won their fight!

Ten Pin Cancer Awareness Night | Sept 20th
Come enjoy this family friendly event at Lake Bowl Mini Golf where proceeds raised go directly to CBCF.

Cancer Chronicles with Cynthia Dano

Finding Joy.

Summer is here! Sunshine, longer days, warmer weather, time by the lake, farmer’s markets, outdoor concerts, family and friend gatherings, camping and yummy summer food like local fresh corn on the cob and watermelon. Mmmm.

Life seems elevated and my joy meter just ramps up in summer. Most summers anyway.

Last summer I got the bad news that my cancer was revisiting me. July through December of 2023 were some of the hardest months of my life. In addition to and interspersed with some other very difficult personal situations, my second go round with chemo took its toll and the year culminated with a very scary, risky and complex surgery.

I just passed the six month anniversary of that surgery and had my second oncology check in and everything is still NED (no evidence of disease). Woohoo!

My specific cancer is rare and has a very high recurrence rate. Now that is has recurred, the likelihood of repeated recurrences are quite high. Knowing that creates the psychological stress of wondering when the other shoe is going to drop AND it creates the opportunity for me to find gratitude and joy in every day that I am gifted on being here.

I have always loved the motto, “Carpe Diem!” Seize the Day. Many of us live with the mistaken notion that we are going to live forever or, barring that, till 80, 90, 100 or beyond! I sure did. If there is one thing that cancer has taught (and re-taught) me is that no-one is guaranteed anything but this moment. Those of us with cancer or who have had cancer may just know this more acutely. Now I know that I may indeed live that long OR this might be my last day. All I have is right now.

If all I have is right now, how do I want to live? In fear or with gratitude and joy. I am choosing the latter. Not that it is always easy...it’s not. There are still ups and downs, fits and starts, and days where anxiety rears its ugly head or flat out moves in. And so I created a Joy list. Big joys and little joys. Joys like sharing a cup of coffee and some conversation with a friend, laying in a hammock, walking in nature, lighting a candle, taking a bath, listening to my favorite music, reading a good book, going to the ocean, spending time with my grandkids, cuddling with my husband and watching a movie, listening to my dad’s memories, helping someone else going through the same thing that I have, swinging on a swing, swimming, taking a deep breath. The list goes on. When I am struggling, I reach for my list and do at least one thing on my Joy list.

What about you? What brings you joy? How about creating your own Joy list? I know that

finding my joy has made navigating cancer, life and tough situations a bit easier.

Here’s to a happy, joyful and healthy summer. Carpe Diem!