Circling the Wagons

In Utah, where I moved from recently, the end of July is a special time. It was in July of 1847 that the first pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley and July 24 is now commemorated as a state holiday. The most recent historical period of settlement was mainly a result of Mormon Pioneers traveling across the plains from Nauvoo, IL in 1847 fleeing persecution from mobs and hoping to set up a final resting place where they would be free to create their own sense of Zion. As soon as they arrived in the West, a great gathering of people from all over the world began. They came by boat to various parts of the US and then made their way to the West over land. The earliest ones typically used wagons pulled by oxen or horses or used handcarts.

It was typical for them to circle the wagons at night and build fires in the middle to maximize safety from predators. Collectively, their numbers and formation provided support and a sense of peace for the night and allowed a respite from their slow and harrowing travels that often took months.

A modern-day trek

My sister, Karen (pictured above on her new "wagon"), recently used this concept in a plea for assistance to cancer research. About five years ago, she had breast cancer. She went into remission, but this winter she was diagnosed with cancer again, this time in several areas of her body. She is nearing the end of her full blown treatments of radiation and chemo and we are continually praying for her health as well as for my other sister who recently found out that her thyroid cancer is back.

Karen recently shared the following: "When I got cancer the first time, I hated it. I avoided anything I could about it. I didn't go to support groups. I didn't do the cancer walks. I didn't go to the dinners you get invited to as a cancer person by various organizations. I didn't talk with other survivors. I didn't want to be called a survivor. I thought of myself as a perfectly healthy person that had this uninvited intruder that I would ignore,except to do the treatments the drs. prescribed. Then I would be done with it and get on with my life. . .I resented the treatments and that I had to do them. While I didn't curse God, I did allow for the fact He had made a mistake and zapped the wrong person with cancer. It didn't go into people like me, but I would tolerate His mistake and get the treatments over and done and try to forget about it. When people would ask what they could do to help me most of the time "I'd say nothing, I don't need anything."

She then told the family, that in hind-sight, as she faced it again, she felt that she was wrong. She has read many books, explored all sorts of treatments, traditional and non-. A friend of hers who is also fighting cancer shared a book with her, Make Your Own Miracle that Karen recommends for everyone, even those without cancer. The book shares the experiences of 50+ stories of cancer survivors whose stories are all different, but share several common themes:

1. They outlived grim life expectancy predictions,


2. They had faith in God,


3. They were 100% behind their treatment choice,


4. They had a strong belief in their cure or longevity and never gave up,


5. They had and called on a lot of people to support them.

Time to call the wagons in . . .

Well, now it is our turn. Karen continued in a letter to the family:

"Most have asked what you could do to help. While I don't know what the other people's responses have been, I'll bet they have been like mine, "Nothing, just pray." Then we keep most of our private battles private, thinking there isn't much anyone can do about them anyway. I think we have short-changed ourselves. I now believe all the cancer walks, ride-for-a-cure, whatever anyone does along those lines helps us all. I want you to do them."

So I am. I have a chance to not only do it for Karen, but for my dad and his leukemia, for my Mom and sister Andrea and their thyroid cancer, and for others who are fighting as well. I can do it in memory of my brother Stephen who died of leukemia and left a beautiful wife and kids. I can do it for those I have never met and who may benefit from my time and resources, to help those who are pioneering new territory for cures to cancer and ways of making treatments more bearable and paving the way for a better quality of life.

Will you please take this opportunity to join me? Of course, my main goal right now is raising money for this marathon event, and I really need all the support I can get (Click here); but even if you are not able to contribute at this time, please consider forwarding the URLs of my web pages to others and please consider volunteering your time for those in need.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and thank you for considering your part in the circle. You really can make a difference.