The Merits of the Case

Last weekend was the Breast Cancer 3Day and it was an amazing experience. It was everything that people had told me it would be…and more. I have been reluctant to sit down and write about it because I don’t think I can possibly do it justice. I can say that if you have the opportunity to take part in this kind of event, you should definitely do it!

The first day we walked along the North Shore, through the Botanic Gardens and then down Sheridan Road along the lake. We covered 21 miles that day and ended up at our camp site in Des Plaines. My sister had some trouble at the end of the first day, so she and I spent most of the evening in the medical tent while she was hooked up to an IV. Once she was feeling better, we headed to our tent where we got little sleep thanks to the noise from the busy road 100 yards or so from our heads.

The showers are contained in six 18-wheelers and are no more than a small cubicle with a thin curtain partially covering the opening. There are sinks with running water outside of the shower trucks, but other than that the entire weekend was spent using porta-potties. Because you have to drink so much throughout the walk (to avoid an IV) you end up using them a LOT, and we all found that after half a day it doesn’t even bother you anymore.

By the second day, most of my teammates were developing blisters on their blisters, and we were all tired of the food provided at the pit stops and at the meals. I didn’t get any blisters the entire weekend, but we decided that was probably fair since I had cancer. The second day we walked through Arlington Heights, Mt. Prospect and Prospect Heights. We encountered a few minutes of rain and some clouds in the morning, but other than that the weather was great all weekend. Saturday night I gave my speech and then it was off to our tents again for another night of bad sleep.

On the third day we were taken into the city by bus and then we walked south along the lake shore through Lincoln Park, down Michigan Avenue, and we ended at Soldier Field for the closing ceremony.

Despite the bad food, poor sleep, and aching feet, however, we had a fabulous weekend. Randy and I are planning to crew for the walk next year, and most of my teammates have said they want to either crew with us or walk again. It really is worth all the aches and pains!

The Chest Nuts