This past weekend, my partner Dr. Kathy Huang and I walked in the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure in Washington DC. This was my first Komen race, and I was absolutely blown away by the scale of the event and the enthusiasm of the thousands of participants, not to mention the sea of pink! There was such a wonderful sense of unity around a cause- everybody there shared a passion for ending breast cancer.
I have known about the Komen foundation and their mission for years, but I never knew the magnitude of their contribution to our local area. I learned that Susan G. Komen has given $23 million to research in the national capital region, and $35 million to local breast cancer programs in metro DC. They are funding community outreach, research, and support of patients undergoing treatment.
I was particularly moved by the personal stories shared by survivors and supporters before the race. We met Jackie O’Neil, an 82-year-old survivor running her 25th consecutive Komen Global Race. If only we could all be running races in our eighties! The host of the event dedicated her race to her mother, another survivor. We heard from a young mom who fought breast cancer while she was pregnant. Each story was different, but they were all woven together by the theme of lives forever changed by breast cancer.
As surgeons who specialize in breast reconstruction, Dr. Huang and I were especially proud to race alongside our patients and our colleagues from the breast center at Suburban Hospital.
Team Suburban Hospital!
Dr. Huang & me posing with Team Suburban
Did any of you participate in the race last weekend? I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories! Tweet me @anitakulkarnimd.
