1 in 8 women will have to fight breast cancer in her lifetime.

I will never forget the day that I found out my grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer.  I fell apart.  My grandmother is one of my most favorite people in the world – and I was so afraid.  My grams, on the other hand, was a model of how to handle stress.  She looked her Dr. in the eye, asked him to schedule a mammogram for the next week, and she was back teaching aerobics 6-7 weeks later.  She was fortunate to have caught her cancer early, thanks to routine mammograms – without fail.  My grams has been a SURVIVOR for 17 years and she is STILL teaching aerobics to a class of over 100 regular attendees, many of them cancer survivors and fighters.

More recently, a dear friend of mine (an Austin Mom!) was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer.  She was 4 months pregnant with her son.

She was only 32 at the time of diagnosis.

Breast cancer does not just happen when you’re older…as a women, we are all at risk to some degree.

Chances are, you are related to, or know someone who has battled breast cancer.  The statistics are staggering, but the outlook it great!  Through early detection, education and on-going medical research, being diagnosed with breast cancer is not an automatic death sentence, but, for some, just a bump in the road – thanks to organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

“Since its inception in 1982, Komen has grown to be the largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists. We’re working together to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®, and generous contributions from our partners, sponsors and fellow supporters, we have become the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.”

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and you are going to see Austin Moms Blog keeping that awareness front and center throughout the month. One way that Austin Moms Blog wants to help support breast cancer research, is through participation in the Susan G. Komen Austin Race for the Cure.

“Since 1999, Susan G. Komen® Austin has been hard at work raising funds to provide free breast cancer screening, education and medical services as well as financial and emotional support to the uninsured and underinsured in our community.  Since its inception, Komen Austin has raised over $14 million. 75% of funds raised each year are put to work right here in Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. The remaining funds are dedicated solely to research.”

This year’s fantastic event is being held on Sunday, November 16, 2014 in downtown Austin.  If you’ve never participated in an event like this, the only words I have to describe it are all similar: inspiring, uplifting, emotional, empowering.

All of us here at Austin Moms Blog would LOVE for you guys to join our official Race for the Cure Team!

You can head over to the official race page, and join our team.  

Please join us – it will be a blast to walk for this great cause with our AMB family and friends.  Plus – we can raise a lot of money!

And PS – I am thrilled to say that my friend is in remission (after a long battle) and doing awesome, her precious son celebrated his first birthday this past summer!  I hope to share more of her journey later this month…so stay tuned!

:: WILL YOU WALK WITH US? Join our team, HERE ::