How would you celebrate your fifth anniversary of being free from breast cancer? Sharon Dest Pacenka is walking in the 2008 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday, Sept. 7, exactly five years after the last day of her radiation treatments.
This will be Pacenka's second year on the Pentucket's Pink Pride Team for the 5K Run/Walk at UMass-Boston. Last year, she walked with 36 official members, her daughters Cassie and Kayla, and others who joined the team unregistered. They were supported by another 30 people who made donations.
"It's a very moving experience," she said. "You see all these pink shirts (indicating a survivor). It just kind of hits you. It's pretty emotional."
The Merrimac resident and mother of two was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. That year, she endured surgery, 18 weeks of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation.
She discovered the tumor through a self-exam. The diagnosis came as a surprise; there was no family history of breast cancer. "It never occurred to me that this would happen to me," she said.
But, she said, everyone on the Pentucket's Pink Pride Team knows somebody who has been affected by the disease.
"One member of our team had eight names on the back of her shirt of loved ones who were diagnosed," she said. "Since I was diagnosed, so many of my friends have been diagnosed as well. It's out there. It's sad. It's almost becoming commonplace."
Last year, two of Pacenka's friends learned they had breast cancer. One has since died. She said her friend's death is "what really inspired me to get it going again."
She called the five-year anniversary of her last radiation treatment "a huge milestone — physically and emotionally."
Looking back, Pacenka said, "I couldn't have gotten through it without this town, my neighbors, the school. It was unbelievable to me."
Pacenka especially credits her husband, Paul Pacenka, who was "always there. I couldn't have asked for him to do more."
Now, she said, "it is time for me to support others who are going through it as well."
Pacenka hopes her involvement in the Race for the Cure will provide support to friends who have been diagnosed. She also hopes to raise awareness and research funding for the cause. She wants people to realize that over the next 25 years, an estimated 5 million Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 1 million could die from it.
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For more information on participating in the 2008 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure or making a donation, visit www.komenmassrace.org or call Pacenka at 978-346-4279. The Pentucket's Pink Pride Team is also looking for a sponsor to help defray the cost of members' shirts, which will be printed with a design by Pacenka's daughter, Kayla. Interested sponsors should contact Pacenka.
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