NOTE: Blog post taken from News-Enterprise article Facing breast cancer, Walden seeks to raise awareness
Last year, Judy Walden 50, was diagnosed with stage IV inflammatory breast cancer.
Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare and very aggressive disease in which cancer cells block lymph vessels in the skin of the breast and accounts for 1 to 5 percent of all breast cancers diagnosed in the United States, according to the IBC Network Foundation’s website.
Although she had rough days, such as getting sick multiple times during chemotherapy and losing her hair two weeks after her first chemo treatment, Walden said she’s tried to keep a positive outlook.
“It hasn’t always been easy. I have some dark days. I have had some really dark days and I have been sick. There have been days when I didn’t know if I was going to make it again,” she said.
Walden, an avid runner, said she tried to maintain a certain level of fitness during her treatments.
“Running and fitness have helped me not only mentally and emotionally but physically to help me overcome some of the side effects,” she said.
As a way to give back to the community that has supported her through her journey, and continues to support her, Walden is raising money for the Hardin Memorial Health Cancer Care Center in Elizabethtown through the Judy Walden 5K, sponsored by Central Kentucky Race Management.
Walden said it is free to participate in the race, which starts at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, but for donations of $30 or more, participants receive a race T-shirt. All the proceeds go to the cancer center.
“I want to give back to our great community,” she said.
The race is at 8 a.m. Oct. 26. For more information or to register, go to bit.ly/32TzDAK.
