Oct. 14, 2014 – that’s the day Terri Lynn Glode’s life changed forever.
“The radiologist knew right away it was not a good lump, the characteristics were abnormal. So at that point I knew I had breast cancer,” explained Glode on Sunday in Saskatoon.
“I think I stopped breathing for a minute. There weren’t any thoughts running through my head except shock.”
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Glode had participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure before, but this time she returned as a survivor with a message.
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“Breast cancer can be beaten. It can be beaten.”
She said having cancer has given her perspective on life.
“Don’t sweat the small stuff and just enjoy life because you never know what could happen,” Glode said.
She’s one of the estimated 25,000 Canadian women and 220 men who are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. According to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, it’s the most common cancer diagnoses among Canadian women.
But it’s a diagnoses Pamela Lesser never expected.
“Everything stopped. Associating the word cancer with my name, it was like the twilight zone,” Lesser said.
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She’s been cancer free for 12 years.
“Fight with everything that you’ve got in you. Give it everything you’ve got. Show all of the other people who’re going to be diagnosed after you that it’s not the end of the world and you can do it,” Lesser said.
The CIBC Run for the Cure takes place on the same day in 60 communities across Canada, with over 100,000 participants. Each year, the run raises over $20 million for research with the hope that one day there will be a future without breast cancer.
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