Ortonville- The Michigan Breast Cancer 3-Day walk means life to Jami Allen.
‘If it wasn’t for money raised for research, I might not be here today, as well as many others,? says Allen, 51, a breast cancer survivor. ‘Insurance is wonderful for treatment, but treatment wouldn’t be there without (funds for) research.?
The village resident and retired Oakland County Sheriff’s Office deputy will walk 60 miles, about 20 miles per day, in the event that begins in Stoney Creek Metropark in Shelby Township on Aug. 11 and ends in Metro Beach Metropark on Aug. 13.
Allen will walk with her neighbors and friends Connie Wrobleski and Darcy Butzu. To participate, walkers must raise $2,200. Net proceeds from the event benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to fund breast cancer research and community outreach, as well as the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund, to provide an endowment for breast cancer initiatives (www.the3day.org).
Unlike many women, it wasn’t a lump in her breast that alerted Allen to the possibility of breast cancer. Rather, it was an indentation she noticed on her right breast in November 2003. She went for a mammogram, after which her doctor told her she needed a biopsy. Unable to get an appointment immediately, she flew to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota two days before Thanksgiving.
‘I wasn’t going to wait two weeks,? says Allen. ‘I had 30 people coming for (Thanksgiving) dinner and I had to call and tell them, ‘You’re on your own.??
At the Mayo Clinic, Allen had a biopsy, bloodwork and all presurgery procedures done before flying home on Thanksgiving morning. A doctor from the clinic called the next day to confirm she had breast cancer.
‘I kind of figured I did, but it was still a shock,? says Allen, who returned to the Mayo Clinic the following Monday and had a lumpectomy two days later, on Dec. 3, 2003. Besides a 1-and-a-half-inch lump, doctors also removed 24 lymph nodes.
Allen and her husband, Steve, arrived home on Dec. 6 to a pleasant surprise? their family, friends including Butzu and Wrobleski and deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office had completed home repairs and cleaned and decorated the house and yard for Christmas.
The support would continue as Allen, who has no family history of breast cancer, went through chemotherapy and the side effects. More than 100 deputies turned out to shave their heads in Allen’s honor, raising $3,600 for the University of Michigan Breast Care Center.
After eight sessions of chemotherapy ended, Allen would have 33 radiation treatments, the last one July 7, 2004. At a check-up three months later, she was declared cancer-free.
Allen and Wrobleski participated in the 5K Komen Race for the Cure in 2004 and 2005 in Detroit and both are now looking forward to the longer 3-Day walk.
Wrobleski has been walking 6-10 miles five days a week, except, she says, in 98-degree weather like the area saw recently.
She walks in support of Allen and her aunt, a 32-year breast cancer survivor, and in honor of her cousin, who died in May after a more than two-year battle with the disease.
Wrobleski, the mother of three children, has other reasons, too.
‘I don’t ever want my daughter to go through it,? she says. ‘I’d like to help so other people do not get this disease.?
Wrobleski has raised all but about $400 of the money to participate, while Allen has about $600 left to go. Allen is working on a signature quilt, selling quilt squares for $5. A fundraiser will also be at 1 p.m., Aug. 5, at Shorty’s Bar & Grill, 4769 Dixie Highway in Waterford, with live entertainment, free appetizers and raffling of several prizes including an overnight stay at a bed and breakfast, as well as a charter fishing trip for four.