Alumni Michelle Wood, and stage IV cancer survivor tells her Wind River story in the piece, BECAUSE I CAN!

I was talking to my husband the other evening reminding him of the upcoming Windriver Fund Raiser and 5k run on May 9, because he was not going to be able to be my “pit crew” at my Triathlon in June.  After emphasizing he would still be there, he looked at me and simply stated “I don’t even understand why you’re doing it”?  Without hesitation I responded “Because I Can”!  It is my way of showing cancer I kicked it’s butt!

You see in August of 2013 I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Large B cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with bone marrow involvement.  That October I was told there was no sign of active disease. “This just doesn’t happen this way Michelle,” my Dr. explained.  On December 26, 2013 I received my last round of chemo……but my journey does not end here. 

Try to understand that once diagnosed, we are taught how to be sick, what to expect, what to look out for, when your hair will fallout.  After remission, the medical world does not teaches us how to be well; and believe me, it’s a very frightening proposition.  Often the support of loved ones and friends vanishes, because you don’t have cancer anymore, things can go back to “normal”, to the way they were.  But that is just not the way this journey works.

Either by divine intervention or fairy magic I found Wind River.  Doctors and medicine cured by cancer but Wind River is where I began to heal!  The transformation I experienced that weekend, with my Wind River sisters, is beyond words, I am more open and whole person than I ever was before cancer.  I am at peace.

Since 2007 Men and Women from all over the United States have come to Tryon North Carolina to participate in Wind River's Cancer Wellness Retreats and Programs at no charge to them.  Help me give others the opportunity to heal and experience the love and care that I did. 

                I am asking for your support in helping me reach (or EXCEED) my funding raising goal.

It's easy:  Click this secure on-line link to make a tax deductible donation:

Donate HERE to Michelle Wood's Walk for Wind River

            I am honored to be running to raise funds for Wind River and with your help, we can give back to those that gave me so much.  ...                On May 9 I will be running BECAUSE I CAN!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 

Michelle

Thank you Cindy Lyons, friend of Wind River, for this blog on thoughtfully de-cluttering our lives!

Hanging on to things is easy to do.  You may want to reuse an item, save it for a later date, make a craft project with it, or pass it on to someone else to use.  All noble causes, but sometimes all of our stuff can be more of a hindrance than a help in our lives.  And sometimes it is difficult to tell what to keep and what to give away.

I will never forget how an afternoon of shopping turned into an emotional purge for a close friend of mine.  We were out shopping around for bargains one day when she found a lovely set of drinking glasses for her kitchen.  She mentioned on the way home that it may be difficult to find room for the new glasses in her kitchen cabinets, but I told her that I would be glad to help.  When we opened her kitchen cabinets, I knew that we had a challenge ahead of us . . . but that wasn't the whole story! 

We decided to take everything out of one cabinet.  Now granted, she does have a large family of six, but there were a lot of glasses in that cabinet.  As we started taking out each glass I noticed that none of them matched.  We tried matching up two or three of them, but it was really more of a collection than a set of glassware.  After we got everything out onto the countertop, we started looking at the glasses one at a time.  There seemed to be a story for each one.  I suggested that we get a box, and my friend chimed in that she knew a college kid who could use some glasses, so we had a goal. 

The culling was going pretty well, until I picked up a tiny juice glass that looked like it may have started life as a jelly jar.  My friend became still, and said that it was one of her mother’s glasses. Her mother had died a few years earlier. As my friend spoke, tears were coming to her eyes and with a hug I suggested that this one was a “keeper” for sure.  There is always room for memories.  

We finished up, got the new glasses in place, and added the small juice glass to the juice glass collection on the first shelf.  Admiring our work, I could tell that my friend was lighter, more cheerful and happy to have tackled that task.

It may not seem like a very large task but my friend has struggled with managing “stuff” in her home for a long time.  She has a dumpster diving father, and brothers who follow along with the tradition as they believe there can be a use for EVERYTHING.  Over the past year however, I have seen a real change in my friend.  As her children are flying from the nest, she has moved to a smaller home.  The habit of culling her collection has really taken hold, and I think the biggest result for her has been the lightness that comes from cleaning out the clutter and organizing your home. 

There are studies that show how the things we own eventually become “to do” items in our brain, as we keep a running inventory in our heads.  As we age, this inventory task can push out the productive thoughts we want to hang onto.  I have seen this with my mother, particularly over the past three to four years as she struggles with memory issues.  She often talks about all of the “work” that she has to get done each day, when in fact she is 86 and retired.  It appears that mom perceives the items in her life as a burden, as things to keep up with and maintain.  Her perception probably explains why she finds such joy in giving things away to others!

I’m not suggesting that we donate or throw away everything that we are not using, but I think we have an opportunity to decide which juice glasses we should cherish, and which ones we need to give to a new home. 

Cheers,

Cindy Lyons

5/1 - 5/2
NC Survivorship Summit
Asheville, N.C.
200 Survivors and friends coming together! Wind River will speak on Healing in Nature, Art, Journaling, Meditation & Healing Touch!

5/2
Peter Mayer In Concert
Maggie Valley, NC
Silent Auction for Wind River. Special thanks to Wicked Warriors and Smokey Shadow Lodge, and in loving memory of Annie Hartline

5/5 - 5/10
Cancer Wellness Retreat
Wind River, Tryon, NC (Full)

5/9
Walk for Wind River
NEW trails to the WATERFALL!  Mardi Gras Survivor Day plus the Trophy Husband Band!

5/17
I Spy with My Little Eye
The Wine Loft (Charlotte, NC)
Really cool grown-upScavenger Hunt by Alumni Reba Whaley and Debbi Ballard!  (Details in newsletter article)


5/28 - 5/31
Cancer Wellness Retreats
Wind River, Tryon, NC
Embrace living and soak in the joy of time in Nature! 
(wait list only)
See our events/calendar for a complete listing of events

A rockin' Wind River Retreat this past weekend was enjoyed by 9 survivors.  What I loved about this weekend was the depth of relaxation that this group came to experience in 4 short days.  And the dancin' energy of Debbi brought us to our knees!    Special thank you to Shirley Ballantyne, RN and Healing Touch Therapist for her magical touch!

Thank you Cheryl Leroy for another outstanding Healing Foods workshop! Educating and filling the belly's of 16 survivors at the Wine Bar in Anderson, SC.  I know everyone left feeling invigorated and excited to eat better and with a lot more fun!