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Raising money for a cure
(by Erin Patricia Griffiths - August 26, 2008)
Tanja Fagan, 36-year-old resident of Montvale, shares many things in common with her best friend Laura. Both women grew up and reside in New Jersey. Both women spent four years together at Georgetown University studying for their undergraduate degrees as they shared space in their dorm room and created memories to last a lifetime. Both went on to marry and give birth to two children each. So when Laura was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, Fagan knew she had to find a way to share in the struggle her best friend has gone through with treatments and surgeries, and so she walks to find a cure.
“I just felt like writing a check wasn’t enough for me this time. I had to do more,” explained Fagan. In October 2007, Fagan joined Laura in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in New York City, and she will walk the nearly 40 miles again this year during the weekend of Oct. 4-5. “She is a very good friend and I would do anything for her,” said Fagan. “And luckily she has a great support system, but there are many women that don’t, and I know this will help.”
Laura’s diagnosis of breast cancer in 2005 was too much for Fagan to wrap her head around. “It was just shocking, initially. We are the same age, we went to school together, we both have kids,” she said.
In a proactive measure to prevent a reoccurrence of the cancer, Laura underwent surgery for a double mastectomy even though the cancer was limited to one breast. But nearly one year after she first found her lump, Laura’s follow-up appointment revealed that the cancer was back.
After a second surgery, she underwent chemotherapy, which caused an allergic reaction that sent her in anaphylactic shock. But throughout all the pain and struggle, Laura remained positive and optimistic, and today is living cancer free and healthy. “It is just amazing to me,” said Fagan. “I don’t know that I could do that.”
Initially, the idea of completing a nearly 40-mile walk in two days was intimidating. “Oh my gosh, how am I going to walk a marathon and a half, that is pretty intense,” said Fagan. “But how did she go through her cancer, how did she go through her surgeries, how did she go home everyday and take care of her kids and still fight this. So it is nothing in comparison,” continued Fagan.
The devastating effects of cancer are far-reaching and Fagan was again impacted with her father-in-law’s passing this year after his painful battle with esophageal cancer, a cancer that forms in tissues lining the esophagus. “It is just another motivation for me because I know he would want me to do it. So while it is not an esophageal walk, it is still raising awareness,” said Fagan. “There really isn’t anyone I know that doesn’t know someone.”
Despite working full-time and fulfilling her roles as wife to husband Kevin and mother to sons Liam, 5, and Miles, 1 1/2, Fagan is training to walk again, finding inspiration from her best friend and the people she walked with last year. “They are not letting it [cancer] keep them down. They are pushing themselves to do what they want to do.”
Fagan will join breast cancer survivors, sufferers, family members and friends once again this October, as together they put one foot in front of the other on the journey to finding a cure.
To donate to Tanja Fagan visit http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk2008/NewYork?px=3571862&pg=personal&fr_id=1660 or visit walk.avonfoundation.org, click on Donate to a Participant, click on New York, and type in Tanja Fagan. While participants are required to raise $1,800, Tanja’s goal is to reach $3,000.
Erin Patricia Griffiths' e-mail address is GriffithsE@northjersey.com.
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