Two years ago, when Cynthia Daley was just shy of her 62nd birthday, she discovered that she had breast cancer. The day before her birthday that April, she underwent major surgery to remove the malignant tissue.
This year, however, Daley won’t be spending her birthday in chemotherapy or under the knife. She’ll be down South, bicycling for 59 days and over 3,000 miles to increase awareness and raise funds for a cure.
"I never thought I’d be out in the sunshine and pedal myself," Daley said, recalling that one year ago, she had no hair, no eyelashes and no eyebrows due to the chemotherapy. "For me, it’s a celebration of life. It feels so good to be alive again. It’s such a good thing to feel your body be strong again."
Daley is one of 30 women bicycling from San Diego, Calif., to St. Augustine, Fla., to raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Coalition. The group includes two medical doctors, five or six nurses, five or six teachers, a minister, and two retired CFOs. Five are just under 50, two are in their late 60s and two are over 70. Everyone else is over 50. Like Daley, they pedal to celebrate life and to bring more attention to the cause.
"Every one of us, as the statistics go, is getting more and more vulnerable," said Daley, whose mother died from breast cancer.
Before Daley’s surgery, she talked to two other women who had undergone the same procedure she would go through at Fairfax Inova Hospital. One woman said she was able to go to her son’s college graduation shortly afterward.
"That so heartened me," Daley said. "They called themselves my bosom buddies."
DALEY AND HER HUSBAND also researched a lot on the Web, until they grew tired of reading all the inconclusive findings. They decided to trust the doctors’ word. When it was time for her surgery, doctors removed as much breast tissue as they could and rebuilt her breast using tissue from her belly.
"You end up with a tummy tuck … it was nice to think I was saving it for a good cause," Daley joked.
Six months ago, Daley heard about the bike ride through the South. Two months later, she started training for it, determined to seize the moment.
"There are so many things that are doable that we don’t think they are," Daley said.
Although Daley’s husband, Alan, was cautious about the trip at first, he has supported her journey, especially after the doctors gave the OK in September.
"I’m just amazed that (1) she took it on and (2) that she’s enjoying herself so much. I haven’t heard her complain once," Alan Daley said.
The bike trip started March 7, with a dip of the rear tire in the Pacific Ocean. When the journey ends on May 2, the group participants will dip their tires in the Atlantic Ocean.
"Symbolically, she has overcome adversity, and she’s enjoying herself loving life," said Alan Daley. "She’s almost giddy. It makes me happy."
During the two months, the group will pass through many small towns and some large ones, from Saloma, Ariz., to Phoenix. Sometimes people have come out to cheer if they know they’re coming. Local news crews have highlighted their trek. When the pedalers have taken breaks, people have come up to tell them about their sister, mother or aunt who had breast cancer.
"I think it’s going to be the most memorable two months of my life," Daley said.