[Ed note: This is the latest in the Doing Good series which features stories of Southborough residents who are doing their part to help the causes they hold near and dear.]
In the summer of 2011 life was good for Southborough resident Tricia Andron. Married 2-1/2 years, she and husband Lee were practically still newlyweds. They had good jobs and bought a house in Southborough. They had just celebrated their daughter’s first birthday and were planning a family vacation to Greece.
“It was the happiest time of my life,” Tricia said.
But then she got a most unexpected diagnosis: breast cancer. She was only 36 years old.
For Tricia and her family, the next few months were a whirlwind. Visits with doctors, MRIs, CT scans, chemotherapy treatments, radiation, a double mastectomy.
Less than a year later, Tricia is doing well and can now call herself cancer-free. The journey through cancer diagnosis and treatment left Tricia with – among other reflections – a desire to support others going through the same thing. That’s why tomorrow at Algonquin, she will walk her first ever Relay for Life.
“As I approach the anniversary of my diagnoses, healthy and cancer free, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and a strong desire to ‘pay it forward’,” Tricia wrote in an email to friends and supporters.
As of this morning, Tricia’s team, The Crayon Box Heroes, had raised more than $5,300 to benefit the American Cancer Society, making them the top fundraising team at the Northborough relay.
Tricia said she has a friendly competition going with Southborough resident Bea Ginga, herself a breast cancer survivor, to see who can raise the most money. If Tricia wins, she says she’ll buy Bea breakfast at Mauro’s.
If you want to help Tricia, Bea, or any of the many others participating in tomrrow’s Relay for Life, visit one of the following fundraising pages:
Tricia has chronicled her cancer journey – and what she calls her “second chance” at life – on her blog. You can follow along here: www.andron.com/tricia/.
(Image: Tricia Andron and her daughter Grace, contributed photo)
Great new series Susan. You always manage to keep this blog fresh and well rounded.