It’s that time of year again…. The CIBC Run for the Cure is back on October 1, 2023
I will be walking with my family and friends to support all of the fighters, warriors, and for those we have lost to breast cancer. As you know – I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 42 and I pray for a future where no other person has to endure what I have.
Every dollar raised will help strengthen the nationwide movement to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people affected by breast cancer! I’m hoping to reach my goal before October 1 to help make an impact for the 1 in 8 Canadian women who will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.
Thank you for all the encouragement and support.
As for an update on my cancer journey – I am doing well – navigating the endless ups and downs that come with a breast cancer diagnosis, but I’m healthy and doing what I can to try and ensure I stay that way. Unlike what you see during breast cancer awareness month – It’s not all pink ribbons and smiling faces – living with the fear of reoccurrence can be challenging and the cancer fighting medication I’m on for 5 years is no walk in the park – but I’m here, healthy, cancer free and feeling blessed to watch my kids grow up. I appreciate all of you that continue to support me – even after my physical scars have started to heal.
Every day, 75 Canadians will hear the words “you have breast cancer.” To my complete shock – I was one of those people last summer!
It seemed so ironic that my mother (a CIBC employee) had roped me into fundraising and participating in the CIBC Run For The Cure for the past 23 years – all before anyone in our family had been diagnosed with cancer – and well before I would ever hear those words.
As a 43 year old wife and mother of 2 young children – Cancer ripped through our family in a way that was terrifying. I am blessed to say that I have come out a survivor, but I am now more motivated than ever, to help change the future of breast cancer! I will be running in honour of myself, every breast cancer warrior, survivor and for all of those that we have lost.
This year will mark my 24th CIBC Run for the Cure! Please contribute what you can to help me achieve my fundraising goal. Every dollar makes a difference. Your donation will fund the best breast cancer research in Canada and a vitally important support system that helps people with breast cancer and their families nationwide.
I would also be honored to walk alongside anyone wanting to join me and my family at the CIBC Run For The Cure on October 2, 2022 in Vancouver, BC – we will be meeting before the race at the team CIBC tent.
Did you know that just $100 could fund two hours of life-saving research in a world class laboratory? Your contribution could lead to the next breakthrough!
Together, we can show Canadians facing breast cancer that we will never stop running.
I’ve felt an overwhelming amount of love and support since returning to the clinic part-time in February. Helping people has always filled my soul and it has helped me start rebuilding myself after the trauma of Cancer.
I’m learning to love this person I see in the mirror, and growing to accept and appreciate the mended and broken parts of her. Recovery from cancer reaches far beyond the end of active treatment and has many ups and downs… but I’m doing my best to conquer each barrier as they come. I’ve heard cancer categorized as a chronic condition and I believe that’s correct. The trauma and continued treatment (for the next 5 years), never quite loses its hold on you.
Thank you as always to each and everyone of you for your support. For those of you that know me well – you know that it’s incredibly difficult for me to not jump right back into full time work – but I owe it to my family, my body and myself to take the time needed to heal. All of your donations have given me the gift of time – time to fight cancer, beat cancer, and now it’s gifting me the time to recover and heal – physically and emotionally.
With the Holiday Season now in full swing… I need to take a moment and reflect on what this year has brought me. It’s been the most challenging year of my life! In January I survived emergency brain surgery to decompress a nerve in my brain that had been causing me unbearable pain for years. Then 6 months to the day of that surgery – I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. I was immediately swept up in a hurricane that took me to numerous surgical consults, 7 biopsies, a double mastectomy and weeks of recovery. When I say it out loud – it just doesn’t seem real. How can two life treating events hit me and my family 6 months apart!
But with all the difficulty I’ve faced this year, it has equally shown me just how loved and supported we are. Prayers were made on my behalf all over the world and I was surrounded by friends and family that got me through the most difficult weeks post op. I will never be able to express just how grateful I truly am for everyone’s support!!
This Christmas has already proven to bring some huge gifts our way. I am now officially Cancer Free (although I’m still terrified to say those words out loud), and I will partake in a 5 year prevention plan, with a return to work in February.
And this morning I woke up to another amazing Holiday surprise, which has moved me to the core!!! A $10,000.00 donation was given on behalf of our family to Inspire Health. The money was raised at an auction with the Hamilton Tigercats during Grey Cup week, where my husband was there as a Ticat Alumni. Take a look at our posts on Instagram below.
It’s all the big and small miracles throughout this year that I need to give thanks for! I survived breast cancer and have the chance to grow old with Jamall and watch our kids grow up! There’s no bigger gift I could have gotten this year!
I wish each and every one of you the Happiest of Holidays, with all the Health and Joy in 2022.
REPOST FROM ELNA’S INSTAGRAM: My cancer journey has been tough, traumatizing and scarring (physically and mentally), but there have also been moments of overwhelming love and support. Please read my husband’s post below for the details – but I am moved beyond words to hear that a $10,000.00 donation was made in our honor to @inspirehealthbc through a live auction my husband attended with the @hamiltontigercats at the Grey Cup. This reminds me of how grateful and blessed we are to have such an amazing community of family and friends around us! As I turn the chapter to being a cancer survivor – I look forward to being a life long supporter and advocate of breast cancer warriors… And I’m so happy to know that this donation will help so many more that are faced with battling cancer. THANK YOU!! Scott Mitchell, Bob Young, Hamilton Tigercats, Cleareyes collective and my husband Jamall Johnson for making this all possible! It means the world ❤️
REPOST from my husband @jamalldjohnson : Had the pleasure of attending the Mitchell Grey Cup Brunch with teammates and @hamiltontigercats supporters. We shared stories, smiles, laughs, and even some tears. This live painting by @cleareyescollective was done during the event, then bid on in a silent auction. Proceeds from $10,000 winning bid will be donated to @inspirehealthbc. InspireHealth provides programs and services to enhance quality of life, health, and well-being of people living with cancer and their families. The care and support available at InspireHealth has been a blessing in our lives through my wife’s cancer journey and we’re forever grateful for it. Thanks Scott Mitchell and family, Bob Young, and everyone in attendance for a great brunch as well as the amazing charitable contribution to @inspirehealthbc
The next chapter. Since my breast cancer diagnosis this past summer, every second of my life has been focused on battling cancer, beating it, and recovering from the surgeries. With my body getting stronger daily and the pain subsiding – I can sense a shift occurring into a new chapter. Without the need to actively battle cancer daily and having recovered successfully from most of my physical wounds – my emotional scars have come to the forefront. There’s no way to go through a year that includes emergency brain surgery and breast cancer, all within 6 months of each other, and not have some trauma and loss to work through. I won’t sugar coat it – It’s lonely and just as difficult of a stage to be in, but your continued support during this less physically demanding chapter of my cancer journey, is more appreciated than I can ever express!
I look forward to being fully recovered in the new year, therefore I have officially set a return to work date for February 1, 2022. If you are a patient of mine – please keep an eye out for an email within the next few days, outlining my return to Optimal Performance Clinic. I’m so grateful to both Dr Sarah and Dr Aidan for continuing to see my patients during my absence.
Thank you to all of you that have taken time out of your busy lives to be there for me and my family, while I navigate my cancer journey! I know your support was and continues to be an essential part of my recovery.
This was the week that I would learn the next stage of my journey. I am 8 weeks into my 16 week recovery timeline from the double mastectomy; and while I would never classify myself as fully recovered, I would say that I am doing well and right on schedule with my recovery plan.
We met with the oncologist on Thursday and honestly the news was as good as we could have hoped for. The surgery was a success, excellent margins, and the oncogene testing results made me cry (happy tears). The likelihood of my cancer returning is as low as anyone could wish for, and the next stage of treatment is better than I would have ever dreamed of.
There looks to be no need for chemo or radiation in my future. I will start hormone therapy by the end of the year, which will carry on for the next few years. I’ve found myself needing to pinch myself after writing or saying that. I just can’t believe how fortunate I am.
While I know there will be more hurdles ahead, and I appreciate the next treatment isn’t easy, we will simply accept the win and appreciate the calm that this brings our family. I truly feel blessed.
As for my return to work – I do not have a set date yet, but it will be much earlier in the new year than previously expected. I’m optimistic that I will be able to return to seeing patients sometime in January 2022. And that along with the love from friends and family is going to carry me through this next stage of my journey.
I’ve been asked a lot lately how you can continue to support me in my recovery. The best ways are by:
➡️ providing us with a meal (via the “skip the dishes” link) so I can gradually return to daily activities without over doing it.
➡️ donate or share the GoFundMe page, to allow me the opportunity to not rush back into work and take the time needed to overcome this. https://gofund.me/f173f274
➡️ setting up playdates with the kids
➡️ taking a moment to connect with me. Your positive messages, conversations, and time spent together, make this journey easier on me.
We cannot say thank you enough for your support and love. It means the world… it means more than the world to us ❤️
With gratitude,
Elna
PS – October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so I would be remiss if I ended without reminding you to do routine checks and book your mammogram, as it truly saves lives!
I feel it’s important that I always begin with Gratitude! I’m humbled and feel a great sense of honor to be surrounded by so many amazing people. Your support has not gone unnoticed and please know you have each had a part in my recovery. I feel truly blessed for each and every one of you!
You have all helped in your own ways – from donating to the GoFundMe, spending time with me, helping around the house, keeping things as normal as possible for our children, and providing our family with a meal. I’ve been told I won’t be able to cook for at least another 3 weeks, so If you’re still interested in providing meals, please visit the link called skip the dishes on this blog or click on the link below.
I’m currently 3 weeks post op and less than half way through the 8 week surgical recovery timeline, but I’m doing well all things considered. I’m working hard at my daily exercises to regain my arms range of motion, as well as some nerve flossing to reduce the nerve tension in my left arm following some lymph nodes being removed. I won’t lie, I find it challenging being a patient… but i’m acutely aware that I need to get through this journey to emerge stronger and better for it.
I’m so eager to get back to doing the simple daily life things, but patience and kindness towards my healing body is imperative at this time.
Another positive note from my surgery was that my pathology results came back with the best results possible. Although there were multiple tumors removed, there was no cancer found in the lymph nodes or chest wall, making my breast cancer staged at an early detection level. We are now even more confident that I will make a full recovery! I find myself feeling so grateful and fortunate to have caught the cancer early enough, although the journey in itself is filled with enormous challenges. I’m scheduled to see an oncologist in 4 weeks time, in order to discuss the second phase of my treatment. The waiting game is a tough one… but then again patience is not my strong suit and clearly the world is strongly suggesting that I put some work into getting better at it 😉
OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
And lastly, as we wind down summer and get ready for fall, it’s only fitting that we welcome the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. My mother and I (including both kids) have participated in the CIBC RUN FOR THE CURE over the last 20+ years, without having had any breast cancer history in our family. We’ve been out there regardless of the weather or the fact I had a c-section a few weeks prior – so we don’t want our current challenges to make us miss this one. Our daughter said it best – “we HAVE to do the Run for the Cure this year! Everyone is walking to help mom beat cancer now.”
Due to covid, the event is being held virtually this year. If you’d like to join me and my family, we will be meeting at Westhill Park on Sunday October 3rd at 10:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome to join! I’m hoping to see a lot of pink, red and smiling faces while we walk or Run (either 1 or 5km), to help bring awareness and to raise funds to help fight breast cancer. Feel free to dress up too! Personally – this year my walk will be dedicated to showing my support to everyone that has been touched by breast cancer and to show my children that their mom is a warrior and will always face challenges with everything she’s got.
If you want to donate to breast cancer research, my mother has a direct link to her fundraising page with CIBC below. Her name is Norma Dabrowski.
Thank you again for all of your support and well wishes. I look forward to providing you all with an update in 4 weeks time, as I enter the second phase of my journey.
They say the first step is the hardest but it is also the one I am so happy to have behind me. Am now home and recovering from my double mastectomy. Jamall, my mom and the kids are taking great care of me (although they refuse to give me a bell) and will spend the next few weeks in recovery from this stage of the journey.
I cannot say thank you enough for the support you have all shown to date and hope that you know it is noticed, appreciated and provides so much comfort.
Thank you for the meals, for the support on go-fund-me page, for those that helped get the house ready to be a place of calm and for those that are helping keep the kids busy and entertained.
I cannot wait to pay you all back for your kindness, and cannot thank you enough for the kindness yet to come.
This is just the start of the journey but I am well equipped to take it thanks to all of you.
Elna
PS Because a few have asked – please don’t hesitate to share this blog or the details of the go-fund-me page. Am happy to share the journey (we are just password protecting any blogs that have personal details like our address or phone numbers)
From time to time a few of us closest to Elna may provide content for this blog, always with Elna’s permission and without fail for the purpose of ensuring we support her care.
This would be one of these blogs. I am Jenn, one of Elna’s oldest friends. We have talked a lot lately of what she needs from each of us to support her care and recovery. As she prepares for her surgery and the start of her treatments, the following is what each of us are asked to keep in mind:
Cancer is overwhelming: the family was blindsided by this diagnosis and while the prognosis for elna is really good she has a big journey in front of her. They have now told the kids and so far are dealing really well and they talked a lot about the importance of sticking together and helping each other out. They are a solid family and they are still processing everything. Having already navigated a major health challenge this year they unfortunately have some experience when it comes to treatment and recovery and so the following asks are based on an innate knowledge of what they need.
She will ask for advice – please refrain from giving it: although advice/opinions on diet, lifestyle, medications and alternatives to, treatments, covid protocols and/or options for the children are known to be well intended and meant with the greatest of love, the only add to the already stressed out state of the household and ultimately the anxiety level. She knows you send it with love, but please refrain from providing for the same reasons at this time.
Never hesitate to send love and well wishes: hearing you are loved and thought of is good for the soul and good for the heart.
Elna will stay in touch but it will be on her schedule: keeping up with us is consuming of both energy and time so expect that Elna may go a little quiet on us. Please don’t take offence but rather be confident that she is doing everything she needs to do for herself and for her family.
For those of you that are inclined in the kitchen we have set up sign up for Johnsons meal train. The ask is that you focus on foods the kids will love (which has the great effect of reducing stress in the house come meal time). To sign up simply request access to the following google sheets list.
Elna's Updates 