Although the book’s title, Running from Cancer: A Tilted Memoir, may seem like an invitation to bury one’s head in the sand, the content is anything but, according to Houston-based author, Debi Lyn Smith.
Smith is a survivour of breast cancer and realized during her battle with the disease, which started in 2010, there really is no place to run once diagnosed.
So, with the help of her book, she hopes people will take the necessary precautions and avoid developing any type of cancer.
“We’ve got to tighten our belts,” Smith, who was a guest speaker at the Smithers Relay for Life event, urged those in attendance last Saturday.
“What I mean by that is eliminate the toxins in your beauty products, household cleansers, animal fat in your diet and quit smoking!”
Smith put a recipe in her book called, Sinless Chocolate Macaroons, which is gluten-free and sweetened with dates, to help readers who haven’t begun their belt tightening.
“This is a step toward standing up to the disease,” Smith said.
“By changing our habits and attitude we can hopefully stop cancer in its tracks.
“Everybody, including me, thinks they are safe.”
Smith describes the likelihood of developing cancer in relation to winning the lottery.
“Everyone has a certain number of tickets and the more you use those tickets the better your chances of getting cancer,” she described.
“Smoking, excessive drinking and being overweight are just a few of these tickets.
“Some people are lucky and have hundreds of tickets, but that is not the norm.”
The title of Smith’s book, of which a portion of proceeds go to her Relay for Life team, reflects her attitude when she realized she had breast cancer.
“I had no idea what cancer was before 2008,” she shared with the Relay for Life crowd.
It was then that her mother, who she says was a walking advertisement for not smoking by walking around with an oxygen tank in one hand and a cigarette in the other, developed pancreatic cancer.
“I know about the colour of cancer,” she read from her book.
“I watched as it bubbled and frothed from my mothers lips yesterday.
“Eyes wild with wonder at what was happening inside of her.”
Smith still didn’t realize how close the disease that took her mother was.
“There’s no age restriction with cancer,” she said, asking those in attendance to look at the names on the luminaries around the Chandler Park track.
“Grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sons, fathers and grandfathers are all susceptible.
She said that 500 people per day are diagnosed with a form of cancer and of those, 200 will not survive.
Technology advancement in early detection and treatment made possible by the millions raised from events like Relay for Life saves lives, as Smith can attest.
“I am one of those survivors,” she said.
“They found the metastasis in one of my lymph nodes, where one year previous the technology wasn’t there to do that.
“I thank people like you who donate money for the gift of life.”
More than $51 million was raised by the Relay for Life in Canada in 2012.
Smith just underwent her first reconstructive surgery since having a mastectomy, which is another technological advance and is also paid for by the B.C. government.
Some women, like celebrity Angelina Jolie are opting to take a proactive double mastectomy approach and Smith says that is up to each individual.
“She had a very distinct chance based on family history which meant she had a good chance to develop breast cancer,” Smith said.
“I wondered about doing that myself but chose differently.”
Her experience as a survivour has left her willing to share.
“Ask any survivour if they had the chance to work harder to prevent developing the disease and you will hear a resounding, yes,” she shared with the crowd.
She closed with this.
“We should make a promise to those that have passed that we will take much better care of ourselves in their honour,” she said.
“Let them know that their passing has taught us a valuable lesson to not take good health for granted.
“Where there is life there is hope.”
For more information visit www.debilynsmith.com.