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The first two years of association between Ederline Hugo and Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure San Diego, she walked for her sister, who was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago. This year, Hugo also walked in his own name.
Hugo, 51, was joined by her husband Milton and family friends, while she scored seven months fighting the disease.
"For us, it was time to celebrate survival," said Hugo. "This time it was even more special because I was able to walk with my sister, a three-year-old survivor."
The sisters were among 9,000 people who took to the streets on Sunday for the 22nd annual event that raises funds for the organization's services.
Columns of walkers crossed Balboa Park and went up the north aisles of Route 163, covered with all the shades of pink, from bubblegum ballet. Some – including men – wore pink tutus in their sets. And at least 200 dogs wore bandanas or pink bows as part of the new "Pups for the Cure".
"We have survivors, walkers for those they lost, and passionate about this cause," said Shaina Gross, president and CEO of Susan G. Komen San Diego.
Participants run or walk on 5 km or 1 km routes to raise awareness of the disease, which strikes one in eight women. It brought in about $ 1 million last year and is expected to raise $ 915,000 this year. The race is the organization's largest fundraiser, generating funds for mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies and other free diagnostic tests to screen early breast cancer, as well as support services for women living with the disease.
The organization offers assistance with rent or mortgage payments and transportation assistance to help patients get to their medical appointments. It also provides meal delivery, babysitting services and even wigs to patients who lose their hair because of chemotherapy, Gross said.
A quarter of her funding goes to breast cancer research, she said.
Forty thousand women die each year from breast cancer in the United States, with only one death a day in San Diego, Gross said. However, many of them are preventable and survival rates have improved in recent decades. According to the American Cancer Society, five-year survival rates are close to 100% in women with stage I breast cancer, 93% in stage II patients and 72% in stage III women.
With a favorable outcome for most women who catch and treat the disease quickly, "our goal is early detection and quality of treatment," said Gross.
This saved lives for Wendy Shurelds, 50, who has just hit five years after her diagnosis of stage I breast cancer, followed by a mastectomy and chemotherapy. The San Diego resident was unemployed in 2013 and could not afford a mammogram. She almost jumped the message, but was able to get the scan for free thanks to Susan G. Komen. She attributes this mammogram to her survival.
"Myself being uninsured, I hardly had it," said Shurelds, dressed for Sunday's event in a pink feathered headdress. "My trip was assured because they paid a lot of my services."
Shurelds now works as a community resource advocate for the Komen's Circle of Promise, which educates African American women about the disease, its unique risks and available resources.
"I'm going ahead and I'm doing it as part of Susan G. Komen," she said. "I am an eloquent testimony of what Komen services can do and why this event is so crucial to the San Diego community."
Hugo also considers himself lucky for early detection. Although his cancer was an aggressive variety, it was detected at the earliest stage and the results of his test became clear several months after bilateral mastectomy, reconstruction, and three doses of chemotherapy. She hopes, however, that future generations will have better diagnostic tools and softer treatment options.
The race, she said, means "being able to work together to find a cure and to teach younger generations to know the signs and symptoms of cancer."
Her husband, Milton, accompanied her on the 5 km walk, just as he had accompanied her on the most arduous path of breast cancer treatment. When his wife was diagnosed for the first time, he said, "I was denying it. It happens to other people. This can not happen to my wife. "
When he accepted his diagnosis, he said, he took to heart his role in his recovery, letting him know, "I'm with you in this whole thing, from beginning to end."
[email protected] Twitter @ deborahsbrennan
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