Get ready for Lung Leavin’ Day 2009!
4 Feb 2009 by Wendi Lewis under Events, News, People
Regular readers of this site will no doubt remember the incredible story of Heather Von St. James that we shared not long ago. Heather was diagnosed with mesothelima just over three years ago, at the young age of 36, shortly after having a baby, daughter Lily Rose.
Stunned by the diagnosis and it’s bleak prognosis, Heather decided to undergo a radical surgery pioneered by Dr. David J. Sugarbaker at the International Mesothelioma Program at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass. The procedure involved removing the tumor, pleura, part of her diaphragm, and her left lung.
The surgery was scheduled for Feb. 2, Groundhog Day, but Heather’s sister Danna promply dubbed the day “Lung Leavin’ Day.”
Heather’s surgery was a success, and she holds fast to the belief that she is cured. On the first anniversary of the surgery, she decided to have a party to celebrate life and hope. And the Lung Leavin’ Day annual celebration was born!
Heather, along with family and friends, commemorates the day with a huge bonfire. They write their fears on plates with a Sharpie marker and smash the plates into the fire in a symbolic releasing of those concerns.
The event has grown from a few close family members to include more than 40 people this year, on Saturday, Feb. 7, date of the Third Annual Lung Leavin’ Day.
Even if you can’t travel to Heather’s home in Minnesota to join the party, she encourages families battling meso and fellow survivors to use the day as an opportunity to celebrate life and to face the future with courage and optimism.
“I would love it if people all over celebrated with us,” she says. “They can do something as simple as raising a toast to health or dancing around a fire and plate breaking! Whatever you want to put in!”
The official celebration begins at 6 p.m. Central Time. I’m planning to definitely raise a glass and think of everyone I’ve met here through this web site, and all those I haven’t yet but who are struggling in their own fight against mesothelioma. There is so much hope, there are so many wonderful stories of success in this fight.
I know that together we can beat this cancer!
Lung Leavin’ Day! WOOT!
