Cheryl Barnum's Story

My name is Cheryl Barnum and I’m so thankful and proud to say that I’m a 6 year survivor of breast cancer.  As with all survivors, we owe a tremendous amount of thanks to our family and friends for their support and prayers.
 
My son is a Portland police officer and ironically I was diagnosed on the very same day as the mother of one of his fellow officers.  Our mutual battle with breast cancer put us together and because of this unexpected event in our lives, I gained a new friend.  As my son told me at the onset, “Mom, you can either beat it or you can let it beat you.”  Throughout my treatment, I always kept that thought in the forefront of my mind as it gave me so much encouragement.
 
After my treatment was completed, I chose to become active in the “Komen Race for the Cure”. When I decided to start a team, there were only a few of us that first year.  Over the years, my team has grown in numbers. It is now made up of other survivors and good friends who fortunately have not been touched by this disease, but found this is a way to help and support Breast Cancer. The bottom line is that we all are such a great source of encouragement to one another and it has strengthened our friendships forever.
 
In naming our team, we always thought that the most important words of encouragement for one another was to say, “I’m thinking of you” so we named ourselves:   “PINKING OF YOU”