Wendy:
It was an honor and pleasure to assist you with the introduction to the Mayo Clinic Thorasic team in Rochester MN. It was also a great honor to meet you and your parents in person. You are doing an outstanding job and your support is remarkable. I hope that you are taking care of You! Colleen has given you some great connections.

I wish CONNECT lung cancer would have been available for me 10 years ago when I was diagnosed with lung cancer. With that being said, I understand
very well the shock of a cancer diagnosis; and I now also know that Mayo Clinic is doing remarkable research to give patients the best quality of life possible.

Your mother is a strong woman and I'm sure you have heard that half of the battle with disease is attitude. You and your mother and father have an amazingly positive attitude as you all fight this journey together. Cancer may not have known what it was dealing with when it paid a visit to your family?

I really want to commend you and your parents for so courageously coming to Mayo Clinic in light of the position Canadian patients are faced with when diagnosed with a disease like lung cancer. I hope that your experiences will enlighten and bridge the world of lung cancer and medicine especially with physicians and researchers in Canada and the USA.

Remember, I took the challenge to run a 10K race in every Canadian Providence to help change the face of lung cancer in Canada. So let me know when you are ready to work on this goal together? I will be running for you Mother with every breath I take.

I'm grateful that you took time to reach out to Connect! I appreciate your kind words and your courage to share your experience. You have a special connection here especially knowing that Colleen is Canadian as well. Please give our best to your parents, and let them know we are thinking them daily.

Big hug!
Linda & Jerry, too