My dear friend....

Irene and her totally supportive hubby.

I have this friend, she is absolutely amazing! I adore her...for her humor, her sensibility, her kindness and her strength. See, this friend has been battling cancer since she was 28 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy. A young mother with 2 children...a young healthy woman. Her life drastically changed from that moment (I will not personal too many details here).

A few years later, when expecting her 3rd child, she found out that her cancer had returned, immediate surgery was necessary, which meant an 11 week preterm delivery of her baby. (The baby was luckily born healthy and is now a beautiful 4 year old!)

Irene has continued to battle cancer for the last 4 years, having the cancer relapse over and over in different parts of her body. She fights this disease every single day, with daily trips to the doctors and repeat treatments of radiation and chemotherapy.

Irene with just some of us ladies who adore her!

Many of you, my friends and family do not know her personally, but believe me, she is an absolutely beautiful person. She is realistic about the disease and knows  the hardships she has had to overcome and the hardships that still lie ahead, yet she continues every day to fight this disease. She does not use the disease as an excuse for anything, she continues to live her life to the fullest (with many medical limitations due to her disease) and also continues to be a lovely wife and mother for her family.

She recently was a guest speaker for Mather Hospital's Victory Day, please see the Video here. Tomorrow morning she is walking with Mather for Families Walk for Hope with her daughters!

If you are reading this, I BEG of you to click this link, and pledge just $5 or $10 for her cause. If I have just 20 readers donate $10 (the price you will pay for your Starbucks coffee & bagel on your way to work), then we will have helped to raise $200...just like that!