Better by the Mile: Cancer survivor plans Boston 10K redemption run
Later this month, thousands of runners will be lacing up for the Boston 10K, challenging themselves and raising money for great causes.
Later this month, thousands of runners will be lacing up for the Boston 10K, challenging themselves and raising money for great causes.
Later this month, thousands of runners will be lacing up for the Boston 10K, challenging themselves and raising money for great causes.
Later this month, thousands of runners will be lacing up for the Boston 10K — challenging themselves and raising money for great causes.
For one local mom, this isn't about pace. It's all about redemption.
Andrea Baxter is hitting her stride now. But that wasn't the case when we met the Upton, Massachusetts, mom last year. It was an emotional time, as she went through treatment for breast cancer caught by a routine mammogram.
She wasn't well enough to finish last year's 10K, but she promised she'd be back.
"What a difference a year can make," Baxter said. "Last year at this time, I was just starting chemo and hadn't ventured into radiation yet. And now I'm finally on the other side of all my treatment."
Baxter is also lacing up to finish the race this year and fundraising for the Thea Stoneman Breast Imaging and Diagnostic Center at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital.
"Because if they found mine, I want them to find other women's as well as early as they possibly can," she said.
Dr. Sona Chikarmane is a breast imager at the center and said the technology for catching breast cancer early has really come a long way.
"We have something called contrast-enhanced mammography. So that's where we inject contrast or dye right before you're getting your mammogram," Chikarmane said. "The contrast actually helps the radiologist look at the breast tissue and see if there's any abnormal and normal findings."
She added that with the new recommendation that women start getting mammograms at age 40 — and more women developing breast cancer earlier — early detection is critical.
"The earlier we find it, the better the outcomes are," Chikarmane said.
Andrea Baxter is living proof of that. It's also why she's so passionate about spreading this message:
"I don't have a family history. I don't have genetic markers for it. It shouldn't have been me. But it was, so it can be anybody," she said.
This year's Boston 10K will be held on June 23.