I’m going to begin this by saying I don’t know Bridget Spence. But that’s not going to stop me from recommending her as today’s #FollowFriday.
I know. I know. I usually vet people for you. But if you bear with me on this, I think you’ll understand why I’m making an exception.
Bridget works at Event 360, a non-profit fundraising and events company that was founded, and is run, by my friend Jeff Shuck.
Bridget spends her days as a fundraising coach, where she teaches Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure participants how to raise money. The goals for each participant is $2,300, which is pretty aggressive and scary if you’ve never raised money before. She helps calm fears and motivate participants to do their part.
Not only does she spend her time working in the industry, she has walked five 3-Days and has raised more than $100,000 in the hopes of seeing a world without breast cancer. And it makes sense that she would.
At 21 she was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer, with no family history of the disease. But, rather than mope, it inspired her to launch a blog called, “My Big Girl Pants,” where she muses on life, love, and hope in the face of metastatic breast cancer.
For seven years she’s been fighting the disease and has participated in more than 10 clinical trials to move the cancer into remission.
On July 25 she received a huge blow. She had a CT scan that gave her some very unexpected results.
I’ll let her tell you in her words:
This unexpected, early scan showed that in just 2 months my cancer had grown in both my liver and my lymphnodes. In my abdominal lymphnodes, the cancer used to be about 1mm. The cancer was now more than 2cm. In my liver, my tumor previously was 1cm. My liver tumor was now 2.6cm. In just two months, my tumor markers went from 40 to 120.
She goes on to say that this is not “get your affairs in order” scary, but after all the trials and drugs and fighting, it’s another blow.
Her colleagues tell me she registered to walk 60 miles again, in DC, next month, but she’s too sick to participate. Instead she’s doing what she knows best: Helping her team raise money to find a cure (nearly $45,000 so far).
So take a few minutes and say hello to her. Follow her on Twitter, subscribe to and read her blog, and donate to the DC walk, if you can.
We’re all pulling for you, Bridget!