Thank you to all the gyms who participated in this event for Sam. A letter was prepared by Daryl to give some closure on their difficult journey through this, and also thanking to everyone helping them through this difficult time. Moreover, this is to make all aware that sometimes you can be healthy but cancer may affect you still. Crossfit AI 22.Nov.2014 My name is Daryl and I am Sam’s husband. We all lost a beautiful and loving friend, godmother, sister, daughter, mother and wife 13 days ago. Sam passed away at the Foothills hospital nearly two weeks ago on Nov 9th, 2014 from colon cancer. Todays event is truly special to both of us and is the reason that i flew from Ontario where her service was just held to be here today. My grief is incredibly raw and frothy but I wanted to be here today, partly because of how much this event means to us, but also because we do not want anyone else to go through what we just went through. This is very hard for me, hard for me to be here, and I will keep this more on the advocacy side of things. It is hard to sum up into words the gracious support we have received from everyone during these past 8 months. But todays and tomorrows events and the spearheading done by Candace, Hallie, Kevin, Kelvin and the rest of the organizing committee at CrossFIt AI is one of the most unbelievable tributes of support and compassion we have received. The attendance here today and at the other 5 participating CrossFit affiliate gyms here in Calgary, the Vancouver Lions in North Van and a number of others gyms in Ontario is one grand grand gesture. Especially when this is put into context - me and Sam only moved to Calgary in April 2013. And since diagnosis our presence at this gym has been limited to non-existent. Today is something you all should be proud of. The CrossFit community is something special, something truly human, basic and at the roots of community. Sam always loved CrossFit. Like a lot of you, once she found CrossFit she never went back. Before CrossFit, she was a runner. And before that it was yoga. And before that running (again) and then the traditional gym type workouts. She was always healthy. Always active. She was at CrossFit 5-6 times a week. Even she was 38 weeks pregnant, she was pounding out weights and full body movements with speed and ease. Back east, her CrossFit friends named her Little Ninja. She was this small beautiful Asian woman that could crush workouts with ease. CrossFit was important to Sam. Like we all know, she loved what CrossFit offered her and her fitness goals. Sam was such an amazing person. She did not dwell on the unknown or the past. She lived in the NOW. She loved every moment and experience that she had. She had limitless resolve and strength. She could never be underestimated. She won army reserve top candidate and marksmanship awards. She was sweet yet sharp tongued and always witty. She had an infectious smile and was indescribably beautiful. She could light up any room yet hated being the centre of attention. She had a monster heart and always went the extra mile for anyone. Especially me. And even more so for our son, Kai. What has happened has come as a shock to everyone, especially if you were not aware of her cancer. Sam always told people on her own terms, embedded at the bottom of an email or the last item during a phone call. The cancer was never advertised. She/we didn’t see the point because she was always going to get through this and at the very least live (with cancer) for numerous years. As advocacy for awareness and for your own mourning and closure our cancer story only began on March 10th at diagnosis. Her early symptoms were anemia, mild to moderate abdominal cramping that was inconsistent and always variable, and then just prior to March 10th a full bowel obstruction that correlated with severe abdonimal pain. A few days later our prognosis from the hemicolectomy surgery indicated that her cancer was a late stage 3c which had already spread to her abdomen wall and the lymph node system. A few weeks later after her recovery and our trip to Los Cabos, a staging scan upgraded her to Stage 4 when 2 liver spots were discovered. After 6 cycles of chemo and in early July, everything looked great, the chemo cycles were manageable and the next staging CT scan presented good news. One liver spot was gone and the other reduced by 60%. Her schedule liver resection on August 11th was suppose to be a major milestone in her recovery. We were supposed to have the resection, be cancer free, have another 6 chemo cycles as an insurance policy and be cancer free by Christmas, vacation in Hawaii and visit all her friends out East with new babies in the New Year. Aug 11th was a very very bad day for us. The surgery was aborted when they found cancer scattered throughout her lower peritoneum and small bowel during the surgery. Small pen point cancer specks not detectable by a CT scan. Even then, our outlook was still years. Resume more chemo, change the chemo treatment regimen to 2nd, 3rd and 4th line treatment defences and continue to live (with cancer) - as long as possible. We had to. She was so young and so awesome. For herself, for me and most importantly for Kai. There was no question on this. She had so much positivity and strength. You had to believe in her strength because it is sooooo limitless. Even with such bad news, her Instagram post on Aug 15th about Kai “When life hands you a box of rotten lemonades, you squeeze this little guy and you get lemonade”. We didnt know it then but over the course of 3 months, our outlook literally shrank from a lifetime, to years, and then to only 3 months. It is important to recognize that Sam had zero of the 20 colon cancer risk factors and had many negating risk factors: Asian, young, always ate well (last few years Paleo and Whole 30), always active and fit, never smoked, never drank. She valued her health and was frustrated at people who did not. In addition to being a colon cancer anomaly she had a mutation in her cancer that occurs in only 5%-10% of all colon cancer cases. This mutation is angry and aggressive and has limited treatment options. In the words of our oncologist, “the progression of her cancer is one of the fastest colon cancer cases I have seen and my heart absolutely breaks for the three of you. You are my favourite patient.” Her nurse told me later that day that she never saw our oncologist so upset about a cancer case. The stacked odds and unluckiness of Sam’s case is what causes so much of my anger and sadness. It made Sam sad. And makes me very very sad. Some colon cancer patients live (with cancer) for 5 years until they can no more. And then Sam, in typical fashion, said in late October, “we need to stop dwelling on the unluckiness.” Right now, I do not know how to do that. For me, this is hardest seat in the world. It felt like it was my cancer without it being my cancer. I owned as much of it as i could have for her. I would have and would taken her place if I could. Sadly, i couldn’t and nor would Sam ever allow it. And all of this happened at the peak of our lives. We just moved to Calgary and we loved every bit of our new lives. We loved what we had going for our son Kai, loved our neighbourhood, loved our house, loved the city, loved our CrossFit gym, loved the outdoors and mountains, loved our jobs and we were both really find our own grooves. Sam had the perfect 21 hour per week job that satisfied her desire to work the minimum amount possible, give her time for CrossFit and live her ultimate dream to be an amazing mom. We were thinking about having another baby sister or brother for Kai next year. So it goes to show you that disaster can strike at any moment and the importance of recognizing what really matters in life. So tonight when you get home, hug your kids and your significant other a little tighter tonight. As for advocacy, for colon cancer prevention and to help preventing anyone to go through what we have just gone through, ask your doctor for a FIT (Fecal Immunochemical test) test and/or colonoscopy. Having no risk factors should not prevent you from hesitating nor your doctor from making sure. 90% of colon cancer cases are preventable if caught early enough. Most colon cancer cases do not present themselves until they are a late stage 3 or 4. During our time in the Foothills Unit 47 Intensive Palliative care unit, there were 5-6 people under the age of 40 with GI related cancers - all with no other health conditions and otherwise healthy. So, do not think you are invincible. Do not think you are tougher than cancer. As a CrossFitter, you may think you are. But Sam was tough and strong..beyond tough..truly. So please please please be proactive with this silent killer. This is why we ask that any founds raised being donated to Sam’s Push for you Tush Page (my.myccc.ca/samanthayeung). We do not want anyone to go through what we just went through. Thank you to everyone for today, your participation in this awareness event, your support, your energy and effort and your thoughts. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the bottom of our hearts. I miss her. I love her. I love her forever. Elle est forte. Elle est forte. Elle est Forte. She is strong. She is strong…She is strong.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 16:51:24 +0000
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