John Webber

My husband John was diagnosed with ALL in 2004. As part of his treatment he was given the drug Gleevec, an experimental treatment at that time, for his cancer. The treatment was a resounding success and has played a pivotal part in allowing myself and John to live as full and complete a life as we could hope for. We have been a part of Light the Night, with either one or both of us walking every year, since 2005. Though we often have friends and family walk with us, 2019 was extra special as we were joined by our niece on the walk who was born around the same time John was diagnosed.

The first time I heard about Light the Night was from a brochure that I picked up in the hospital. Initially it was a way of showing support for the hard work and research going on in the field and a way to give back in our own small way. For John, doing the walk was a goal to work towards that 1st year of recovery, and for me it was also something concrete I could do to help assist the recovery and healing process in my own way.

Light the Night reminds us of our experiences and how important it is to think back on everything and be grateful for what we have. We share memories, we don't forget how lucky we are, and we recognize that the cancer could return. Everyone is different, but I think it's good for us to be reminded and we want to be reminded. Two things we can always be grateful for out of this horrible experience is that John had the best of care, and he knew how much he was loved. Our community really showed up for us and that was amazing. For John, it also changed the way he approached his work and what he focuses on. I think for us the annual reminder the walk gives us has been really useful for reminding us about what really matters to us. So, every year we write a fundraising letter that we share on our LTN page and this is part of our reflection and ability to see things with perspective. John and I have been together for 19 years, and our relationship was still pretty new when he was diagnosed. When I stop and think about it, because John received such good treatment and we received such good support, we were able to have a life together.

John is a private person, but early on he realized that it was important to share his experience with our community. One of the 1st visitors he had, a friend and her family, made such a profound lift to his spirits and outlook that he realized he had to tell people about his diagnosis. It was amazing to see how many people showed up to support us and helped us through everything, it turns out our community was much larger than we imagined. Then there was the challenge of the next phases after he survived his initial treatment. Would the cancer come back? It's always something you think about and you learn to live with as you reach each milestone. As a caregiver, one of the biggest things I came up against was not realizing how much the experience took out of me until I had time to reflect many months later. You don't realize what everything is costing you until much later, and then there's the struggle of putting your life back together and taking the time to do that. Light The Night is the recognition of our community and its importance in the struggle we went through, and the recognition of what we continue to go through. We are also just happy to give back!