Meet the #KCPINKS - Debby

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Friends. Get ready to be ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ผ๐“น๐“ฒ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ญ. I had NO IDEA when I asked Debby to fill out my little #womancrushwednesday questionnaire how simply wonderful her answers would be. Her writing is a dream and I feel pretty lucky to get read it in its entirety. It was a HARD job picking out my favorite parts, but here goes. Debby considers herself to be an extremely blessed mother and grandmother. She is SO proud of her children, sonโ€™s-in-law and grandchildren that I swear the words she writes about them glow on the page. When asked about collections, Debby replied she collects her grandkidsโ€™ masterpieces and adds them to her childrenโ€™s childhood works of art. In her free time, Debby volunteers as a Stephen minister and does hospice volunteer work. She has held the hands of the dying, prayed with their families and listened to their stories; she considers this work to be a precious gift. It comes as no surprise that Debby is a published author. She has written three short pieces, many skits for church social events and is currently co-writing a book with her dear friend Kathy called, Hello, Guess What! In addition, Debby keeps notebooks handy at all times, her notebooks are filled with writing prompts, movie quotes and her favorite, โ€œfriendismsโ€, where she quotes the things that pop out of the mouths of her friends, you never know YOU might be in there! Debby was diagnosed with Estrogen Positive Stage 2 breast cancer in 2008, she has also gone through around 30 surgeries for various illnesses and conditions. She lives without central vision in one of her eyes and was pleased {when asked to paddle with her eyes closed} to learn that even blindness wouldnโ€™t stop her from getting on that boat! Read on to learn why Debby loves the #KCPINKSโ€ฆ

๐Ÿ‰How long have you been a member of the KC Pink Warriors? From the very beginning, from wooden crates & yardsticks on dry land to a boat & paddles on the water.

๐Ÿ‰Favorite position? Rocket, left side, {I whack my hand less on the left} but willing to try anything except steering, I will leave that in the already very capable hands!

๐Ÿ‰Whatโ€™s one word that describes what dragon boating means to you? โ’ปโ“„โ“‡โ“‰โ’พโ“‰โ“Šโ’นโ’บ

๐Ÿ‰ What keeps you coming back for more? The excitement of learning a new skill, improving my health and the fellowship with these amazing women. I watch them and gain strength and encouragement from each one.

We love you, Debby! Thanks for being here!

* โ„ฑโ„ด๐“‡๐“‰๐’พ๐“‰๐“Š๐’นโ„ฏ ๐“Œ๐’ถ๐“ˆ โ„ด๐“‡๐’พโ„Š๐’พ๐“ƒ๐’ถ๐“๐“๐“Ž ๐“Š๐“ˆโ„ฏ๐’น ๐“‰โ„ด ๐“‚โ„ฏ๐’ถ๐“ƒ ๐“ˆ๐“‰๐“‡โ„ฏ๐“ƒโ„Š๐“‰๐’ฝ ๐’ท๐“Š๐“‰ ๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ฏ๐“Ž ๐’ถ๐’น๐’นโ„ฏ๐’น ๐’ถ๐“ƒโ„ด๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ฏ๐“‡ ๐’นโ„ฏ๐’ป๐’พ๐“ƒ๐’พ๐“‰๐’พโ„ด๐“ƒ โ€œ๐’พ๐“‰ ๐’ธโ„ด๐“ƒ๐“ƒโ„ด๐“‰โ„ฏ๐“ˆ ๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ฏ ๐’นโ„ฏ๐“‰โ„ฏ๐“‡๐“‚๐’พ๐“ƒ๐’ถ๐“‰๐’พโ„ด๐“ƒ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐’ถ๐“‰ โ„ฏ๐“ƒ๐’ถ๐’ท๐“โ„ฏ๐“ˆ ๐’ธโ„ด๐“Š๐“‡๐’ถโ„Šโ„ฏ ๐“‰โ„ด ๐“…๐“‡โ„ฏ๐“‹๐’ถ๐’พ๐“ โ„ด๐“‹โ„ฏ๐“‡ ๐’ปโ„ฏ๐’ถ๐“‡.โ€ โ„ณ๐’พ๐’ธ๐’ฝโ„ฏ๐“๐“โ„ฏ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐“€ ๐“Žโ„ด๐“Š ๐’ปโ„ด๐“‡ ๐’ฝ๐’ถ๐“‹๐’พ๐“ƒโ„Š ๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ฏ ๐’ปโ„ด๐“‡๐“‰๐’พ๐“‰๐“Š๐’นโ„ฏ ๐“‰โ„ด ๐“‰๐’ถ๐“€โ„ฏ ๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ฏ ๐“ˆ๐“‰โ„ฏ๐“…๐“ˆ ๐“‰โ„ด ๐“‚๐’ถ๐“€โ„ฏ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐“…โ„ด๐“ˆ๐“ˆ๐’พ๐’ท๐“โ„ฏ.

Meet the #KCPINKS - Char

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Many a night Iโ€™ve found myself paddling next to Char, her calm demeanor and easy stroke can almost instantly put fellow paddlers at ease. This ability to in one moment bring the calm and in the next come up with a silly song or chant is just one of the reasons Char is this weekโ€™s #womancrush. Char grew up on a farm in central Kansas where she learned to love fresh air and not to fear spiders. ๐Ÿ˜‰She has two grown sons and three beautiful granddaughters with whom she love, love, loves to play! When Char isnโ€™t working as a breast cancer nurse navigator, she enjoys hiking, quilting, reading and of course, dragon boating! Char is a 3+ year survivor of Stage 1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. Read on to see why Char loves the #KCPINKS...

๐Ÿ‰How long have you been a member of the KC Pink Warriors? ๐ผ ๐‘Ž๐‘š ๐‘Ž ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘š๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘š, ๐‘ ๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก 6 ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘ .

๐Ÿ‰Whatโ€™s one word that describes what dragon boating means to you? โ’พโ“ƒโ“ˆโ“…โ’พโ“‡โ’ถโ“‰โ’พโ“„โ“ƒโ’ถโ“

๐Ÿ‰What keeps you coming back for more?  ๐ผ ๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘’. ๐ผ ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘’๐‘™ ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐ผโ€™๐‘š ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘ข๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘˜ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’. ๐ผ ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐พ๐ถ ๐‘ƒ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘˜ ๐‘Š๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ !!!

Thanks for being here Char!! We'd rather paddle with you than do yoga with a goat any day!! 

Meet the #KCPINKS - Jessica

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Sometimes life can be really unfair. When Jessica was diagnosed with hormone positive IDC #breastcancer in 2016 she certainly didnโ€™t expect the treatment that helped her beat her disease to CAUSE a secondary cancer, but in 2018 the unimaginable happened. Jessica was diagnosed with cancer a 2nd time, this time #AML which would require hard core chemo, long hospital stays and a stem cell transplant to overcome. The very same tenacity that helped this California born, Kansas raised mama/ step mama of three kick cancerโ€™s ass a second time makes her a FIERCE competitor in our boat and this weekโ€™s #womancrush. Read on to see why Jessica loves the #KCPINKS...

๐Ÿ‰ How long have you been a member of the KC Pink Warriors? ๐ผ'๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘Ž ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘š๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐ฝ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘’ 2019 ( ~3 ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘ ).

๐Ÿ‰ What is your favorite position? ๐ฟ๐‘’๐‘“๐‘ก ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘  3-6 ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘‘๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘‘.

๐Ÿ‰ Whatโ€™s one word that describes what dragon boating means to you? โ“‡โ’บโ“ˆโ’พโ“โ’พโ’บโ“ƒโ“‰

๐Ÿ‰ What keeps you coming back for more? ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘๐‘  ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘–๐‘™๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘š, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘‘๐‘™๐‘’, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘š๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘’๐‘™๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘”๐‘™๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘.

We love you Jessica and are SO glad youโ€™re here! SEE YA SUCKERS! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Meet the #KCPINKS - Coach Shelley

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Itโ€™s #womancrushwednesday and I canโ€™t think of a more crush worthy woman than our very own Coach Shelley! Whether hiking the Grand Canyon, racing dragon boats down the Mississippi, slinging oncology drugs or keeping up with her two children (Annika-16 and Josh-13), Shelley is the embodiment of ACTIVE! In addition to just being an overall #badass Shelley is an 8-year survivor of triple negative breast cancer. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป Read on to see why Shelley loves the #KCPINKS...

๐Ÿ‰How long have you been a member of the KC Pink Warriors? ๐‘†๐‘–๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐ด๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘™ 2019 (~5 ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘ )

๐Ÿ‰What is your favorite position? ๐ด๐‘›๐‘ฆ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐ผ'๐‘š ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘‘! (Thatโ€™s the spirit, Coach!)

๐Ÿ‰Whatโ€™s one word that describes what dragon boating means to you? โ“‰โ“„โ’ผโ’บโ“‰โ’ฝโ’บโ“‡

๐Ÿ‰What keeps you coming back for more? ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘š. ๐ผ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘“๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘ . ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘“๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก. ๐ผ๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘–๐‘Ÿ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘“๐‘“๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘™๐‘ฆ. ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘“๐‘ฆ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘’๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘™๐‘–๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘ . โค๏ธ

Thanks for pushing us to be our best selves, Coach! ๐Ÿ˜˜

First Time on the Water - Kansas City Dragon Boat Festival

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On June 8, 2019, the KC Pink Warriors participated in their very first โ€œon the waterโ€ event, the Kansas City Dragon Boat Festival. The day was full of firsts, lessons learned, laughter and support from the KC fans. Click the link below to read more about the experience. We are already excited to race in our home city in 2020!

โ€˜Weโ€™re here:โ€™ Breast cancer survivor team competes at KC Dragon Boat Festival

Why Dragon Boats?

The aftermath of breast cancer treatment is no picnic for survivors. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation might be over, but their ghosts often remain. Survivors may experience lasting fallout from treatment such as lymphedema, limited range of motion, stiff joints or weakened muscles, and many other โ€œfunโ€ side effects. Thankfully, Dr. Don McKenzie, a sports medicine physician at the University of British Columbia, decided to test a theory that repetitive upper-body movement (such as the paddling in dragon boating) could help survivors avoid some of the nasty ramifications of treatment while also enjoying active, full lives. Click the link below to learn more about the sport of dragon boat racing and survivorshipโ€ฆ

Breast Cancer And Dragon Boat Racing: The Story Behind A Movement

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