Sweet Wahinis prepare for 40-mile trek by Whitney Merrill
Lisa Mandelbaum. Photos: Whitney Merrill.
The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in San Francisco this year includes a team of Coastside women preparing to make the 40-mile trek. You may have already seen them at Rock the Block or the farmers market — or out raising money via garage sales on the coast — as Team
“Sweet Wahinis”reaches out to the community as positive and powerful representatives of the cause. All team members have personal stories as to why they are so committed and engaged, but they all received some additional impetus when their team leader,
Lisa Mandelbaum, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.
As Mandelbaum says on her Avon Walk page: “I was fortunate. I caught my cancer at stage 0. I had an amazing medical team and tremendous support from my loving friends and family. As I begin to come through my own medical journey, I realized that it indeed takes an enormous amount of resources to move through a cancer diagnosis and treatment.” This new understanding was one of the reasons why Mandelbaum chose to walk and raise money for breast cancer — but she also has a unique perspective due to running her own wellness practice, Coastside Healing Arts in Half Moon Bay.
Plenty of items at the Team Sweet Wahinis garage sale fundraiser.
Mandelbaum refers to herself as an integrated practitioner, where the combined efforts of an oncologist, acupuncturist, nutritionist and relaxation practitioner all work together to assist the patient. Describing herself specifically as the “holder of space for the end people,” she says that she gets a lot of “end” people: those who are often at the end of their medical line and who are weary, frustrated, tired and skeptical. “Our treatment method of chemotherapy is a brutal treatment,” she notes; she says the focus of her wellness practice is in “building up the body and keeping a clean ‘terrain.’”
Nancy Strachan West, Lisa Mandelbaum, Gretel Merrill and Laura Burtness raised over $600 at their garage sale in El Granada.
Mandelbaum says that some people just panic and often hand over their treatment entirely to medical professionals without fully informing and empowering themselves. “When you’re given a diagnosis, you don’t have time to ‘dance’ — no space … you just want it out of you.” She notes the high cancer rates in the Bay Area and potential contributing factors such as the environment, stress and nutrition. “I practice what I preach with nutrition and exercise, but also became more informed on meditation, stilling the mind and making space. I was not stilling enough,” she says.
Whimsical sign at the Team Sweet Wahinis farmers market fundraiser.
Mandelbaum focuses her practice on the various modalities that include acupuncture, herbs, needling, massage, nutrition counseling and lifestyle coaching. She also refers to Chinese philosophy where cancer is referred to as a phlegm condition or “the cause of a thousand diseases.” In Chinese medicine a tumor is created when chi doesn’t move or is not flowing properly, so her work is to essentially “move the chi via herbs and needles.”
As of early July, Team Sweet Wahinis was at 94 percent of its fundraising goal. “We each have our reasons for participating — whether it’s a personal fight with breast cancer, the struggle or loss of a loved one, or a deep commitment to the cause. We’ve each made a big commitment. We’ll spend the next few months training to prepare for a walk of up to a marathon and a half. Each team member is required to raise at least $1,800 in donations. But because we’re in this together, we know that, with your help, we can do it,” says the team’s Web page.
Walkers boost their immune systems by stocking up on organic sustenance from the farmers market in preparation for the walk.
The team members’ comments, and their fundraising Web pages, speak to their individual commitments and inspiration. Laura Burtness says on her page: “Team Sweet Wahinis were fundraising at a crowded local activity and we had the big guns out — ukelele, tip jar, leis, pink tulle skirts, singing — we’ll do anything for a dollar. A woman passed by and put a dollar in my festooned tip jar. ‘I’m a two time survivor,’ she said. ‘Then we will definitely be walking for you,’ I responded. She looked right at me and, as she turned to merge back into the crowd, mouthed, I know.” Burtness says that she got chills and this pushed her over the edge. “There is power in knowing that you’re remembered,” she says.
Nancy Strachan West’s page speaks to those that she is honoring: “I am walking for Grandmother Harrington, L. M, L. M, L. C., L. G, L. Y, L. K, and so many other wonderful women I know/knew who have had breast cancer. No one is immune from cancer. It cuts across all races, ages, socioeconomic backgrounds. I have always donated to the cause, but this year felt that I wanted to do something more. So I have decided to walk! The training will be fun. I hope to get out with my dogs every day, and also walk with my friends here in HMB.”
Lezlee Miller’s Web page talks about her own decision to walk: “Personally I am astounded to say that over 20 women I know, both relatives and friends, have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Of those, three have lost their lives. Professionally I perform mammography and have witnessed many women receive this devastating diagnosis; it is overwhelming and painful for them and their families. I am walking to raise funds in memory of those lost lives, in honor of those surviving friends and family, and to make a difference for my patients.”
There is seriousness and commitment with the team combined with a sense of humor and lightness as they prepare for the event. Barbara Nielsen tells those who ask why she is walking that “I’m doing it for the right reasons.” Gretel Merrill is preparing and pushing herself with 11-mile training walks. Norma Avery, who walked 60 miles with Mandelbaum last year, smiles when she talks of training and says, “I’m relying on muscle memory!” And Mandelbaum says: “Walking like this makes you feel empowered. … We’re all doing a common thing.”
This year, the San Francisco Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is being held on Sept. 28-29. Walkers will cross the Golden Gate Bridge and weave through San Francisco neighborhoods including North Beach and Pacific Heights; the walk will pass famous landmarks including Fisherman’s Wharf, the Ferry Building, and the Presidio. Registration is still open and the Sweet Wahinis would love your support — either moral support or donations.
