Best foot forward

Jackets embroidered with the word "thrive" are all the rage at Kaiser these days.

It's a marketing message that Kaiser employees are rallying behind, and a winning one, in my book.

But show me the rack where I can find a jacket embroidered with the word "strive."

That's how I'm feeling today, the morning after beginning my fifth week of radiation therapy.

My tongue is playing its Angelina Jolie games again; my temples are throbbing with pain; my throat is sore; and my feet are shuffling as if I were a mechanical toy wheezing on waning D-cell batteries.

It's gonna be a tough week of treatments, followed by another tough week, followed by one last session of chemo and three additional days of radiation therapy.

And then I'll have to wait and see whether these treatments knock cancer out of my system. A friend coping with prostate cancer, quoting a line from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, told me last week that "the waitin' is the hardest part," and he knows what he's talking about.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to tap my energy reserves by the time that Sunday rolls around.

That's the day of the Race or Walk for the Cure, sponsored by the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and I just signed up to participate in a team from my workplace.

The Race or Walk for the Cure raises funds to support local breast cancer services and national breast cancer research programs. I know several women directly affected by breast cancer, and the research and prevention programs funded by proceeds from this event could help protect other women from the disease.

Why not set your alarm clocks early on Sunday morning and join me at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena? The fee for registration for non-timed participants is only $35, and just an additional $5 for those who want their participation timed.

I've done my share of competitive races in my day, but I'm not going to be in any hurry to finish the walk.

The goal for the event is to raise $1 million, and at this writing they have more than $600,000 to go.

So, c'mon: Help support a great cause and sign up now.

Think pink!