Gulf War Veteran Will Climb 56 Floors To Fight Lung Cancer
DENVER (CBS4)- She is a veteran of the Gulf War with stage 4 lung cancer. But that won't stop Michelle Alarid from climbing 56 floors on March 1 to the top of the Republic Plaza building in downtown Denver.
The 49-year-old is battling for herself and others with lung disease.
"We love life," she said.
Michelle and her husband, Mark Waldo, love to walk. They love to hike and ski. Michelle will tell you, back in 2015, she was living the dream and then, suddenly, she wasn't.
"It took me by shock, really it did. It was just a big surprise," she told CBS4 Health Specialist Kathy Walsh.
"They found a mass in my right lung," said Michelle.
It was cancer. Michelle was never a smoker. She says her cancer has been linked to her six months as a combat medic in the Persian Gulf War.
"Because of all the oil I'd breathe in that was burning out there and the burn pits," she explained. "I was just blowing out black stuff every day from just breathing that in."
Michelle had surgery to remove the mass in her lung. But 18 months later, she got bad news.
"That's when they found two masses in my brain," Michelle said.
She had stereotactic radiosurgery to precisely target the tumors and is now on a targeted therapy.
"I'm on the best drug that they have out there right now," she said.
Michelle is hoping for even better therapies. That's why in 2019, she climbed the 1,098 steps of the Republic Plaza building in the American Lung Association's Anthem Fight for Air Climb. She will do it again this year to raise awareness and money.
"I'm going to do it every year until I can't do it anymore," she vowed.
Michelle will climb with Mark. They'll do it to fight the stigma of lung cancer, to educate the public and to find a cure.
LINK: Fight For Air Climb