Blue Star mom uses 100 Miles for Hope to recover from cancer treatments

Military mom and American Legion Auxiliary member Cheryl Waybright aims to walk 100 miles by Sept. 5 as part of her recovery from treatment for breast cancer.

Her mother, Sue C. King, died from the disease in 1987.

“So my life has been not if but when I would be diagnosed,” said Waybright, who serves as historian for both Auxiliary Unit 160 in Smyrna, Ga., and the Department of Georgia.

She scheduled a mammogram for Nov. 9, 2021. On Nov. 11, she gave out poppies for Veterans Day. The radiologist fast-tracked the process with the surgeon: That month she was diagnosed with Stage 2 HER2/neu estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Waybright had her port installed on Dec. 8 and began chemotherapy treatments on Dec. 14, which were completed April 5. Her treatment also includes hormone therapy and a double mastectomy, scheduled for mid-May.

Though the fundraiser comes at a time that Waybright may need care, she’s using her exercise as a way to fundraise for others by logging miles for 100 Miles for Hope, a fitness/wellness event in which participants log 100 miles by Labor Day, Sept. 5, as they fundraise for The American Legion Veterans & Children Foundation. All proceeds from registrations and donations go directly to supporting disabled veterans and military families. (Learn more and register for the third annual challenge here.)

“It gives me something to do instead of focus on ‘Oh, I have cancer,’” she said. “And as my husband said, there's no slow in my go.”

Waybright’s late father, Gilbert “Toby” King, served in the Navy; her mother worked as a civilian in the Army Materiel Command. Waybright grew up in Centerville, Va., helping with the volunteer fire department’s initiatives.

“We were instilled early in our life with the mindset of service,” she said.

Waybright and her husband, Tony Waybright, have passed that on to their children, now adults. Their daughter, Courtney Waybright, is an Eagle Scout and Auxiliary member. Their son, Marshall Waybright, is an E-5 sergeant in the Army stationed in South Korea near the demilitarized zone. He’s a member of both The American Legion and Sons of The American Legion at Post 160. In part, 100 Miles for Hope and the V&CF are important to her, Waybright said, because she can foresee a time when her son might need assistance.

“I know that if my son were married and had a kid, there is no way he could afford to live on what the Army pays him,” she said. “So working and helping the organization try to make it better for the soldiers — it hits home with me.”

Making the 100 miles is a “stretch goal” for Waybright, and functions as part of her recovery. Toward the end of April, she had about 8 miles.

Aside from the ordeal of the cancer treatments themselves, she contracted a staph infection through her port and was rushed to the hospital Feb. 3, where she stayed until Feb. 14.

“It was a struggle. They had to give me blood infusions, and they found a blood clot — all of it caused by the infection from when they installed the port,” she said.

Home again, she slept on the couch to be within 12 steps of the bathroom, with her husband and friends caring for her. Once she had some strength and balance back, she said she knew she needed to move.

“So I was walking laps around the house through the kitchen, in the dining room, anyplace where I could hold on to things for balance. I would also stand inside of a doorframe so I could reach up and use the molding around the doors to do yoga moves, to open up my chest, stretch my arms, back, and so forth,” she said.

Waybright said she is now able to walk a 1.2-mile loop in her neighborhood unaccompanied, her husband monitoring her movement with a phone tracker.

“I'm like, ‘Hey, if I'm not moving on the tracker, come get me,’” she said.

She’ll know more about her prognosis once the biopsy comes back from surgery. Until then, Waybright stays on the move. In addition to walking and her volunteer duties, she attended the Auxiliary’s Department Leadership National Conference in Indianapolis April 30 to May 3.

“I don't know why I am the way I am. It's just: go find something, do it, make it happen,” she said. “I'm doing something to support a worthwhile organization that maybe one day in the future my son might need. But I'm also doing it as another way of staying in touch with people on a common activity. It makes me accountable to myself and others for walking, and getting in those miles while I'm recuperating.”