LAONA - Getting diagnosed with cancer is a devastating feeling.

But one Northwoods woman used her cancer diagnosis to push her body to its physical and mental capacity.

Crystal Deschinny finds peace in running.

"That need to rejuvenate me," says Crystal.

A feeling that now has a new meaning.

"One day things were ok, the next day life took on a whole new tone," explains Crystal.

Crystal was diagnosed with stage two invasive inducto carcinoma in her right breast.

The diagnosis came two weeks before she was supposed to run the Journey's half-marathon.

"To me it was if I could do the half-marathon and continue that four-months training effort and let it culminate into the half marathon then I could do cancer, then I could do chemo," says Crystal.

Crystal along with her running partner Katherine finished the Journey's half marathon, running right through a mastectomy and two rounds of chemotherapy.

"It was amazing, Crystal is just an amazing person to me, she's my inspiration," says Katherine Daniels.

"I went from running a half-marathon to these 100 yard feats in which I wasn't quite sure if I could turn around and come back," says Crystal.

Feats Crystal's husband Dan knew were important to his wife and he supported 100%.

"She's my wife and I let her go, whatever she wants to do and if she falls down I'll go there and pick her up," explains Dan Deschinny.

And while Crystal struggled to run at times, she never stopped because to her this was the resistance training of a lifetime.

"Ultimately it makes you stronger from a physical fitness point of view, so what was this form of resistance training going to do for me from a mental view, human spirit, human will," says Crystal.

A spirit that's carried her on a journey one step at a time.

Crystal says "Millions of people go through this and we have a shared journey, and to me I just ran through it."

Crystal is currently training for another half marathon on January 17th in Phoenix, Arizona.

She's running under the "Determination Runner Program" through the American Cancer Society.







Related Weblinks: Donate to Crystal's Cause