ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Della Wright was a busy woman. She worked two jobs, rode her beloved quarter horses, “C.C.” and “Baby,” in competition, and managed her two “Shelties,” “Benjamin” and “Brandy.” She planned to get the energetic dogs involved with agility training.

Her grown son, Nick Jordan, lives with her in her trim blue Elsanor home and brought four dogs of his own to the mix.

“There really wasn’t time for much more,” said Wright.

That was until March.

“I changed doctors and he sent me for a mammogram,” said Wright.

The mammogram found a tumor on her right side, and a suspicious area in her left breast.

Della Wright had cancer.

“The mammogram found it. There were no lumps or nothing,” said Wright, 58.

There will be an “Observation Poker Run” in Wright’s honor Sept. 28.

An “Observation Poker Run” is very simple.

“I was looking for something that didn’t require a lot of people,” said Claudia Put, who is coordinating the run.

According to Put, the run is very simple. Instead of having people stationed at each stop to pass out cards, players earn cards by being able to answer questions about each stop correctly.

“For instance, the first stop is a coffee shop in Bay Minette,” said Put. “If the riders can tell me who the owner is, they get a card. There are five different places, and for every question they get right, they get a card.”

Like all games of “poker,” the best hand will “win.”

The entry fee is a $20 donation per bike or vehicle and $10 per passenger. Extra hands are available for a $5 donation. There is a first prize f $250 and a second prize of $100.

A $10-per-plate spaghetti dinner will be served at the Elsanor Community Center/Fire Hall after the run. The dinner includes spaghetti, salad, bread, dessert and a drink. There will be a number of drawings and raffles during the dinner. There will also be a “silent auction” and a bake sale. No alcohol will be served. For more information, call 947-8422.

“We have a number of bands who have volunteered,” said Put. “We have a country, rock, gospel, and more and everybody has donated their time.”

“How sweet of my neighbors,” said Wright.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Except for skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women.”

According to the American Cancer Society's Web site, “Women age 40 and older should have a screening mammogram every year, and should continue to do so for as long as they are in good health.”

Wright found herself in the hospital scheduled for a double mastectomy. Wright’s two jobs, one at Belk Department Store, and an night job at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center as a night time unit secretary had to go on hold.

Losing the hospital job was hard.

“I know she put herself through school for that,” said Claudia Put, one or Wright’s neighbors.

“I was never sick a day in my life,’ said Wright, who added that Belk appears to be “holding” her job for her.

Wright had a double mastectomy in early April.

“I hope they’ve cured it,” Wright said. “They took out nine lymph nodes.”

She’s waiting for her last dose of chemotherapy and then will go for a round of radiation therapy. With luck and good treatment, Wright expects to survive her disease.

But, the chemotherapy has caused her to lose her hair and makes her tired. Too tired to care for her beloved horses, too tired to ride them and too tired to work.

“I’ve had to go on COBRA. I was told that my family medical leave had run out,” said Wright of the federall plan that allows workers to retain health coverage for up to 36 months, adding, “I have not reacted well to chemo.” She pays about $407 a month to continue her insurance coverage.

She now goes for lab work once a week. The tests monitor how she is responding to treatment.

“I just want to stop being tired,” said Wright.

He son has helped, and many of her neighbors,have been extremely helpful. Her sister, Dottie Martin has come down from Maryland to care for Wright, and Wright’s daughter, Lori Kraft of Pennsylvania, has come down with her daughters, Courtney and Stephanie, to help.

“The people at Belk have had “pink days” for me,” said Wright, explaining that on select Fridays, employees pay a fee for the privilege of wearing a pink top and jeans to work that day.

“But, I can’t wait until I am well and can do for myself,” said Wright. Her biggest fear: “that they won’t be able to cure this, and I will always be tired.”

She has some advice for other women.

“Make sure you have your mammogram done. I think everyone at Belk had one done after they heard about me.”

For more information, try this Centers for Disease Control Web site, http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/pdf/cdc_mammography_fact_sheet.pdf