Walking for Hope

When her nosebleeds began, Valarie Traynham brushed them off as something minor. But soon, fatigue set in, followed by pneumonia. “I thought that was kind of weird,” she recalls. “Why do I have pneumonia? I’m supposed to be a healthy young woman.”

Her primary care doctor noticed something unusual in her blood work and referred her to a hematologist. That’s when the words first appeared on her test results: multiple myeloma.

“I kept seeing it and thinking, ‘What the heck is that?’” Valarie remembers. The answer was crushing: a blood cancer of the plasma cells. It was treatable, but incurable.

“I didn’t hear anything after he said incurable,” she says.

Finding hope at City of Hope

When Valarie came to City of Hope for a second opinion, she was in very poor condition. “I couldn’t walk through the door of City of Hope,” she recalls. Even then, she was struggling to accept the reality of her diagnosis.

“The whole time I had not accepted that I had multiple myeloma. I had this incurable cancer. But it was at that time that I remember saying, ‘Okay. You have this. You’re going to be okay though.’”

Later, during her stem cell transplant, she came face-to-face with the thought of her own mortality. “I was kind of just laying there and I was thinking, I could die.”

Despite that fear, she clung to her positivity. A song — Jill Scott’s “Living My Life Like It’s Golden” — became her anthem. “I’ve always been a positive person. So, you know, getting on the cancer journey, it’s like — okay, where is the silver lining in this cloud? Sometimes you have to look a little harder, but it’s there. And that’s what I try to focus on.”

From patient to advocate

Cancer not only changed Valarie’s health, it transformed her purpose. Along her journey, she became aware of the health disparities that exist for many patients, especially people of color.

“That makes me want to do something about it,” she says. “If I have a platform and I’m able to speak on their behalf, I’m going to do that.”

For Valarie, hope is not passive. It’s active, it’s vocal, and it’s visible. And one of the most powerful ways she shows that hope is by participating in Walk for Hope, City of Hope’s annual fundraiser supporting research, treatment, and care for those affected by cancer.

Why Valarie walks

“I walk to give others hope. I walk because it gives me hope,” Valarie explains. “I walk because I want people to know that cancer is not a death sentence.”

For her, walking isn’t just about putting one foot in front of the other — it’s about reclaiming life. “There was a point when I didn’t think I would ever be able to do something like this. So to be able to get out and walk — it is perfect.”

Today, she continues to walk as a beacon for others facing cancer. “I want to be that inspiration and just let them know that life goes on after cancer. Even an incurable cancer — there is life after cancer.”

Fueling the future of cancer care

Valarie’s journey is made possible by the innovation and compassionate care at City of Hope — advances that are fueled by philanthropy. Every step taken at Walk for Hope helps accelerate discoveries in immunotherapy, precision medicine, and supportive care, bringing more treatment options and more hope to patients everywhere.

For Valarie, those breakthroughs mean not only more time with her loved ones, but the opportunity to inspire others with her resilience. “I want people to see me and know that there’s hope,” she says.

Join the movement

Walk for Hope is more than a fundraiser. It’s a movement of survivors, families, friends, and supporters committed to conquering cancer together.

By registering, donating, or volunteering, you’re helping to ensure that more patients like Valarie find their silver lining — and their second chance at life.

Join Valarie and thousands of others in the fight against cancer. Together, we can outpace this disease and bring hope to life.

Register today at cityofhope.org/walkforhope