A Friendly Challenge to Raise Cancer Awareness

Monday, February 4^th was world cancer day. But I want it to last longer than that. 

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t aware what day it was until I saw posts on Facebook and Twitter.  There were a lot of great posts and reminders from fellow warriors, blog posts by celebrities like Brooke Burke and Katie Couric, but most of all I enjoyed the Stand Up 2 Cancer posts.  In those posts, you saw real, everyday people holding up signs provided by the SU2C website, proudly naming those for whom they stand.

It’s one thing to see beautiful celebrities on TV talking about doing things to help cancer.  It’s another thing to see someone who could be your neighbor or your brother proudly making a statement for those they love.  The ones who touched my heart the most, were the children. No, not the children who were standing up for someone they love- that is sad enough- but the ones who were standing for themselves! When you’re 37 and you feel you’ve been dealt a bad had because you were diagnoses with cancer, that’s tough, it’s terrifying.  When you are 4 and diagnosed with cancer,  that's just damn unfair.

I made this mural from pictures on the SU2C Facebook page.

The brave little smiles they were wearing in the face of having to be so strong, stronger than most are asked to be, it touched me deep into my soul. I thought what Marlo Thomas says at the end of every  St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital- Give thanks for the healthy kids that are in your life and give to those who are not.  Which I do. I give regularly to St. Jude’s because I am truly grateful for my healthy kids and wish I could save eevery child who is not.  But there is more than just giving money.

Katie Couric wrote a post for Huffington Post Blog onMonday. She wrote about things you can do- yes you, the one reading this with very little time and even less funds-to make a difference on World Cancer Day and EVERY other day of the year.

The tips are Katie’s. The descriptions are a take on hers with my influence. :)

1. WE ALL HAVE A PLATFORM, USE IT WISELY.

Even if you only have 10 Twitter followers, that’s 10 people you can possibly influence.  Use your voice to educate, to inform, to encourage whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google +, Instagram, etc.

2. THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL.

Small is good, and as you have probably witnessed, small things usually grow into big things when we nurture them and encourage them.  Have a bake sale, a dance off, an event to benefit cancer research, participate in a run/walk, throw a read-a-thon or dance-a-thon. Your community will thank you for it.

3. EDUCATE YOURSELF & OTHERS.

Find a way to bring it up or slip it into conversation! I am currently working on some informational cards with skin cancer facts and tips on how to protect yourself. I plan to pass them out at my son’s football games. Sure, I may soon be known as the "weird SPF freak" mom, but if one mom protects her children and teaches them how to be sun safe because of what I did, then my nickname was well worth it.

4. CHANGE MINDS.

Cancer is not always a death sentence. It is a battle, one that will be fought hard, but can be won.  Reach out to others. Learn about what they are going through and ENCOURAGE and support them through their battle!!

5. STAND UP FOR THOSE YOU LOVE.

We never know what to say or do when someone we know has been diagnosed. I absolutely HATED when my friends said, “Oh. I am SO sorry this is happening to you.”  I felt like they were sentencing me to death or at the very least, a miserable future. But I know they didn’t mean it that way.  I mean, that is EXACTLY what I say when I find out that someone has lost someone they loved to death. “I am so sorry.”  No, it doesn’t help, but at the very least it is my way to express that I feel for you, and I am here for you. Be open to talking about whatever they want to talk about. Send cards. Call to say hi.  Make them laugh. I know that always helps me.

My challenge to you:

I challenge you all to come up with ideas, suggestions, tips (the more unique the better) and SHARE THEM HERE or on my Facebook page, or on my Twitter.  Let’s think of things that are so easy for us to do with just a little effort to stand up for cancer and those who have fought it, who are fighting it, and for those who will fight it one day. I will follow up with a post sharing as many ideas as I can.  If we can get those ideas out, maybe, just maybe, some people will run with them.

I look forward to hearing from you all.

Thank you for reading. Until next time, practice safe sun. 

Brooke Burke- Same Scar, Different Cancer

Yesterday celebrity Brooke Burke-Charvet came out with the news that she has thyroid cancer.

As her twitter follower and a longtime envier of her abs, I learned of the new as soon as it came out. I read the article and then watched the video posted on her Modernmom Blog. 

Two things from the article were immediately stuck in my mind.  The first was her mentioning   “I am going to have a nice big scar, right here, across my neck.” 

You mean like me, Brooke? 

Beautiful, flat abed, gorgeous on the inside and outside, Brooke Burke-Charvet is going to have a big scar across her neck like me?

Now if you read my post about my surgery, you know that I was worried about my scar prior to my surgery. I was certain that I would now have ample opportunity to wear the many scarves I have collected over the years, since there are so few opportunities to wear them due to cold weather in Florida.  I joked about the stories I would tell about my scar - the "wild" knife fight I'd had, and my personal favorite, I was attacked by zombies and won.  But the minute I took my dressing off, I didn’t want to cover it anymore. My scar became my medal of honor. It was my mark confirming that I was here for a reason. That God is not done with me yet.  That I have so much more to do. It is my mark of love from my maker.

 So, as it has always been with me, my first reaction was to reach out.  So I did. I sent her a “tweet.”  Well, more than one tweet, because clearly I am way too wordy to get my feelings out in 140 characters or less.  

It was two of many, but I am glad I did it, even though I am sure it was lost in the sea of well wishes.

The other statement that stuck with me was when she said her doctors boasted her cancer is “a good kind of cancer to have.”

It took me back to the first time I spoke with a doctor after my diagnosis. The first thing he said to me was, “Melanoma is not a good cancer to have.”  This completely blew my mind. What cancer IS good to have?  When I mentioned that in one of my blog posts, a friend of mine, who had thyroid cancer, posted this

Loved your comment about the cancer reminded me of when I was meeting with my Endocrinologist. He said that if you were going to get to choose your cancer, thyroid cancer was the one you wanted.

I guess some people are just…lucky? Would that be the word?

Fact is, I think ALL cancer SUCKS. 

Brooke’s story backs what I've been urging all along. It is important to get regular physicals. It is important to get regular skin exams.  I am sure Brooke will do as she promised, and “make a positive out of this negative thing.”  In the meantime, I am going to continue to nag you.  

 Know your body. Know what to look for to catch different types of cancer.  Don’t be afraid to press and squeeze and know every lump and bump you own. Know when a new lump or bump appears, so it can be checked immediately. Know what moles and marks you have on your skin. Make sure that YOU are self-aware.

You can detect something wrong far earlier than any doctor will.

  Finding out you have cancer definitely makes for a rough time.  I can only imagine how tough it must be to go through this with the eyes of the public on you. It took me months before I could say the word cancer when referring to my melanoma.  I pray that all goes well for the beautiful Brooke Burke-Charvet and her lovely family. There is no doubt in my mind that she will do fine in surgery, quickly recover, and come out of this looking even more beautiful than she does now.  I am very sorry that she is going through this-that anyone has to go through this. 

However,  I must admit, if people start coming up to me in a few months asking, “Do you know you look JUST like Brooke Burke-Charvet?”  there won’t be one bone in my body that will regret saying, “Oh, I get that ALL the time!”

A girl can dream, right?