Ok, Universe, I Get It.
I've never believed in signs from the universe, but I'm starting to. Earlier this summer, this was one of the secrets on PostSecret:
Around that same time, a very unlikely person had some very unlikely things to say about my scars. I'm still not quite willing to embrace them, but I'm no longer ashamed of them. In fact, after what I am now confident was my final surgery two weeks ago, I'm happier with how they look than I have been in three years.
Then last night I started reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave and within the first ten pages I came across this:
"...and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived."
To quote ee cummings, "Unbeing dead isn't being alive." It's taken me three years, but I finally get it. I've done things this summer that I haven't let myself do since cancer. But mostly, I've let myself have fun. I've let myself live. And it's only just beginning. So look out.
Around that same time, a very unlikely person had some very unlikely things to say about my scars. I'm still not quite willing to embrace them, but I'm no longer ashamed of them. In fact, after what I am now confident was my final surgery two weeks ago, I'm happier with how they look than I have been in three years.
Then last night I started reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave and within the first ten pages I came across this:
"...and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived."
To quote ee cummings, "Unbeing dead isn't being alive." It's taken me three years, but I finally get it. I've done things this summer that I haven't let myself do since cancer. But mostly, I've let myself have fun. I've let myself live. And it's only just beginning. So look out.
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My name is Tina. I have a blog called Little Tots Big Ideas. I lost my sister to breast cancer at age 37. During the month of October I want to do a spotlight every week on a different breast cancer survivor. Would you be interested? Please check out my blog at www.littletotsbigideas.blogspot.com You can access my cancer posts by googling on my right side bar. If you are interested, please email me at littletotsbigideas@hotmail.com.
I so hope to hear from you.
Thank you for your time.
Tina
Little Tots Big Ideas
My name is Joe Khoury, and I am the co-founder of LaceBuddy.com, with my cousin Mike.
We have started a business selling shoe charms online (We call them LaceBuddys, small rubber charms that can be attached to shoelaces, perfect for kids...we are releasing many designs and themes) but what we are most excited about is that we are featuring a Pink Ribbon Lace Buddy to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. All profit from each Pink Ribbon purchase will go to 26.2 with Donna and currently working on affiliating with more organizations, and our goal is to raise 1 million dollars to battle this disease.
Our hope is to have runners and walkers participating in breast cancer awareness events proudly wearing Pink Ribbon Lace Buddys during their walk or run, knowing they are taking another small step toward finding a cure.
I have lost his mother to breast cancer when I was a child, my dad to pancreatic cancer, and my aunt that raised me is fighting the disease now. And Mike lost his grandmother last winter to breast cancer. We feel very strongly about fighting a disease that threatens to take away the important women in our lives.
Is it possible for you to mention our site and product on your blog?
Thank you so much for your support!
Joe & Mike, founders of LaceBuddy.com
http://lacebuddy.com/breastcancer
joe@lacebuddy.com
mike@lacebuddy.com
My girl T goes in for surgery on March 2nd (4 days from now) sooooo scared. I worked in a cancer lab for 10 years and know enough to make me crazy scared.
She's tough...but the chemo and crazy side effects like neuropathy have taken their toll. Trying to stay strong for her, but starting to break, if you know what I mean.
Her Cancer had already spread to liver and lungs and lymph nodes, but have all disapeared with chemo except for the lump in the breast and lymph nodes under one arm. Surgery and radiation for those to come
As for the scars to come on Wednesday, I told her, I didn't care if she choose reconstruction or not, and I don't care about the scars, I love her....it's that simple....I am however scared of the effect they will have on her emotionally....again, because I love her.
Stay Strong!!!
Peace,
Kat
PS - Will you help me get 1 mil. Twitter Followers before March 18th? (T's 45th birthday) Our Twitter Profile is at http://www.twitter.com/cancersucksass .
If you want you can read my blog at http://cancersucksass.blogspot.com....I'd actually love to hear any comments you might have.
My name is Eliana Feigelstock and I am a current student at Art Center College of Design. I am currently designing a medical device and I chose my direction in breast cancer as I have known a few women who have had it (I will be interviewing them as well). I am hopefully going to design a new product (medical devices for 2016) that will be an at home tool to keep track and shrink the tumor. If you check out my blog (http://elianafeigelstock.blogspot.com/ ) I have done several products, this being the first medical project. I am hoping I can ask you questions to receive some feedback (so I can ultimately make my product better serve you and others with breast cancer). If you are open to an interview, it can be email based, that would be extremely beneficial to my research. Wishing you strength in journey and a speedy recovery
Thanks,
Eliana
So inspired by your site, I convinced my company, AmaraGold to host a facebook promotion called Voices of Hope. I wanted to share it with you: http://www.facebook.com/AmaraGold?v=app_4949752878
I would also love to have this be a great success of a campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness month, so if you could help spread the word that would be fantastic.
Thanks so much!
Ava
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Thank you for writing and maintaining your blog. As an oncologist, I'm personally grateful for the time and energy that you invest. Five of my close (young!) friends have been diagnosed with cancer along with several uncles and my grandfather. My research team invented Tumor Paint, which is a scorpion-derived molecular imaging agent that causes cancer cells to "light up" so that surgeons can find cancer more easily - and distinguish it from normal tissue. The pre-clinical studies of Tumor Paint on cancer were stunning - even a couple hundred cancer cells traveling from one lymph node to the next were identified! As Tumor Paint moves into clinical trials, my team is now focusing on additional therapeutics, built on the foundation of Tumor Paint - I am reaching out to see if you would be willing to share information about this work though your blog.
After two decades of caring for children with cancer, I recently gave a talk at TEDxSeattle, in which I opened my heart to share how some of these individual children changed my life and drove incredible innovation through research. I am writing to see if you would be willing to share the link to this talk with your readers.
To raise awareness about the importance of discovering and developing drugs for cancer patients, our goal is to have 20,000 people view the TEDx talk this month - I hope you will help us achieve this important goal. The Washington Research Foundation has generously offered to donate $10 to support our work for each time the talk is viewed, up to $50,000.
Please encourage your readers to go to projectviolet.org to watch the TEDx talk, where they can help spread the word about how we all work together to promote healthy and happy lives for cancer patients.
Thank you,
Jim
p.s., In case it helps, here is a blurb prepared by our team that might help encourage people to watch the talk...
Watch Dr. Jim Olson's TEDxSeattle talk and WRF will donate up to $50,000 toward cancer drug discovery
Dr. Jim Olson is an internationally recognized thought leader in cancer drug discovery whose team is creating an entirely new drug discovery platform that specifically focuses on cancers that are currently incurable with traditional drug candidates. To achieve his vision, he relies on nature-inspired solutions and an incredible team of creative scientists. His team's track record of innovation includes the invention of Tumor Paint, a scorpion toxin based drug that makes cancer cells light up so that surgeons can distinguish cancer from normal tissue while operating. They also invented a way to test multiple different chemotherapy drugs in a patient's tumor to prioritize the best drugs or combinations and eliminate ineffective drugs. Dr. Olson cares for children with cancer, leads an innovative lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and founded two biotechnology companies to support his vision -- Blaze Bioscience and Presage Biosciences. To learn how Dr. Olson was inspired by individual patients that he cared for, and how this inspiration led to a whole new platform of drug candidates that come from violets, sunflowers, spiders and scorpions, we encourage you to watch his recent TEDxSeattle talk. To encourage those who care about cancer patients to spread the word, the Washington Research Foundation (WRF) has offered to donate up to $50,000 ($10 for each view). To watch the talk, please go to projectviolet.org.
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--
Jim Olson, MD, PhD
Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Attending Physician, Seattle Children's Hospital
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington
FHCRC
1100 Fairview Ave. N., Box D4-100
Seattle, WA 98109
Please visit projectviolet.org
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