Tag Archives: Army of Women

Five Ways to Prevent Breast Cancer

03 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in breast cancer

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In the spring of 1996, everything seemed to be going my way. I was teaching second grade in a school that I loved, I was about to graduate with a Master’s degree in education, I had just started dating someone, and I was spending my Spring Break in California, visiting my sister. Life couldn’t be better!

My sister (left) and me, waiting in line to see Jay Leno.

As I look back at pictures from this trip, it seems unreal that I had cancer and didn’t even know it. It was another month until I had the mammogram that altered the course of my summer that year.

Over the years, I have struggled to understand why I got breast cancer. Research summarized by Mayo Clinic shows that there are ways you can help prevent breast cancer:

1. Maintain a healthy weight. (As you can see *ahem* I could have lost a few pounds.)
2. Avoid alcohol. (See the bottle of “juice” my sister is holding? It’s really my bottle of booze. Ha.)
3. Getting regular exercise. (No, spending my whole day on my feet teaching eight year olds didn’t count! But what about the bike riding and aerobics classes?)
4. Minimizing the duration of hormone therapy. (Menopause at 27…um, no.)
5. Avoid exposure to environmental pollution. (Maybe it was the LA smog that week, as opposed to the country air I was breathing back in rural Illinois…)

All joking aside, these are valid ways to reduce your breast cancer risk. However, none of these risk factors seemed to apply to me. I always thought that I must have the gene mutation that causes breast cancer, but when my mother’s gene testing came back with negative results, my oncologist told me I don’t have the mutations we know about. There is still so much doctors DON’T know about breast cancer.

This is why I belong to Army of Women. Army of Women connects women volunteers, like you and me, with research projects designed to determine the CAUSE of breast cancer. I may never know why I got cancer; but I’m going help Army of Women determine the cause of this disease. You can, too!

What is the Army of Women?

A program of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, the Army of Women initiative is dedicated to recruiting one million women of all ages, ethnicities, with or without breast cancer, to sign up and participate in innovative breast cancer research studies. After signing up at www.armyofwomen.org, members are then contacted via email blast about new studies seeking volunteers. They can either sign-up for the studies online, or if they do not qualify, they are encouraged to forward the information to a friend or family member. Every woman over 18 is welcome to participate, whether a breast cancer survivor or someone never affected. There are currently more than 20 breast cancer studies seeking volunteers through the Army of Women. The full list of open studies seeking volunteers like you are listed at: www.armyofwomen.org/current.

If you haven’t signed up for the Army yet, please sign up today! Let me know in the comments if you have signed up for the AOW now or in the past. I’d love to know that you are a fellow member of the Army!

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An Open Letter to My Blog

02 Monday May 2011

Posted by in breast cancer

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Dear Lemon Drop Pie,

I am writing this letter to let you know I haven’t forgotten about you. Really. It’s just that I’ve been busy. Busy walking. This morning, for example, I woke up at 4:50 a.m. to get inan early walk before Ed left for work. Now, mind you, I didn’t get up when my alarm went off. I stayed in bed for an extra fifteen minutes, but eventually I got out the door. The air was crisp and clear, and I was able to walk two miles before six o’clock.

This past week, I walked a total of 22 miles, most of them on Saturday. Now, I’m not telling you this to brag, but to let you know where I’ve been. And no, I haven’t suddenly become a fitness guru, I’m just in training.

You see, I need to do something. I need to do more than write about being a breast cancer survivor; I need to do more than recruit women for the Army of Women by being one of their supporting bloggers. Writing and recruiting are both good things, and I’ll still be here, doing those things. But I also need to get up from my comfy chair and take action.

In June, I’ll be remembering that fifteen years ago I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life; to have a mastectomy. Not only that, but one of your faithful readers has been lost. Lost to breast cancer. Do you remember what she wrote in your comments once? CMJHMom said, “We need to know the cause [of breast cancer], not just create the warm and fuzzy images of ‘survival’. I am still a victim, but that will not stop me!! I have too many precious people in my life. And, as always, I do know that God and His grace are always with me.” Just a couple of days before she died, she told me she did not want to give up. She was not ready to go.

And so I’m going to fight for her. I’m walking in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Chicago, and I’m going to be strong. I’m going to walk all 39.3 miles, no matter what.

The walk is still over 30 days away, and I’ve already been blown away by how generous people are. I needed to raise $1,800 to walk, and so many people are supporting me–including people who have never even met me! I’m amazed by their generosity.

One of these women is also a breast cancer survivor. Stacey, of Bringing Up Goliath, writes about surviving breast cancer in a very honest way. She first heard that devastating diagnosis two years ago, a diagnosis she never wanted to hear. For years she dreaded that she would hear that she had breast cancer, and her fears came true. You see, Stacey lost her mother to breast cancer. Stacey and her mom are two people for whom I’m walking.

Casey, writer of Half As Good As You, may have a potty mouth, but she is an incredible mother and she has a most generous soul. I have been hooked on Casey’s blog ever since I discovered it a couple of years ago. I’m so honored that Casey is supporting me in this walk!

I cannot praise Debby from Just Breathe enough. She has been following Lemon Drop Pie since she started blogging, and is the definition of generous. I once won her giveaway where she donated money to the American Cancer Society in memory of my mom. She is such a wonderful blogging friend!

I could go on and on about my friend and family’s generosity — I have already raised $2,005! It is my small wish that in raising this money, I will have played a part in finding the cause and a cure for breast cancer which may also lead to discoveries in research for other cancers.

And so, Lemon Drop Pie, you can see that I’ve been busy. But you are always in the back of my mind, and soon, I’ll start publishing posts more regularly. I promise!

Yours truly,
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