Stage 4 Breast Cancer. The diagnosis no one wants to ever hear. Sadly, my wonderful Mother in Law, Dorothy, is battling this disease right now. And given how rampant Breast Cancer is today I’m sure someone you love or who is close to you has also had breast cancer – an Aunt, a friend, a cousin or a sister.
In honor of my Mother in Law’s recent Stage 4 Breast Cancer diagnosis, I volunteered to wear an “I’m All In City of Hope” pin in New York City for BlogHer. I wore this pin to spread the word about Breast Cancer, the City of Hope and share my Mother in Law’s story with friends. This is Dorothy’s 2nd battle with the disease – the 1st time was 18 years ago and now the cancer has returned as a tumor in her chest. It is terrifying, but she is seeing excellent doctors at Yale University and after they drained fluid in her lungs and she started on drugs prior to her major surgery this Fall, she is in good spirits and feeling more normal. Support groups help and we’re trying to find her as many resources as possible – did you know that there are free cleaning services for patients battling cancer? When she has her surgery in October we will try to arrange this for her when she is in need of the most help.
And, on an even more personal note, supporting the battle against breast cancer is a great reminder of how lucky I am to have my own health after my breast cancer scare 2 years ago. When baby Kyle was 7 weeks old I found a lump and underwent a lumpectomy for a tumor in my breast. Thank god my biopsy turned out benign. It was terrifying to think I could have breast cancer but good fortune was on my side that time around but I know it could just as easily have been a very different outcome.
City of Hope is a longstanding leader in women’s cancer research and treatment, oftentimes providing the “inside intel” on women’s cancer research and leading the charge in the fight for cures for both breast and gynecological cancers.
And my best blogging friends, Audrey and Vera who hosted the Getting Gorgeous party for over 350 women also supported this cause by letting me give them some 350 packets of info on the City of Hope along with City of Hope pins for all their guests. I’m so lucky to have such good friends willing to spread the word for the causes I care about….. Vera put that info in all 350+ bags… not an easy task as I’ve stuffed bags before!
So I’m “All In” for promoting awareness, education, and research for Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer. Are you?
Out of my closest group of 8 friends, 3 are breast cancer survivors. One of them was not given much hope at all and that was 15 years ago…I will pray for your mother-in-law and family. Cindi
we will continue to pray for her and for all the other cancer survivors we know