I know I'm a little behind... Breast Cancer Awareness Month was October, but in honour of all those beautiful and courageous women who have been attacked by cancer and fought back... I'm having a giveaway (it's also my 100th post - yay!) - a book, of course, this one titled Reconstructing Natalie by Laura Jensen Walker. I read this book only recently and it opened my eyes to the loss these women experience... the loss of their identity as a woman... and I think everyone should have a chance to read it. The author is a survivor herself.
All you need to do is leave a comment telling me how cancer has touched your life, whether it's yourself, a friend or family member who's been affected. You will automatically be entered for the draw by leaving a comment, but please be sure to include an email address so I can contact you. Giveaway ends November 15, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. MST. Good luck!
my grandmother died of cancer. I have had many family members lose the battle but many friends who have won!
ReplyDeleteMy life has been touched by cancer in many ways. I have lost at least six people to cancer over the past seven years, friends as well as family. The most important loss to me was my father. He fought long and hard but lost his battle with prostate cancer in 2003. I spent time helping provide care for him along with my mother. In the months before he passed he became paralyzed. I would bathe him and change his bedding daily. I spent hours just talking and loving on him. Spending time with him is something I will always cherish. We were there with him at home when he took his last breath, I held his hand with my right hand and put my left hand on his heart, I felt his last heart beat ... his last words that day to me were "I love you." I will cherish that moment forever.
ReplyDeleteAnother way cancer has touched me is through my mother. She has battled and won against breast cancer twice now. The first time was about ten years ago. She ended up with a quadrandectomy (sp?), radiation and chemo. It was difficult... made even more difficult by the passing of my father... they were so deeply in love. Her breast cancer returned in jan 2006 right after we went through Hurricane Katrina. It returned again in her left breast and wrapped around her sternum. When first diagnosed they gave her a less than 30% chance to survive it. The tumor was just too large and needed to be removed in order for her to survive. They gave her very aggressive treatment and a miracle took place... it responded. It responded well enough that they could remove the tumor. They removed her left breast, her sternum and her top three left ribs (half of the length of them where they connected to the sternum). This left her with a hole in her chest the size of a softball that I helped care for, for a year. Every day I cleaned her wound, helped it drain and applied a new dressing to it. It took a full year to heal... but it did and PRAISE GOD... she is cancer free a second time around. Our family has learned to live with cancer... not to fear it... but to challenge it head on and walk away smiling. :)
Breast cancer touched me personally. It grew, probably for many years, in my left breast and presented itself in a 1.1 cm lump in November 2004, just before Thanksgiving. I found it in the shower one morning and then spent the next almost three years battling it. I was 34.
ReplyDeleteNow I am 38, it's November again, and I've survived for four years. It took surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, more drug therapy, counseling, an anti-depressant, two little boys, and a loving husband and family to carry me through. And here I am, thankful not that I had cancer but that it's given me so many gifts. Life truly is brighter and better than ever before.
Cheers!
Jacki
jackidonaldson@yahoo.com
www.cancerspot.org
Let's see...one of my closest friends died of breast cancer last year, one day after Mother's Day. She fought the valiant fight for 5 years, but the disease eventually claimed her. Both my mother and my grandmother also had breast cancer, but were survivors. My husband's mother and 3 of her 4 sisters died of pancreatic cancer. I know I'm sounding pretty depressing, but in all of these cases, the best came out in both the patients and those around them. The human spirit is enduring and endearing, if nothing else!
ReplyDeleteBTW, Aunt Julie's hosting another *Recipe Week* over at my place, starting today. Remember how yummy the last one was?
my father-in-law has had cancer for about 10 years & has had many complications from it. its taken so much away from him including.. time with his family, not being able to make a living & allll the horrible emotional stuff & sickness that goes with chemo, stem cell transplants, surgerys & drugs. my 89 yr old gramma also had to go through the whole breast cancer thing & it felt so unfair for her. because of this & other people who have been affected by cancer i pray especially for these people....
ReplyDeletemy grandfather died of cancer and it was hard to watch. I am reading a friends blog right now that is also a missionary and her husband just found out that he has cancer and it is breaking my heart... they don't know all the details but he just had surgery and they have two kiddos and she is pregnant... I pray for them!!!
ReplyDeleteMy father died of brain cancer when I was 18. That was a long time ago, before a lot of the new technology, so his death was drawn out and painful.
ReplyDeletebrendabostonathotmaildotcom
First - yay!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited that you're hosting a contest! You go girl!
I watched my grandmother lose her battle to cancer when I was 16. She was 59.
You are doing a great thing to spread awareness.
I donated my hair last year. I miss it. But it's just hair, and I'm growing it out again.
My mother had breast cancer. She was sick. She was weak. She lost weight. She lost her hair. But she never lost her will to fight. On the day she went for her 5 yr. check up, they cleared her of breast cancer, but told her she had colon cancer. She fought again with everything she had. She would have beat it again, but about half way through her treatment she and my dad were in a terrible car accident. A young girl pulled out in front of them. Because of the injuries from the wreck, she was too weak to continue treatments. She fought long and hard, but lost that battle on Aug. 7, 1995. In 2000, my sister was diagnosed with cancer. She died in 2001 3 weeks after my father died. My husband has had 3 aunts and an uncle die from cancer, and his father has had nose cancer. We need to find a cure NOW!!!
ReplyDeleteMy mother, father, niece, so many more family members have lost their fight with cancer. I, myslef, am a suvivor of malignant melanoma...the Dr's gave me 2 months to live..that was 15 years ago. I've had one reoccurance, but all is well now. I pray that a cure is found in my lifetime. If my name is drawn as a winner of a book..please, I would like to donate it back. Maybe it will bless someone just diagnosed.
ReplyDeleteCC
http://suestreehouse.blogspot.com/