World Cancer Day

February 4, 2014

World Cancer Day 

 

First, I want to share this beautiful, touching commercial from the Super Bowl.  I thought the commercials this year were mostly mediocre (which is a whole lot better than the game!).  I digress.   This one got me.  This one hits a little close to home.

Beautifully done Chevy.

 

I really wanted to acknowledge the tagline at the end. World Cancer Day. A day to remember those we've lost, to honor those still fighting, and to give thought to the ones who will be diagnosed today and every day, until cancer is no more.

 

For those of you who know me, I don't dwell on cancer.  I live like it was simply a bump in the road.  It does not affect my day-to-day life.  However, I just celebrated my 8th anniversary of being cancer free...

 

Woo to the hoo!

 

...and exactly seven days later, I mourn the loss of my mom to cancer.  I hate January 27 and have for sixteen years.  

 

I saw the Stand Up to Cancer movement today on FB.  I wanted to participate. 

I'll bet there's someone in your life that you can stand up for.  If you would like to participate, you can find the placard here or you can download an app and use your phone to upload your photo.

 

One small request.  Please take a moment out of your day to remember, honor, and think about all that cancer does.  All of the lives it has touched.  Can you even imagine a world where cancer doesn't exist?  I can't.

Weekly Layout

This week I am sharing a layout about last year's Race for the Cure. Posting this particular layout shows the world that I am 13 months behind in my scrapbooking!  I have pics from the 2013 RFTC as well!  Oh me.

Here's the LO:

 It is based on this past week's sketch @ Let's Scrap:

Yes.  This LO has lots of Pink!  That's okay.  I LOVE PINK!

The Race for the Cure is a big deal for me.  You can read more about the event here.

You will notice that the journaling was copied exactly from the blog post; which I just realized, helps immensely when you are behind in your scrapbooking.  I did not have to rely on my memory. 

I built this LO around the 12" x 12" white FINISH line image from a Cricut cut long ago.  It is actually the leftover/negative paper/pieces (yes, I may have a problem throwing away anything!).  It worked perfectly for this LO and the sketch.  However, I did have to re-arrange the right side of the sketch to make it work. 

I built the entire LO as one big 12" x 24" piece of art. When it was complete, I simply sliced it down the middle!  Yep. Cut right through the pics and the journaling!

I want to show you some of the close-up detail of the LO:

The patterned background paper was a pretty good match, but it needed something to set it apart.  I distressed and sanded the edges.

I hope you can see the glitter-y images!  The "survivor" photo on the rh side is matted with the pink glitter paper and the white patterned pink ribbon paper at the bottom is splattered with glitter!  You will also notice that the big pink ribbon in the center is embossed with silver foil.  The "cure" is from the same set and they are both mounted on pop dots.

After I had the entire LO assembled, I thought that the pink background paper was a bit boring and just too much pink.  So, I had to mask off my photos and embellishments and stamp over a completed LO!  Well...that's sure Not easy!  I actually stamped with a white pigment ink, but the cardstock just soaked it up!  I'm happy with the resulting subtlety it left behind.

I was able to find some pink alphas that matched.  They almost look as though they were cut out from the white cardstock.  All of the different stacked dimensions made for an interesting title.  

Here are the products I used:

• Pink Cardstock:  Coredinations Foundations
• White Cardstock:  Creative Memories
• Pink Alphas:  Basic Grey Euphoria
• Pink Patterned Paper:  Creative Memories "Beautiful" Power Palette
• White/Pink Ribbon paper:  Me and My Big Idea's
• Pink Glitter Cardstock:  Best Creation
• Race for the Cure Embellies:  Creative Memories
• Chevron Stamp:  Stampin' Up Positively Chevron
• White Pigment Ink:  ColorBox Frost White
• Twine: Queen & Co.

PINKtober

This past Sunday was the 2013 Race for the Cure.  I still haven't found out why it was on September 29...it is always the first Sunday in October!

Oh well. We walked.  We supported.  We care.

As in the seven years past, it is a special day of celebration at our house.  The big C touched our lives and we will never forget.  I am always full of emotion on Pink Sunday.  I have a really small family who walk beside me, and my love and gratitude largely goes unsaid during the entire 5K as I walk with a seven-year lump in my throat.  However, we have a great time together -- lots of chatter and laughter.

 And we CELEBRATE! 

It feels really great to be the center of their universe for just a short 3.5 miles.  I let them dote on me. I feel S P E C I A L (the 1 in 8).  (The other 3,000 pink t-shirt gals will understand).  It's personal.

We had a new walker rider this year...my grandson makes the day just a tiny bit more special!  

The weather turned so nice, we had to invent a hat for him.
Seemed fitting he wore one of my old
Ford Warrior-in-Pink scarves.
Argh!

A Fabulous PINK Weekend

This past Sunday I walked with 40,000 other men, women, and children @ the 20th Anniversary of the Denver Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure...four thousand of which are women dressed in pink t-shirts.  Women who've been diagnosed, in or through treatment.  Women who fight.  Survivors.

Yay Denver!

I celebrated my sixth year as a survivor.

Notice the pink hair extensions?  Fun!

I celebrated with a very special team of friends and family.  Their love & support touches me deeply.

My "team" gets a bit bigger each year.
Love 'em dearly.

I celebrated hope.

 

I celebrated mammograms and for "catching it early."

 

I celebrate LIFE!

 

Although I walk in PINK, I:





One Pink Nail

This is not my idea.  However, I am participating.

One small thing.  Lots of meaning.

I usually wear 10 pink nails the entire month of October, but I noticed something different recently. 

ONE PINK NAIL

I hope many of you reading this will join me with ONE PINK NAIL for the month of OCTOBER!

Wear your chosen polish color on the other nine, but make your left ring finger the ONE PINK NAIL!

Why the left ring finger? It's said to have the vein connected to our heart (as in the reason behind the "traditional" wedding ring finger).  Hmmm, is that true?

Why one pink nail?

It will catch more attention than a full pink manicure and will give each person the opportunity to answer the question everyone is sure to ask, "Why just ONE PINK NAIL?"  (Everyone that knows me, will know the reason why and won't have to ask.)  It's to remind us during October (breast cancer awareness month), to do our monthly self-exam and for those over 40...get your mammogram!

That one pink nail may just save a life!

Scrapbook Sketch & Challenge

I love sketches and I know all of you LS members love them too!  This sketch is for a super awesome giveaway yesterday on the Silhouette blog.  It is fun to take a basic sketch, make it my own and then see what other people come up with using the same sketch. The end results are always so unique. 

Hmmm...what can I do with this?  Lord knows I've got a gazillion photos that could be scrapped.  A sketch really helps me along.  It helps me over the creative road block.  It helps me select & print photos.  It gets me going...

I have blogged about my Silhouette machine before.  Love.

Here's my take on the sketch:

Race for the Cure 2011

After selecting, printing, and cropping just three photos, the rest is pretty easy.  I masked off a circle and sprayed a homemade shimmer mist (CTMH) around the edges.  I used white, black, cotton candy & blossom cardstock.  Oh, and a black pen.  The file tab on the side is a punch.  Other than the assembly, my Silhouette machine did all the work.  Love to hear the hum of that machine as it cuts.

This is the prize...a cute stylish tote for a new Silhouette Cameo machine that will surely be my birthday gift from Bill (hint, hint).

Is it just a coincidence that it's pink?  I think not.

World Cancer Day

This is my story.

I'm the one in pink.

It's cancer; and you need to see a surgeon.  Nobody ever wants to hear those words, and on November 13, 2005 it became my reality. I should've known something was awry when I sat for an hour in a hospital gown waiting for my doctor! 

Thank God for mammograms.  Mine was caught early.  No palpable lump ( if you can't feel it or see it, the reality of it is much harder to grasp.)  A needlecore biopsy confirmed it.  The plethora of treatments/options thrown at me was unbelievable.  So many decisions had to be made.  I was blessed with an extremely talented pool of doctors whom I trust (although, in my case, sometimes talent outweighs compassion).

This isn't my first bout with cancer.  My mother died of stage III fallopian tubal carcinoma when she was only 55 (I was 38).  She lived only 21 months after her diagnosis;  several surgeries and two rounds of chemo.  Her advanced cancer was so hard.  Ugly really.  Although we had related gynecological cancers, I was found to be BRCA gene negative.  However, because I was diagnosed at age 45, my daughter will begin mammograms at age 35 (ten-years-earlier-than-my-diagnosis).  God...please protect her from this disease.

It seems that a stage 0 - non-invasive ductile carcinoma with no lymph node involvement is the good kind of cancer.  In 2006, I had six surgeries, six recoveries, and 14 weeks of not working.  The good kind of cancer?  I still have some residual effects from lymph node removal in my right arm.  I still have yearly mammograms that bring a month of worry before the actual test and a week or two after awaiting results.  Throw in another view (or a repeat mammogram) and I am a basket case!  The good kind of cancer?   Cancer is cancer.  Mine was caught early.  Although mammograms cause me great distress, I cannot promote their effectiveness enough.

I will forever be grateful to my family and friends.  I was able to draw on a friend's vast experience with this ugly disease and leaned on her heavily.  She allowed me to ask questions - personal questions.  She allowed me to vent.  Allowed me to cry.  Offered her support and listened.  She even offered to let me see and touch her scars.  Her experience helped me make my own decisions.  You see, we sisters-of-the-pink-ribbon must pay it forward.  No one really understands what is going on unless you've been there.  We understand the diagnosis.  We know the lingo.  We are compassionate.  We have hope. We fight. Together.

Fast forward...six years. I'm healthy & happy. I am thankful for the wonderful support from my family and friends along this journey. To be diagnosed with cancer is not easy. Most days, I don't feel like a cancer survivor. I just feel like me.  

Pink Sunday

This past Sunday, October 2, the 19th annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was held in Denver.  It is one of the nation's largest 5K walks, and one of the largest Susan G. Komen events in the world.  Yea Denver!

It is a big day in our house.  A big day for me.  We celebrate this day!

I am just one woman. 
One in a sea of 50,000. 

One of 3,000 survivors.

Pink Weekend

My 5-year celebration lasted most of the weekend.   It's been a flurry of pinkness!

Beautiful, and oh so fragrant, roses from Bill.

We had a small family (3 out of 4 kids in attendance, ain't bad) dinner/celebration at my favorite mexican restaurant, La Loma, on Saturday night. 

Cheers to the milestone.  May we never pass through this way again.

Lots of pink loot!

I am so touched by the goodness in our children.  Sometimes I wonder where it is, why it's missing, or what I did wrong in their upbringing...and then, I am reminded that it was there all along, just waiting for the appropriate moment to emerge and overwhelm and surprise the mom!

Thank you for all you do (and all that you are).
Oh, and the guts it took to wear a pink shirt x two!

A big thank you to all who have expressed such kind words.  It touches my heart.

YAY ME!

Sixty-two months ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It was devastating and scary.  Thanks to my yearly mammogram, it was caught early.  However, due to family history, it would take two agonizing months of tests, appointments, research, and opinions to arrive at a decision.  A decision which would (and still does) cause me some second-guessing (you know what they say about hind-sight).

The outcome: a different Judy. 

Five years later. 

The five-year marker is monumental for many who have battled the disease.  I don’t feel “safe” from recurrence, but I don’t worry about it regularly.  I can rely on the notion that the risk of cancer returning is significantly reduced.   Doctor appointments are now just a yearly routine, even though they still carry a high level of anxiety for me -- my new norm. I just need to take care of myself, find the time to exercise, and eat right.  Someone remind me now and then that trying to protect myself from stress is not selfish.

So, on this day, January 20, 2011, I celebrate my 5-year anniversary of the disease (as it is the anniversary of my surgery). Lots of people (experts included) think the 5-year mark is some magical moment when you can consider yourself “cured.”  It is certainly not that for me.  It is, however, time to let go of the constant dwelling on the uncertainty of it returning. Buh-bye.

So, I share my big day with family and friends.  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.  Special note to Bill, I couldn’t have gone through it without you.  You were (are) amazing.  I look forward to the rest of our life together.  Let’s get on with it.

Pink-Tober!

It's a good thing I look good in pink. I like pink.

I like it even more now that I am four years past my diagnosis.  I like that I am #4392 in a sea of 50,000+ racers and walkers for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Denver on a wonderfully crisp, beautiful fall morning with my very small family beside me. 

I can't tell you how emotional this day is for me.  The emotion sits just on the brink the entire way and threatens to bubble over several times during the walk.  It really gets to me as we arrive in the Survivor area.  I personally thank each of my "team mates" with my wavering voice.  This is personal.

Oh, yes. Pink is definitely my color!