Posts Tagged ‘3-day’

Pro-Cure

Posted February 8, 2012 Life 10 Comments

 

This past week has been very difficult for me. I’ve been quite ill, and pretty much unable to speak on one subject that has been hitting me upside the head, over and over again through the media: the Planned Parenthood and Komen debacle.

A little back story:

I have been a Susan G. Komen 3-day participant since 2008.  I have raised well over $7,000 for the organization.  The walks have literally changed my life for the better.  I walk more than I ever would have before, I give more, and they also opened my eyes to a community that is nothing but supportive and caring.

Planned Parenthood was a part of my life throughout my early 20′s.  They were my health care provider, and they were the only reason I was able to afford birth control.  They also were the ones that found a suspicious spot on my breast and then subsequently sent me to another doctor for a second opinion.  They also paid for that visit.  Things turned out fine, but it was a key moment in my life, I believe, that sent me eventually to Komen’s doorstep.

So, with all of the social and main stream media frenzy going on, I have found my self split in two.  It had me questioning if everything I’ve been doing these past 5 years has been right or wrong. It has left me heartbroken and confused.

But then, this week, a blogger that I silently followed and very much looked up to passed away….metastatic inflammatory breast cancer took her just two days ago. And with a blink of an eye I realized that all of these issues are nothing compared to how her family is feeling now.

I looked to Susan’s blog for answers or thoughts. Should I continue in this fight? What would she say about the events of this week? I really don’t know, but I did find this blog post (http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/category/pink-tober/) on her thoughts about the “pinkwashing” of October, and I find it may just point me in the right direction.

She writes:

“What I want to say here, and I don’t really know how, is that I APPRECIATE the efforts of all the people and organizations in the world bringing attention to a color that has already gotten a lot of attention this month: pink. There are shades of goodness in pink and shades that worry me. I realize now that they can co-exist, and that we can appreciate and enjoy all the shades of pink without declaring them ALL GOOD or all worthless, and that each shade of pink makes a contribution to the Fall mosaic around us that is bringing awareness and action to breast cancers, and is fighting the good fight in the way that feels right to them.

 

Today, I thank all the people and all the organizations formed across the globe that support the fight against breast cancer, that raise awareness, that raise funds for research, and that raise the spirits of those who struggle with this disease, in their own bodies or in that of the friends and family who they love. NEVER DOUBT that what you do makes a difference. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

This.

There have been a lot more variances added to the color pink this week.  Not all of them good, not all of them bad.  But all of them are still working to the same goal.

Did Komen go wrong in my eyes?  Yes.  Was this a total PR nightmare?  Yes.  Is Planned Parenthood any worse for it?  Not at all, better so in fact.  Do I fault anyone for going to another breast cancer organization?  No….it’s just another shade of pink.

Are there still women and men dying from this disease every. freaking. day?

YES. YES. YES.

Susan lived as long as she did thanks to the countless people who have supported the fight against cancer.  But Susan still deserved many, many more years.

This is why I will not walk away.  Komen, even with all of it’s faults, has advanced our cause by leaps and bounds.  I hope that they learn from this mistake and grow – and maybe this whole fallout was written in the stars so that growth could happen.  Maybe if I stick around, my voice will be heard and growth WILL happen.

I am many things.  I am not perfect.  I am not all-seeing and all-knowing.  Hell, I’m not even 100% on this decision.

But what I am is Pro-freedom of thought.  I am Pro-second chances.  I’m am Pro-women.  I am Pro-active.  I am pro-health and pro-longer lives for all.

I am pro-cure.

 This image provided by www.pro-cure.me!

12 ways to Check your Lemons

Posted January 30, 2012 Life, Mom Media No Comments

Donkey balls.  I suffered sat through basketball practice and wrote this whole post, then my stupid wordpress app deleted the whole thing. Grr.

Pretty much, it was to say two things.  (Only 2 because I am feeling sick and dealing with a rather annoying weather-related headache.  Stupid barometric pressure.)

Number one:

I think one of my main jobs, as a 3-dayer-for-life, is to educate others about breast cancer.  I may be falling down on this job, just a bit, but today I came across this awesome graphic that does this beautifully.  Before you peek, could you list 12 signs of breast cancer?  I’m not sure I could…but I think this graphic will definitely keep the signs in my head.

 

Click on the image to enlarge

 

Number two:

I’m still searching for your input on topic ideas for my audition.  Although, I’m beginning to think I am asking just to stall the actual writing.  I mean, I don’t have a great idea in my head, but I do know that bitching about it isn’t going to make the audition piece write itself.  {Note to self: stop futzing around and just write already.} {Response from self: Ok, damn, lay off.}

(Side note: do other people use the word “futzing?”  My mom has all sorts of words like this, from thingamajig to doo-gee-wap, but it occurs to me right now that it might be a “mom” word, and not a world-wide known word.)

Alright, I’m off to bed…

Check your lemons!

 

3-day Quilt Raffle

Posted September 2, 2011 Life 4 Comments

 

 

**Update to the post below:  The winners were picked 10/14.  Alverna and Paula will give 2 of these lovely quilts a great home.  Thank you so much to all of you for your interest and support.  And thanks again, Mom, for donating your beautifully crafted masterpieces!**

 

I am so excited to announce a little something that I cooked up with my Mama!!  Well, she did most of the cookin’, but I’m happy to do the announcing!

 

 

(My sister is on the left and my Mom on the right.  And as you can tell, they support my 3-day efforts 100%!  This is them cheering on walkers day 2 of the 2010 DC 3-day.  Love them!)

Other than willing to standing on the corner looking like a feather head, she does so many wonderful things….one of which is making beautiful quilts for various charities.  And she has offered me some of her creations to raffle off for my fundraising efforts!

Check these babies out:

 

 

Some of the edges weren’t finished when we photographed them, but I’m sure you get the idea of how cute they are.  (Update: Mom said she already sold the teal quilt that is above all the way to the right.  Also, the turtle and cowboy quilt are baby sized, and the remaining quilts are known as “lap” size.   And all of them are adorable!)

 

 

I seriously love them and am considering stealing some for my own…but (sighhhhh) I guess I will leave them for you all instead.  But if you win, you must promise to give them a good home!

 

Here is the deal:

*  Donate $5 to my 3-day fundraising account and you will be entered into the raffle.  Every extra $5 you donate is another entry.

*  In the “Personal note to participant” section make sure you mention the quilts, otherwise I’ll think you want nothing in return. ;)

*  If you win, you will get to pick one of these 5 lovely quilts to call your own!  (And I promise they will be all finished up and lovely too.  Mom wouldn’t stand for putting an unfinished product in the mail…trust me!)

*  There will be TWO winners!

 

And remember, if I raise just $240 more, then I will be posting pictures of me with pink hair, along side Riley’s pink hair, and Sara’s (the total pink hater) bit of pink hair too!

So go buy now and get me to my goal!

Thank you!!

Reminders as to why we fight.

Posted September 1, 2011 Life 4 Comments

Doing a Breast Cancer 3-day is hard.  It’s also amazing, don’t get me wrong, but at times…it’s a bitch.

It is so much time away from your family.  So much time begging people for money. So much wear and tear on your body.

So much energy prepping your gear, your clothes, your decorations.  So much effort riding the emotions that swish you from elated to heartbroken, around to excited and back to heavyhearted again, like one never-ending roller coaster ride.

It is suppossed to be difficult.  We are doing something BIG.  It wouldn’t carry nearly as much weight if it were easy.  It is nothing compared to chemo, surgeries, and radiation.  And not a drop in the bucket compared to losing a loved one to cancer.

But still, it can be trying.  It is not “just a walk.”

And on days when you’ve gotten one hundred “no, I can’t donate” responses, and you have to miss out on family events, and you need to walk 15 training miles even though every muscle aches – it can seem like just a little too much.

But then, the reminders come.  The ones from the universe that say “Hey!  You give these things so that somebody else can gain so much more!”

While we were selling fundrising items outside a local restaurant, a man from church stopped by and told us he needed to do something like our booth to raise money for his granddaughter.  I asked what event she was signed up for, and he corrected me.  It wasn’t that she was a Komen participant – she was a fighter.  She is fighting breast cancer.  Right now.  And she is 7.  Seven.

Reminder.

Halfway through my training this year, a part of our extended family – a strong, healthy young mother – was diagnosed.  Paula is a regular participant in Komen events, because her mother was also a fighter of this this horrible disease.   I read her blog and her facebook updates and she is so courageous.  She posts pictures of her cute new hair cut…then of the shorter hair cut….getting treatments…all of them with a beautiful smile on her face.

Reminder.

Last year, at the 2010 DC 3-day, I listened to Bridget Spence tell us her amazing story about being a 27 year old Stage 4 survivor.  She found love even in the midst of this battle and has become such a bright spot in our Komen community.  She has fought this disease for a while, but recently was given news that latest method of treatment wasn’t working.  She is hopeful, but worried.  What if her last few drug combination options don’t work out?

Reminder.

So today I will not dwell on my difficulties.  I was reminded that they are fleeting.  Today I will focus on what I can do…

 

I can tell people that anyone can have breast cancer.  Even beautiful 7 year old girls.

I can walk the miles in honor of both Paula and her mother, doing my best to be like Paula and keep a smile on my face.

I can raise money in hopes that more drugs, more treatments, and more time is found.  Because Bridget deserves a lifetime.

 

I will do these things.  Hard or not, it’s simply what needs to be done.

 

Spinning: At least I didn’t die.

Posted May 4, 2011 Fitness 5 Comments

 

Now that I am in the thick of 3-day training, I have been looking into good cross-training workouts again.

And, well, here I am, just home from my very first spinning class.  Walking four miles is still unpleasant, but something inside me said that spinning would be lovely!  Yeah.

I guess I would sum it up by saying “Spinning: at least I didn’t die.”

 

I like my slogan better, but whatever floats your boat. (Photo from Flickr)

 

Actually, I should say, at least I didn’t die for the part I made it through.  Because I didn’t last the whole time.  30 minutes was all I had in me, even though it was a 45 minute class.  Mostly because I was very fearful that I was going to hurl all over the bike.  And then they definitely wouldn’t have invited me back.  And that would have been tragic. Ahem.

Here are the lessons I learned…be warned that most of them are gross:

  1. Food is good, mkay.  I went at noon, having not eaten since my bowl of multigrain cheerios with strawberries this morning.  I knew 10 minutes in that I didn’t have enough fuel in my system to get me through class. Duh.
  2. I sweat like a man.  This actually should be placed in a “things you have confirmed, yet again” list, but whatever.
  3. Purple looks much better as a shirt color, than it does as a face color.  Yeah, I’m super hot.
  4. Bicycle seats hurt the nethers.  Just sayin.
  5. While I’m sure the really sweet instructor (who got my bike ready, gave me instructions, and checked on me a few times) was just trying to be nice, yelling “THANKS MANDY!  COME AGAIN SOON,” when I was trying to quietly duck out of class so that no one saw my aforementioned sweat covered clothing and purple face, I still kinda felt like an ass.
  6. Sometimes, when I do really hard (for me, at least) cardio, I cough and cough and cough afterwards.  I like to think of it as the tiny little bronchi and alveoli coming out of a long hibernation, stretching, and then promptly getting their asses handed to them.

Will I go back again?  Yes, I think so.  If only to prove that I can make it through a whole class.  Then, again to prove that I can do all of the moves when the instructor says too.  Then, maybe again to prove that I can set my resistance above the “big sissy” level. Accomplishing these tasks should only take about….ehhh….a year or two, right?  Pfft.

Yeah, I’m a glutton for punishment.

The Fight Is On

Posted February 15, 2011 Life 4 Comments

I’m walking 60 miles in September to help raise funds to find a cure for breast cancer.  This will be the third time I’ve walked, and the fourth DC Susan G. Komen 3-day for the Cure I have participated in.  This event has changed my life.  Honestly.

2009 Susan G. Komen 3-day for the Cure, DC

2009 Susan G. Komen 3-day for the Cure, DC

I know some people see the pink ribbons, and automatically think, “Uggggh.  More pink.  What good is it going to do?  It’s all over the place, I’m tired of it.  What’s the point?  Spend your time and money on something else.”

I get it.  Komen is in the news frequently.  You may have even heard a negative thing or two about them.  You can’t escape the pink items in October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) or any other month, it might seem like.  You are tired of giving out your money for something that doesn’t seem to matter.

But it does matter:

In fiscal year 2009, Komen made grants to more than 1,900 community organizations totaling more than $93 million.  Those Dollars funded grants allowing:

  • More than 3.9 million people to receive breast cancer education materials and information
  • More than 260,000 women to receive a potentially life-saving mammogram
  • Approximately 5,000 people to be diagnosed with breast cancer who otherwise may not have been diagnosed
  • More than 100,000 women to benefit from psychosocial services and treatment assistance

That’s a whole hell of a lot of women who have been served.  That is making a difference.  And honestly, I can’t tell you how many women I have met through the 3-day who have said, “This work, that we are doing here, saved my life.  This money went directly to research, that has given me years I thought I would never had.”  That is making a huge freaking difference. THAT matters.

But, as we all know, all too well…the work is not done.  It breaks my heart to know we didn’t find a cure fast enough for Becky:

And I’ll be damned if I’m just gonna sit back and let any other “Becky” miss dancing at her child’s wedding.

So, I’m going to walk.  I’m going to annoy the crap out of you with fundraising.  I’m going to wear obnoxious amounts of pink to get your attention.  I’m going to ask my loving family – again – for their precious time, so that mommy can put on her pink, super-hero-like breast-cancer-ass-kicking cape again.

If none of that is your thing, then fine.  If you can’t stand ribbons or pink, okay by me.  If you feel your money is best served by helping those in the thick of it, then that is wonderful too.  But you can’t sit there and say it’s not worth fighting for.  Because it damn well is.  If there are ladies that are fighting, we sure as hell can fight with them.

My point is this:  walking in this walk has opened me up to something much bigger than myself.  I started just wanting to prove to everyone I knew that I was tough enough to walk 60 miles – extra poundage, bad knees, laziness and all.  Then, I realized I was opening my heart and developing a determination that can only be powered by pure passion.  In my case, the passion to give, to help.  I saw women coming together in ways I’ve rarely seen in real life.  Strangers reaching out to push each other onward and up.  In the end, I realized I was helping someone get a second chance.  Or a third, or a fourth.  I was helping families stay together.  I was helping to create a better tomorrow.  That matters.

So I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.  You can join me, if you want.  Or donate to the cause. Or just cheer the warriors on from the sidelines.

Either way, the fight is on.

Five Things

Posted September 10, 2010 Life, Parenting 5 Comments

Back over on “I’d Rather Be . . .” I did a little meme that my bloggy friend Trayce started. Since then, the lovely Veronica and Monique have joined in. Ready for another round? Away we go…



1. I like to be goofy.  I teach my kids to be goofy.  I married my husband partly because he embraces the goofiness.  Everyone could use more goofy in their lives.


2. I have an older sister.  One day, I was in the middle of the mall, very pregnant, and emotional.  My husband left my side for a minute, and I was left to observe the  teenage mallrats that surrounded me.  I immediately broke down – full on sobbing in the middle of the mall – because one day the little thing inside me would one day turn into one of….those. I called my sister and she wisely told me, “Mandy, that is why God has them come out as babies.”  Because, you know, if they came out as teenagers, we would totally pull a play from a grasshopper’s book and eat them.





(Oh, and also, she told me I am the milk man’s baby…but I’m pretty sure that she was just kidding.  Pretty sure.)


3. I am a 3day-er.  I did my first Komen 3day in 2008, and have been pushing it down everyone else’s throats ever since.  If I ever get tired of the random meanies in the world, I go to my 3day buddies to recharge me.  You will never find a group more open and kind to random strangers in your life.  Promise.  (Or one that wears more pink, for that matter.)


Susan G. Komen 3day for the Cure, DC 2009


4. I’ve never known what I wanted to be when I grow up.  I don’t even know if I am okay with growing up, so picking what I want to be when I get there just seems like rolling over and deciding to die.  (Yes, I know I’m a “grown-up.”  Shut up)


5. I never realized how frustrating it was when I would open the pantry and look at a bunch of food and say (in the annoying whiny “make me something” voice) to my Mom, “there’s nothing to eeeeeeaaaat….” until I had children.   Now, I apologize to her for it.  And I pray to the heavens that one day, my children will learn that poptarts, applesauce, cereal, granola bars, popcorn, pretzels, tomatoes, berries, apples, peppers, cucumbers, crackers, cheese, yogurt, and 1000 other things that are currently in my pantry/fridge, are, in fact, FOOD, and totally okay for human consumption.

And that is 5 things about me.  Pa-dow.