I’m heading off for my girls’ weekend, Pink Ribbon Girls, that is. Thanks to my lovely group of gals for sponsoring me to go the Young Survival Coalition conference in Atlanta.
I’m looking forward to spending time with my buddies, as well as learning more about breast cancer research and issues. I’m really excited about doing [...]
As I write this, I am thinking of Heather Ray. I learned last night that Heather passed away. You might remember me mentioning Heather in previous posts. She was the beautiful, strong “miracle woman” who I saw in the chemo suite. She only had one leg (she lost one to bone cancer as a child) and [...]
Yesterday, I was feeling a little down for some reason. I think it’s because I wrote my last story for my book. Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled to have it almost done, but it was a little bit of a let-down, too. It has been such a healing experience and honor to hear [...]
A while back, I found the AARP video from Twitter showing cancer survivor Mary Jacobson pulling a plane. I knew I had to include Mary in my book. Here’s the link because you won’t believe it unless you see it: http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/reinventing/articles/mary_jacobson.html
At 55, Mary holds the world’s Strongest Woman title in her age group. But back in 1995, she was [...]
There’s something about having a book cover design that makes this all seem more real! Let’s just say it hasn’t been an easy task. I must have gone through 1,000 stock photos and a dozen design concepts before deciding on this one.
My heartfelt thanks goes out to Randall Reese, my designer. Randall also took the photo, which is [...]
Tomorrow is my “little” girl’s birthday. She will be 11, sniff, sniff! She always enjoys the time leading up to her birthday when I tell her stories of my pregnancy and labor. “At this time, 11 years ago, we were waiting for you to make your debut, but you weren’t ready yet. (she was five [...]
With Valentine’s Day behind us, I wanted to reflect on the title of this post. It seems like an odd statement to make, unless you hear it from Evan Mattingly. Evan started following me on this blog, and I soon noticed his positive, encouraging comments. He finally contacted me with his story, which I’m sharing [...]
Call it luck or divine intervention. Last month I was having lunch at Noodles & Company with a friend and put my card in their fishbowl. I didn’t think much about it until I received a call congratulating me that I won a “Hero’s Lunch,” a meal (actually lunch or dinner) for 10 people. Basically, [...]
With Valentine’s Day soon upon us, I wanted to share another story from my book, which I think exemplifies the healing power of love – especially self-love.
Patty Mele has had to overcome many challenges in her life – the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in college and a son (Andrew) with mitochondria, a metobolic disease that [...]
One of the things Dr. Huber has prescribed to me is Avemar, a fermented wheat germ supplement that has great promise in fighting cancer. I first heard about it through my friend Pattie, who learned about it when receiving care at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. I also received information when I stopped by Avemar’s table while at [...]
Around the holidays, I put out a call for my friend Cyndi Wenck and her family. If you remember, Cyndi’s family was already facing a hard time financially after her husband lost his job and their house foreclosed. Then Cyndi was told her cancer came back and it was Stage IV. Now her family is [...]
The last couple of months, quite a few people have contacted me through this site to share their stories. I really wish I could fit them into my book, but I’m determined to meet my editor’s deadline and finish it finally. Who knows, I may do a sequel with more stories!
Shannon Wood, age 30,was diagnosed with stage IIIC [...]
Remember those Preference by Loreal commercials where the model emphatically states, “Because I’m worth it”? Well, that’s going to be my mantra these days. It strikes me how absurd it is to worry about money when it comes to saving my life.
Over the past two years, I’ve read books, researched the Internet and piggybacked on what [...]
I am so excited to report that Mary Jacobson, a world-champion Strongest Woman and miracle survivor is going to be in my book. I interviewed her today, and you won’t believe her story! I’ll share more in later posts, but in the meantime, take a look at this video that AARP (her employer) produced and [...]
