Random thoughts from the day....

It is absolutely amazing going through one's daily routine and realize there are so many people that either have cancer, have a family member with cancer, or have a close friend who is dealing with cancer.  I say this because we had 24 Hours of Booty out at my job today to educate and solicit volunteers for the July 29th - 30th event this year.  Several of the people who stopped by, once they got passed the name, relayed stories of family, friends, or themselves dealing with cancer.  We only got one volunteer to sign up today...but the event is still 3 months out and folks just don't plan that far in advance any more.

As Thursday approaches, I am getting a bit more trepidation about the day.  While I know that all they will be doing is, in the words of the nurse who called and scheduled it, "cutting, burning, and scooping" until they feel confident that they have removed all of the cancerous cells.  I was told to expect a scar from the procedure...duh...they are cutting on me so what else would I expect?  My real concern is the place that I found on the back of my right leg last week.  I am going to insist on that spot being biopsied as well....stay tuned.

On an separate note, have I mentioned that I am doing a bike ride to fight cancer.....?  If not, let me tell you again so you can go out and make a donation to my ride.  You will be providing a tax deductible donation to the official 24 hour cycling event of the Lance Armstrong Foundation with 50% of the funds raised staying in the local community.  Please make a small donation.

I know I promised information on how to do a self exam for today's post....but....you know what...there is ample information out there and I am just too tired right now to do it justice.  I have now worked out and/or rode my bike three days in a row so I am a bit tired.  So, until we meet again here on my blog....good night and farewell!!!

Why I hate cancer....

If you are like most Americans, you either know someone who has cancer or you are fighting this horrible disease yourself.  The other reality for most Americans is that you have lost someone special to you to cancer.  I now fall in to both categories:  fighting skin cancer, my Dad has fought skin cancer, and I lost my Mom to breast cancer in October 2003. 

When my Mom was first diagnosed I was already living in North Carolina and was not with her in Tennessee as she battled breast cancer and shortly after her diagnosis I transferred to Washington state.  I missed most of her first fight and the little victory of being declared cancer free.  I transferred back to NC in 2001 and over the course of 2 years went home too few times.  In the summer of 2003 she started feeling bad again...but her doctors told her she just had a summer cold. Well the summer cold turned into a full blown relapse of cancer...this time not only breast but in her lungs....only no one knew it until it was too late.  The last time I saw her alive was labor day weekend when we had gone camping at a state park near my childhood home and stopped by the house for 30 minutes or so on our way back to NC.  By the end of September she had been rushed to Nashville, TN and had several test that revealed the return of cancer I wrote of earlier.  On October 13, 2003 while on my way to my son's baseball practice my phone rang...it was my Aunt (Mom's youngest sister) informing me that Mom had left us.

Mom was 61 at the time...way to young to have lost a battle with cancer.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't miss her!!

So, why do I hate cancer....cancer took my Mom way to young, it has inflicted its curse on my Dad, and now I am dealing with it.....Enough said!