The other day
I received a request for help
from a very courageous lady.
Her name is Heather Von St. James
and she is pictured above
with her husband, Cam and her daughter, Lily.
She has been fighting
malignant pleural mesothelioma
for almost ten years.
She has been in touch
with our blogging community
as I have seen some posts
concerning her plight
from some of you.
I couldn't even imagine
living my life
with this diagnosis hanging
over my head,
but she is handling it with
grace and strength
and a need to educate others
about this disease.
Here is a website
that can be helpful to anyone
who wants to learn more:
Having just completed
my 12th year as a participant
involved with the Avon Breast Cancer Walk,
I have seen so many
strong women
who have experienced,
first hand,
a connection with cancer.
It really doesn't matter
the type of cancer
or where it started in your body.
Just hearing the word
can put a person
in such a deep hole
that it is sometimes very hard
to crawl out of.
In my life so far,
cancer has touched me numerous times.
Friends, grandparents, parents,
aunts, uncles, nephew,
son, daughter and myself.
While I was reading
Heather's blog post,
I was struck by how
my daughter's hearing of the news
that she had cancer
was so similar
to the way Heather experienced it.
We were sitting on her bed,
Tami holding Jake at 9 years of age
on her lap,
not knowing at that time
what the outcome would be.
I experienced mine
quite differently.
Our son was very sick
and in the hospital
when I was diagnosed with
endometrium cancer.
I couldn't take the time
to think about myself
as his illness
was all I could manage.
During this year's walk,
Tami's 12th year as a breast cancer survivor,
she came in first place
out of 2000 entrants.
The walk is not a race
and she didn't approach it in that way.
Her foremost thoughts are
that "this disease will never beat me"
and this is her
mantra and reason
for walking each year.
As in Heather's case,
my daughter's and myself,
early detection and treatment
were prime issues.
Without those in place
it is doubtful
that any of us
would still be around
to see our children grow
and to live
a fulfilled life.
We must all have hope.
If hope is taken away
we really have nothing left.
To understand
and to take care
of our lives and our bodies,
please
make annual appointments
with your doctors
and continue
to raise awareness
when you can.
I wish the very best
to Heather and her family
and for her continuing health
and to anyone
who might be confronted
with this terrible disease.
I am so proud of anyone
who has to stare this thing in the face
and then come out
on the other side!
Be sure to read Heather's blog (www.mesothelioma.com/heather/survivor).
It is a story
you will not
soon forget.
A lot of money is raised
throughout the world
and we can only hope
that it is going
to the right places
so that a cure for cancer
in general
will be found soon.
...Judy...
