[MR] OT/OOP: October is Breast Cancer Awareness month

[Miriel]

On the heels of this, I would like to remind our fair Kingdom that Friday
afternoon/evening of War of the Wings next week is all about Breast Cancer
awareness and fundraising.

Please consider donating for such a worthy cause!

Miriel

On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 8:50 PM, crazy cat woman <beiskaldi at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Among other things. I am posting this with the permission of our esteemed
> listowner. For those of you who don't know me, I am Lady Thyra Olafsdottir,
> in the northern reaches of our fair kingdom in Highland Foorde. I know that
> the usual email saying 'be aware' doesn't have much impact if this disease
> has not touched your life, & thought that sharing an actual story might make
> it a bit more real. I truly would not wish this on anyone.
>
> Some of you may know, some may not, that I was diagnosed this March with
> stage 2B breast cancer. In layman's terms, that means really flippin' huge &
> in the lymph nodes. So a lumpectomy, followed by a surprise simple
> mastectomy 10 days later and then months of chemo have taken over my life
> this year, to be followed by weeks of radiation. I have almost no hair right
> now, including my brows & eyelashes, I've got peripheral neuropathy in my
> hands & feet, & I may lose my fingernails. And those are just the merely
> annoying side effects of chemo.
>
> The baseline mammogram I had in February 07 did not show the lump. I also
> never felt anything, and the surgeon said he even had difficulty feeling it
> while he had the ultrasound wand over it showing where it was. I like to
> think I keep educated on things, but nowhere did I hear or read until after
> the diagnosis that in younger women, the breast tissue is much denser &
> mammos may not be as reliable as for women over 40. I turn 38 in 2 weeks. My
> point is merely that while these are all useful and life-saving tools, they
> are not 100% accurate and cannot be wholly relied upon.
>
> Please go get squished, do self exams, and make sure your SO tells you if
> he/she notices anything different. If you're male, take seriously any lumps
> you might notice. If your doctor blows off your concerns, get a second
> opinion, or third, until they take you seriously. I have heard people say
> before, what if it's cancer? My response is, right, what if it IS cancer, do
> you want to let it metastasize and take years off your life, or do you want
> to catch it early & increase your chances for survival and non-recurrence?
>
> I am honestly not writing any of this in a ploy for sympathy; if I wanted
> that I would have said something a lot sooner to more people. My hope is
> that it will help raise a bit of awareness, and if it keeps just one person
> from going through this process, this email will have done its job.
>
> That's my little unofficial PSA for the week. Be well.
>
>
> dawn / thyra
> http://www.BigCatRescue.org/Icare.htm
>
> The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose
> shade you do not expect to sit. -- Nelson Henderson
>
>
>
> ========================================================================
>                   The Merry Rose Tavern at Cheapside
>    List Info: http://merryrose.atlantia.sca.org/
>  Submissions: Atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
> Subscriptions: http://seahorse.atlantia.sca.org/mailman/listinfo/atlantia
>



-- 
"There but for the grace of a demented deity, go I"  - Tales of the Folly,
by A. Fesler

http://miriels-place.tripod.com/ new stuff added

http://eidolonfoundation.org/ help support community understanding and
brotherhood!