#lcam14 #changelc #hope #iwearpearlforeveryone #iwearpearl Hi Carla, I wear Pearl for so many, I dont know who to chose!! I told you part of my story on my comment to your post earlier this morning. Like you, Im a widow because of cancer. My husband, Harry died of a different cancer (Colon), but it too is largely ignored in the public and federal research funding. So Ive made it my mission to continue fighting for my Harry by raising awareness and lobbying in DC for better support. As a nurse, I guess I was more sensitive to the need for support of patients facing a new diagnosis. So I ended up changing the focus of my career to oncology, becoming officially certified as an Oncology Nurse(OCN) in the fall of 2010. Around the same time, my dear friend and YaYa sister, Mary was diagnosed. Shes the same age as me, our birthdays are just a few weeks apart. We worked together for years as nurses at the same hospital, but became much closer during the time we worked together on the night shift. She was actually having dreams of caring for someone dying of lung disease prior to her own diagnosis. Worried that it was her son, she offered him money to quit smoking. The plan was to give him half as an incentive prior to and the other half 6 months after he quit. He never got the second installment. Mary had been having a nagging backache and assumed it had been from straining while repositioning a patient. The pain got bad enough one weekend that she decided to have it xrayed while at work. Sure enough, that pain in her back was not a strain, it was lung cancer! Hers was too advanced for surgery, so she had lots of chemo. She passed away a few days after her 50 birthday. My cousin, Gerry, who is a yr older than me, was misdiagnosed for months. The constant leg and back pain he had was assumed to be the result of a car accident. When he was finally diagnosed, the cancer had spread throughout his body to his brain, liver and bones. He only lived a few weeks after his diagnosis; he died on Christmas Day 2013. The third picture is another friend from work, who also was a patient. Dawn lived a little longer after her diagnosis than Mary and Gerry did, but still had very limited options as far as treatment, because of the advanced stage she was diagnosed. She was 54 yrs old, a year younger than me when she passed away last Sunday, Oct 25th. She attended a Shine a Light Vigil with me last November and planned to bring her whole family with her this year. Now she will be with us in spirit! The next few pictures are of my Godmother, my Aunt Mary and my two uncles, Tommy and Dan. Funny, they are all in a row in that one picture. Little did they know what date had in store for them. All three were addicted to nicotine, way before we had any idea of the health risk from cigarettes! The last picture Im sending is one of HOPE!! Through my work as an oncology nurse navigator, I helped to develop a lung cancer screening program at Crozer Keystone Health System, where I work. As the coordinator of the program, I met Ron when his wife convinced him to be screened. He is a retired state police trooper and former smoker. When his initial screening CT came back suspicious, I assisted him and his wife, providing support and education as well as expeditious appointments with appropriate providers. Rons cancer was an early stage. He had a successful surgical resection and did not require any further treatment with chemo or radiation and remains NED (no evidence of disease) today. How fitting that he is celebrating his one year Cancerversary this month! So, I say that we must never let anyone lose this battle. I continue to fight for those whose bodies were taken by this cancer, so that their spirit remains alive in the hope for a cure for others. Hopefully this all makes sense and you can use it on your site. You are really doing great work raising awareness! I only officially met you in September in DC, but feel like weve known each other for years! Hoping for a successful #lcam14!! Patti H
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 15:00:00 +0000
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