A Weblog Documentary
 Our Fight Against Breast Cancer
Sharing our stories and experiences with breast cancer raises awareness and brings us together in the fight against this disease. Are you a survivor? Have you gone through the fight alongside a loved one? Email us at blog@actingforacure.org.
January 23rd, 2007
Hello everyone! Welcome to the official “Acting for a Cure” website. This section of the site is for you all to share your stories, motivational thoughts and words of wisdom. I cannot wait to hear from you!
Have a gorgeous day!
Lips, Legs, and Love,
Rach
January 26th, 2007
We received an email from Susan Waggener who is a staff writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. She recommended that we link to her essay entitled "Sisters for Life" that was published in June of 2006. We cannot reprint it here due to copyright reasons, but please follow the link as it is well worth a read!
January 29th, 2007 - Reposted from Maria's blog
Without The Bitter There Ain't No Sweet
Just a couple of more days and I will have my last chemo. Funnily enough, this doesn't evoke much excitement in anyone but me. Really why should it? There are those who have been on this journey with me, but no one could actually take the chemo for me. So as I approach this day that I have been waiting for, for months, it goes out with a fizzle rather than the bang I imagined. To be honest, I am quite tired of me and my story. I could never think that others aren't too. It's not like I will walk out of the hospital on Thursday and have a full head of hair and feel completely restored. I haven't been at a spa for 4 months.
Thursday morning will arrive and I will do my chemo routine and then come home. I will also be starting the next phase of treatment that I will do every three weeks for a year. The main side effect of H is heart damage. Next Monday I will have a heart scan to get a baseline of how my heart functions now. Then every three months I will get a scan to make sure H is not taking too much a toll on the ol' ticker. If so, we will back off a couple of months and then go from there. I guess this ain't over by a long shot. It's not chemo though and that's sweet.
So if you are my friend, in for a penny, in for a pound. It really is a lot, huh? You can exit now, no questions asked. Cancer/Chemo/Illness/Surgery. They all test the strongest of relationships. People come and go, but the patient is still the patient. Illness is not a fair weather friend. It likes to hang out for a LOOOONNNNNG TIME. Illness never is late for an appointment. Illness stays with you through thick and thin. Illness is with you through all your treatments. Illness is with you in the middle of the night when you can't sleep. Illness doesn't care if you're tired and don't want to talk. Illness is always there to talk about....Illness.
I look back at these last months as a blur. Sometime in disbelief. Sometimes I pass a mirror and don't recognize myself. There have been days that I was as low as I have ever felt. There have been days when I almost feel as good as I ever have. I have never known what to expect from day to day. It is very much my nature to not ask for help. I have tried to keep my asking to a minimum, always scared that at some point I would need a lot, and then I would be asking a lot. I have seen the sadness in my partner's eyes. He, not knowing what to do at times to comfort me. I have seen him worried. I have seen my children come through this with their innocence intact. Never worse for the wear. Just ready for mommy to be able to play more. I have had two friends that always make sure I had a chemo day treat.
I have lived a lot in these past months while trying to do things to keep me alive. I can see it in my face. I have aged. I am not talking vanity here. I am talking aging from worry and fear and feeling sick. Not good for the skin.
Without the bitter of this experience, there would be no sweet in the days to come.
Maria
February 10th, 2007
My mom had breast cancer when I was two years old. She survived, and
because of groups like the Komen Foundation, many more women will also
survive. A big thanks to Acting for a Cure for raising money for the
Komen Foundation! You are making a difference in many people's lives.
Justin
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