Be All You Can Be... in the Army of Women

October is breast cancer awareness month in the USA, as I'm sure all of you know. It's almost impossible these days to not be bombarded by pink everywhere you go!

The success of the breast cancer awareness movement in the last 20 years or so has been truly remarkable and inspiring (if a little envy-inducing for those of us who advocate primarily for another type of cancer). Huge scientific progress has been made thanks to the hundreds of millions of dollars (if not more) that have been raised by various breast cancer organizations, like Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Avon Foundation.

There is a new initiative on the breast cancer scene this year, and it's a revolutionary one! The Army of Women, a joint initiative of the Avon Foundation and the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, has set a goal of recruiting one MILLION healthy women to volunteer for breast cancer prevention research studies. The Army of Women launch was recently announced on the Today Show (click here to see!).

Leave it to women to take such an incredibly proactive approach in helping to eradicate this devastating disease. Very cool.

For more information, and to join the Army of Women, click here.

You go girls!

SU2C Broadcast - Only One Kleenex Needed!

Here it is.



My boyfriend and I watched the show last night on the biggest computer screen in our house. I have to say, even though it was a bit chaotic, with some celebs missing their marks (ahem, Ms. Dunst) and some camera flubs - overall I was incredibly impressed.

The content of the show was perfect in its balance of scientific information, celebrity involvement, and humor. I appreciated that within the science sections of the show, viewers were presented with groundbreaking reseach (hooray nanotechnology!) but also with basic facts ("Don't start smoking.") that Americans, unfortunately, still need to hear too urgently.

My favorite humorous part of the show was when Katie Couric and Charles Barkley talked about their colonoscopies. In a show that was so scripted (and necessarily so, I know) it was great to see Katie being her charming self, improvising a bit with Sir Charles. And who knew the "Round Mound of Rebound" (thank you, boyfriend, for coming up with that old nickname of his!) was so funny? He had more stage presence than a lot of the actors! Not to mention how great it is that he had his colonoscopy filmed in the first place. Bravo, Mr. Barkley. And thank you.

Yes, the tears flowed. I don't know how Halle Berry, Casey Affleck, Jen Garner and Forest Whitaker made it through their "Imagine" montage when they read out stories written by those affected by cancer in the most dramatic, tragic ways. And seeing Patrick Swayze - even though I knew he was opening the show - was really tough. He has thinned out so much. In my head I will always see him as Johnny, his beloved "Dirty Dancing" character - so seeing him looking so gaunt was tough for me. It reminded me a lot of my stepdad, too, which always knocks the wind out of the ol' tummy.

Anyway, I am thrilled that I finally got to watch the show, and even more thrilled that the show raised over $100 million! A drop in the bucket compared to what our country has spent on the Iraq war, and far from what is needed to truly CURE this disease - but it's a very, very good start.

Onward!

SU2C Full Stream Available Online!

Good news!

Tara let me know that the FULL broadcast of "Stand Up to Cancer" is now available online! And unlike regular TV shows that are online in the States, I can actually watch this one from London! Which I will do tonight. Excellent.

The broadcast is available here.

Tara's blog also has some GREAT behind-the-scenes photos from the event! Click here to see them.

Thanks, Tara! And have a WONDERFUL wedding next week!

Cover Your Butt! And the Butts of Your Fellow Americans!

I received an email today from C3, the Colorectal Cancer Coalition, with an urgent message and easy task.

Right now, there are three bills in Congress that - if passed - would cover screenings for three huge constituencies of Americans: the poor and underserved, the elderly and those with private insurance.

To sign the petition click here.

The three Acts are as follows:

• HR 1738: The Colorectal Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment Act will establish a program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide colorectal cancer screenings and treatment for low-income, uninsured and underinsured individuals who are not eligible for Medicare.
• HR 1926/S 1164: The Colon Cancer Screen for Life Act will expand existing Medicare coverage of colorectal cancer screening to include pre-procedure visits and other reimbursements, minimizing the out-of-pocket expenses for our nation’s elderly.
• HR 3060: The Colorectal Cancer Screening and Detection Coverage Act would require private health insurance plans to provide coverage for colorectal cancer. Plus, the bill will protect anyone from being denied a policy due to their need for colorectal cancer screening.

It takes about 10 seconds to sign the petition. In doing so, you are contributing to an effort to save lives.

On the C3 website, you can learn more about colon cancer advocacy initiatives. You can also send a letter to your local Congressmen encouraging them to support colorectal cancer screenings.

Stand Up to Cancer and Cover Your Butt!

I Stand For My Stepdad

Here I am! (At about 2:08 - right after the french bulldogs - coincidentally, my favorite type of dog! That must be a sign of something, right?)



Wow. Can't say I don't have tears streaming down my face after that one. Hope you'll take a moment to watch it all the way through.

To learn more about this video, check out When Tara Met Blog and SU2C's Virtual Stand Up.

Cancer Nerd Kudos to Applegate

I was so sad to hear of Christina Applegate's breast cancer diagnosis. The announcement came only five days after another, more positive cancer-related announcement: her participation in the Stand Up to Cancer telecast on September 5. But perhaps the best news of all is that Applegate still plans to participate in the show.

Phew! That was a lot of links there.

I have always loved Christina Applegate. I never really got into "Married With Children" but I always thought she was beautiful, and I was always impressed that she never fell prey to the perils of Hollywood fame. She just seems very down-to-earth. And she is genuinely talented! They don't show "Samantha Who?" here in the UK but it looks supercute and I'm happy she's had this re-boost to her career.

I'm happier, of course, that her diagnosis is an early and positive one, and that she is expected to make a full recovery. And I'm really glad that she will still appear on the SU2C telethon. She will be getting a lot more attention than she would have otherwise, so kudos to her for having the courage to stand as a survivor mere weeks after her diagnosis.

You go girl!

Check this out!

The lovely ladies over at Young Working Women have posted an interview with me! Check it out if you want to learn a little more about me (and see a sneak peek of the photo I sent into SU2C for the montage).

And if you are a young working woman (even if you're between jobs, like me!) I urge you to join this supportive and fabulous group.

It's Never Too Early to Advocate, Apparently

Uy. It's way too early here to be awake and functioning, especially for those of us who are currently funemployed (read: taking a hiatus from work and not back in school quite yet). Alas, I was woken up at 7:30 this morning by the recycling truck, of all things. Only in this quaint lil' ol' country would the garbage men be up and at 'em by dawn. Uy yuy yuy.

But anyway, once I failed at my attempt to sleep in, the www came calling, and I stumbled upon a really great blog: Cancer is Boring, written by Brad O'Brien, a lymphoma survivor (multiple times over) in San Francisco. I love his candid, open, fearless attitude. Brad exemplifies survivorship and advocacy. I hope you will take a moment to check out his blog! I know I will keep reading.

Even though Brad and I don't know each other, we have one thing in common - we were both invited by Tara Settembre, a PR gal and cancer survivor herself, to send photos showing why we stand up against cancer. The photos will be used in a montage on the September 5 airing of Stand Up To Cancer. I will post my photos closer to the air date, so you can keep your eyes peeled for me...

Meanwhile, check out Tara's fabulous blog. She has quite the life out in LA!

I have added both Brad's and Tara's blogs to my new blogroll. If you know of any other great blogs by cancer survivors and advocates, please let me know!

Cancer Quote Fri - uh, Saturday!

Ok, so it's not Friday, but it is in the early morning hours of Saturday here in London - and the very wee hours in the States - so here goes.

I just uploaded my photos from my recent trip to the Midwest, and couldn't wait to share this quote from the Richard & Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Plaza in Chicago. It is on the first of a series of bronze plaques that surround the plaza entrance.



The plaque reads:

"Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells. It is the most feared disease in America, because it is not understood, even though it is not the largest killer. If we understood cancer, we would not be as afraid of it. It is estimated that the average individual has a wildly dividing cell six times a day. The immune system recognizes this, kills it, and we never know the difference. When the immune system lets down, even temporarily, and these dividing cells get established to the point that the immune system cannot control them, we have cancer."

Upon further Googling, it turns out that Richard and Annette Bloch have named a number of these cancer survivor parks all over the USA. Richard Bloch, co-founder of H&R Block, was a lung cancer survivor (!!!) who died of heart failure in 2004 at the age of 78. After being declared cancer free, he and his wife Annette dedicated their lives to helping people with cancer. The R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation website has some good information; a free e-book for cancer supporters; links to cancer articles and programs; and more. This is an incredibly positive site, clearly reflecting the attitude of its founder.

Ooh, heartwarming stuff! I love it! A great way to start a weekend.

Couric, Curds and Cancer

I was working out in the dinky, musty gym at my mom's apartment complex this morning - much-needed exercise considering the fact that spending time here in the land of cheese curds and bratwurst does not exactly do wonders for my diet - with an old guy on a stationary bike who was watching "The View" on the gym's lone television. Lo and behold, Katie Couric was the first guest! She was there to talk about Stand Up To Cancer. Hooray!

Okay so I just have to say, first and foremost, that it was so great to see Katie on morning television again. As much as I want her to succeed on the CBS Evening News, because she is truly trying to break a barrier being a female anchor in that time slot and I respect that, she really belongs on morning television. Sigh. Well anyway -

Okay I also have to admit that I only caught her about mid-way through her interview, so I didn't get to hear the whole thing but I'm sure it will be posted on YouTube or the SU2C website later today. But anyway -

It just made me happy. Katie talked about the Constellation campaign, where you can name a star for a cancer survivor for just $1. She talked about some other aspects of the program that weren't news to me, but I was delighted to see her this morning.

What is news? In case you haven't heard, there is a stellar line-up being formed for the TV special. In addition to co-hosts Katie Couric, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams, there will be a ton of other great celebs in attendance. Check it: Casey Affleck, Dana Delany, America Ferrera, Danica Patrick, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Sally Field, Christina Ricci, Goran Visnjic, Christina Applegate, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Forest Whitaker, Kirsten Dunst, Neil Patrick Harris, Homer and Marge Simpson (love that they are included in the press release!), Josh Brolin, Salma Hayek, David Cook (whose brother is battling brain cancer), Elle Fanning, Scarlett Johansson, Meryl Streep, Jon Favreau, Masi Oka, and Hilary Swank. Phew! The line-up also includes celebrity cancer survivors Fran Drescher, Robin Roberts, Lance Armstrong, and Elizabeth Edwards.

I'm sure they will have many more celebrities join these ranks, and I can't wait to see this list continue to grow.

Good stuff all around! Now back to my cheese curds...

So Much to Learn, So Little Time

All of a sudden it's late July, and I am heading back to the States to visit my family (and, fingers crossed, procure my student visa). My school year is fast approaching, and I am trying not to get cold feet as I ponder jumping into my year-long MBA program two months from now. Instead, I think about these past months - my "independent study time" as I have called them, when I'm not calling myself a lady of leisure or domestic goddess. I almost wish I could say I have gotten bored, or am ready for more structure in my life. But the truth is, this time has been amazing for me and I'm not ready to let it go.

I still have so much to learn! I still have so many books to read! As I began packing to head home, I must have cycled through four or five different cancer books to take on the plane, all of which I want to have under my belt before I start school (and thus no longer have time for any reading other than school reading... sigh). Then I signed into Amazon and ordered another one. Will I have time to do all this reading? No. But I will get to it all eventually, and chronicle it here.

In other news, I was able to interview Sherry Lansing, the former CEO of Paramount Pictures who is working on Stand Up To Cancer. The interview will be published on Look to the Stars soon, and I can't wait for it to be out there in cyberspace! So keep your eyes peeled...

Must get back to packing. Maybe then I'll have some time to read.

Care Packages and Katie Couric

My mom has always been great about sending me mail. When I was in college, she sent me at least one piece of mail a week. I probably never admitted to her how much that meant to me - being able to open my little mailbox in the student center and see a brightly colored greeting card or - even better! - a slip indicating that I had a package to pick up. But I'm sure she knew.

Now that I live across the pond, she has gotten back into her care package mode. Though these days the packages that the mailman crams through the slim slot in our front door contain more credit card bills and other grown-up mail than fun things. But her care packages are always thoughtful and always appreciated (I hope you're reading this, Mom!).

Yesterday, I received a big cushy envelope filled with newspaper clippings, bills (told you so), and the June 23 issue of Newsweek magazine, which contains a lot of great articles about cancer. But I will get to those later. Also included in the package was a photocopy of another Newsweek piece, written by Katie Couric back in April. The article discusses the tenth anniversary of her husband Jay Monahan's death and how Katie chose to share some of the condolence letters she received a decade ago with her daughters, who were only 2 and 6 when Jay died of colon cancer.

I am a big, big Katie Couric fan. I have met her on a couple of occasions and she has always been gracious and lovely. The first time I met her was fairly soon after my stepdad's death. I had run a race in Central Park on a beautiful weekend morning, and my mom had come to the finish line. After the race we went to a greasy-yet-swanky-spoon brunch spot, the likes of which you could only find on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. And there was Katie, eating with a friend, in her exercise clothes with no makeup. My mom and I spent our entire meal debating about whether or not to say something to her, and had decided against it until we both got up to pay our tabs at the same time.

There we were, in line behind Katie Couric to pay for our diner brunch. My heart pounded as I decided to just go for it, and said, "Excuse me, Katie?"

Most of the conversation remains a blur. I remember that my mom and I quickly told her that we had lost my stepdad recently to colon cancer, so that she didn't think we were just quack fans. She immediately took off her sunglasses to make eye contact with us as my mom told her how much she admires the grace with which Katie handled her husband's death.

"You have been a model to me," my mom said. "It hasn't been easy."

Katie replied, "Yeah, it really sucks."

But not in a Debbie Downer way. In a way that sealed my respect for Katie Couric for life. It was a moment so genuine it gives me goosebumps to write about it now, years later. In that moment, two widows of men who'd lost their lives too soon to a disease that is all too preventable instantly and deeply connected. If only for a moment.

My mom and I were also at Katie's last day on the Today Show, and appeared on camera for fleeting seconds with a group of colon cancer survivors and advocates. It was a hoot!

I like to call this one Katie and Me. Heh.

Anyway, this is all to say that I respect Katie a great deal, and so was excited to be able to read a piece of her writing.

I got through the article without crying, which was an achievement. Everyone who is affected by cancer has a different story to tell, and hearing a new story always makes you reflect on your own. As heartbroken as I remain about my stepdad John's death at age 64, attempting to fathom what it was like for Katie to lose her husband at age 41 - yes, forty-one - is just impossible. To lose your life partner when your daughters are too young to remember him... it's just one of those things that should never happen to anyone.

Katie's story is one of many that fuel my passion to raise awareness about this disease in the hopes of eradicating it. It is not an easy story to hear, but I deeply admire that she is putting herself out there - as a mother, a widow, and a cancer advocate.

I wonder where my mom and I will be, what we'll be up to on the tenth anniversary of John's death. This July marks the fourth anniversary, so we have a long way to go. But I'm sure the time will fly, and I can only hope that when my mom and I inevitably reach that decade milestone, that we remain as full of grace and passion as Katie Couric.

Exciting Writing News!

Here is what made my day yesterday:

I had been thinking for a long time about starting a blog that would combine some of my main interests: cancer advocacy, philanthropy (in my former life I was a fundraiser), and celebrity pop culture. I wanted to write about celebrities (and other wealthy folk, and even some not as wealthy folk) giving their time, money, and other resources to non-profit organizations, in an effort to get the word out there that giving is good, and easy to do, and vitally important to more people than one can fathom.

But I was so overwhelmed at the thought of starting this venture. Where to even begin? How to get the word out? Etcetera.

So finally yesterday I did a Google blog search, just in case someone had already seized my idea (as is so often the case with blogs these days, considering the gazillions of them that are out there)... and lo and behold, I came upon this:

Look to the Stars! A fantastic blog started by a husband and wife team, containing a vast online library of celebrities and their charities, as well as the last news in celebrity giving, all in a really well-written and fun-to-read format.

I emailed the editors immediately, offering to help them in any way that I could. I heard right back from them, and will be starting to write for them soon! I am so excited to add another dimension to my blogging experience. Not to mention the fact that I will be able to indulge in my fondness for pop culture and do some good while I'm at it!

Take a moment to check it out. And keep your eyes peeled for my byline, coming soon!

More Boobs! (A Book Review: Part II)

Now that I have slept on Bathsheba's Breast - or, well, on my thoughts about this book, I mean - I have come to the conclusion that, although it is not an easy read, this is a truly remarkable book. And I might be a little oversensitive because a) I am a woman with breasts, and b) I take my cancer reading very personally. So there. I admit it.

When I go back through the notes I took on each chapter of this book and attempt to digest everything I learned, I am almost overwhelmed with knowledge and awareness. I feel that now I have a solid knowledge of the history of this disease and also an awareness of the bigger picture: how breast cancer has evolved from being the original cancer, the only one known for generations because it could be seen without an x-ray or an autopsy, to setting the standard for cancer research, treatment, awareness, and advocacy. Olson covers this evolution in depth, and although he chronologically bounces around a bit, his efforts are fairly extraordinary.

In an attempt to be fairly concise... here are some very valuable things I learned from this book (with links to Wikipedia if you're interested):

• Breast cancer has taken the lives of countless notable women, from Theodora (wife of Justinian I) to Adolf Hitler's mom to Linda McCartney.
• Hippocrates named cancer for "karkinos" or "crab" because tumors seemed to have tentacles that resembled crabs' legs.
• Mastectomies were being performed in Germany as early as the 1600s! Yikes.
• And these surgeries were performed without anesthesia - that didn't come into the picture until 1846.
  
• William Steward Halsted invented the radical mastectomy (removal of breast, axillary bodes, both chest muscles in a single en bloc procedure - I didn't know what it was, either) in the 1880s. He was also a coke addict. Oops.
• By the mid-1950s, a variety of surgeries were being used on women, sometimes in succession, with each being more gruesome than the last. Needless to say, faith in doctors and science at this time was very, very high.
• Radiation also came into use in the 50s and 60s - but mortality rates for each of these treatments (radiation, radical surgery, lumpectomy, etc.) were similarly high.
• This is gross: due to the high mortality rates, every country except for the US opted for the less invasive treatments. American surgeons (most of whom were male) were the last to cling to the radical mastectomy.
• Luckily, the feminism movement gained momentum in the 60s, and empowered women were on a roll by the time Nixon announced the "War on Cancer" in 1971.
• Women like Shirley Temple Black, Happy Rockefeller, and Betty Ford started speaking out about their diagnoses in the 70s. Amazing and so brave.
• Rose Kushner was an incredible cancer advocate who took control of her diagnosis and treatment. Her courage paved the way for other women to have more control over their treatment options. Kushner was diagnosed in 1974 and died in 1990.
• Ruth Handler, the inventor of the Barbie doll, lost one breast to cancer in 1970, and the other in 1989. She started a breast prothesis company and was another incredible advocate.
• Breast cancer has been riddled with controversy for decades, but the disease has made its way into mainsteam consciousness, which ultimately bodes well for the cause.

Phew! And there is more where that came from. A highly recommended read indeed. I just hope that someday a book with this depth and detail will be written about colon cancer.

First Attempt at the Big Cancer Picture

So I just spent way too much time this afternoon creating a cancer timeline in Microsoft Paint that is really hard to read. Oops. But I am going to publish it anyway! This was my understanding of what I am calling the Big Cancer Picture (how it started, how treatments began and have developed, the roots of cancer advocacy, etc.) after reading

One in Three. So, get out your microscope, and without further adieu...

P.S. It's legible if you click on it! Cheers!

SU2C on Facebook!

If you are getting as into Stand Up To Cancer as I am...

And you are on Facebook...

Become a fan of Stand Up To Cancer on Facebook! Woohoo!

SUTV

Ok so I have been poring over the Stand Up To Cancer website and I am loving every bit of it! It has been a long time since a cancer initiative has gotten me so riled up.

There are some fabulous clips, both serious and not-so-serious, in the SUTV section of the website.

So far my faves are the PSA and the Daily Show cast. A to the Mazing.

And I will freely admit that I think part of why I am so excited by SU2C (their clever little acronym) is that so many celebrities are involved - I love the combination of celebs and non-celebs in the PSA, for example. On the one hand, this initiative combines my two passions: cancer and pop culture. But on the more serious other hand, celebrities have incredible power to do good, and it truly warms my heart to see everyone from Tobey Maguire to Susan Sarandon to Lance Armstrong rallying for SU2C.

My fellow colon cancer advocate friends and I would always lament, somewhat morbidly I admit, that no hot, young celebrity has survived colon cancer. There are plenty of young people diagnosed every year, unfortunately. And there are plenty of celebrities who have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer (Carmen Marc Valvo, Joel Siegel, Farah Fawcett) too. But colon cancer does not have its Lance Armstrong or its Sheryl Crow or Cynthia Nixon.

So if colon cancer must continue to wait for the celebsurvivor who can take the cause into mainstream pop culture and make it a little more fabulous, at least plenty of celebrities have stepped up - sorry, stood up - for cancer through this amazing initiative.

As Tesco, a supermarket chain here in the UK, has as its motto, "Every little helps."

[Which I always think is missing a "bit"... but whatev. It gets the point across.]

The Interview

But back to my interview. The scholarship program is funded by a generous family whose wealth runs deep and wide (and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be a recipient of a teeny bit of it!). One of the final questions in my interview, administered by a couple of big-wig staff members of the MBA program, was this:

"Say you receive this scholarship, and this family invests, oh, 30,000 quid in you. What will be the return on their investment?"

Yikes.

But I rallied. Made a charming comment about how it's too bad I would never get to meet them because they'll miss out on my fabulous personality (which, now that I think about it, was actually kind of a dumb thing to say. Uy yuy yuy.) - but then -

"Frankly? Cancer." [Ack! Not that the members of this family will get cancer - oops.] "Being a cancer advocate is not easy work. Devoting my life to working to eradicate a disease that has no cure, and that will affect everyone in the world in some way, and to which I have such a personal connection, is not an easy thing for me to do. Each time I read a book on cancer, I have to alternate with an easy beach read to decompress a bit -" [TMI. Damn.] "But there is great work to be done. There are lives to be touched, and changed, and improved, and I know that making those personal connections will sustain me throughout my career. I can think of nothing greater than helping to support those who are faced with cancer while educating others and working to eradicate the disease itself. I can think of nothing I would rather do. It's not an easy route, but I know there are great rewards in store."

Huh. Well, I can't say I nailed it. But I was me. And all I can do now is hope that fam decides to toss a little dough my way.