Plein de Vie ("Full of Life")

So, before anyone judges me for my lack of blogging. Hmm . . . or working . . . or socializing . . . or anything for the last month or so, I have a very good excuse. In a nutshell, I had a very big cancer scare. When I went in for my biopsy, they discovered that I did not have cancer, but a pretty serious Staph infection instead. Scary! After a TON of time laid up in bed, and weeks of antibiotics, I am slowly making it out again into the real world.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because this scare reminded me how lucky I am to be healthy and how close I came to cancer. It is important to remember all of the millions of men, women, and children who have been affected by this disease and if there is a way to support them, we should do it.

Next weekend, my dear friend Anna (in Seattle) is walking in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day which is a 60-mile walk over the course of three days. Net proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Philanthropic Trust, funding important breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment.

I am asking you to all help her reach her goal of raising $5000.00 in support of this great cause by following this link and donating.

http://08.the3day.org/goto/AnnaStarikov

Some Shocking Breast Cancer Facts (As borrowed off of the site):

* Breast cancer is the leading cancer among American women and is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths

* One woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes and one woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes in the United States

* More than 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and an estimated 40,460 women will die from the disease this year

* Approximately 1,500 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 450 men will die from the disease this year

* Only 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers are due to heredity. The majority of women with breast cancer have no known significant family history or other known risk factors

* The older a woman is, the more likely she is to develop breast cancer, but women under 40 are still at risk too (SCHEDULE A MAMMOGRAM TODAY!)

* While breast cancer occurs more often in white women, African Americans have the highest death rate from the disease of any racial / ethnic group in the United States

Thank you! Every little bit can help change the life of another.

Shelly