Pink is the New Haiku

It's October, friends
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Feel your boobies. Now!

Click HERE to learn more. Click HERE to donate to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Wanna play along for Haiku Friday?! Please add the PERMALINK directly to your Haiku post when you sign Mr. Linky below.

Good Deed

Blue Momma at Life in the Fish Bowl needs our help!

Her Granny is sick. She's got a broken ankle, a staph infection, confined to her wheelchair, has decreased kidney function, and she is barely eating.

Her Granny is depressed and Blue Momma thinks we can all help.

"I want to ask you all a favor. If you have the time and would like to make a nice old lady feel a little better and a little loved, could you send her a card? A postcard? A note? It would mean so much to her and to me. I just don't know what I'll do if she doesn't get better. If you could wish her well and tell her you're thinking about her, tell her you're praying, sending good vibes, talking to the goddess - whatever it is that you do - for her, I would be so grateful."-Blue Momma

Here's where she can receive mail:

St. Vincent's Hospital
Nellie Vincent
810 St. Vincent Drive, Room 529
Birmingham, AL 35205

See how easy it would be to brighten her Granny's day!! Let's see if we can send her at least 100 pieces of mail! More would be better!

Inflammatory Breast Cancer

The following post was written by Whymommy at Toddler Planet...

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, in fact, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked … funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.



P.S. Feel free to steal this post too. I’d be happy for anyone in the blogosphere to take it and put it on their site, no questions asked. Dress it up, dress it down, let it run around the place barefoot. I don’t care. But I want the word to get out. I don’t want another young mom — or old man — or anyone in between — to have to stare at this thing on their chest and wonder, is it mastitis? Is it a rash? Am I overreacting? This cancer moves FAST, and early detection and treatment is critical for survival.

Thank you.

*********************

Please go give your support to Whymommy. I'm turning off comments here.

Proof of Angels

I am a believer. I believe in fate, in karma, in God, and in angels.

I received some news yesterday that gave me proof of angels. I want to share this story with you all, however, I may not have all the details correct. I apologize to my friends for any inaccuracies. In order to respect their privacy, I've changed all the names.

Two of my friends, Eric and Samantha, have struggled for three, long years with fertility troubles. They were able to conceive easily, but had difficulty staying pregnant. After four miscarriages, they attempted in vitro fertilization and conceived twins. Although, they lost one of the twins during the first trimester, the second fetus made it to the crucial 12 week mark.

Unfortunately, the baby quit developing during the second trimester. Samantha endured weeks and weeks of bedrest and steroid shots to help develop the baby's lungs. Last May, their daughter, Caroline was born, but did not live.

This past January, Eric and Samantha applied to become adoptive parents. In February they were chosen by a woman who was due to give birth in June.

They got the call that the birth mother was in labor. Their daughter, Lily Ann, was born on the 21st. She is healthy, beautiful, and has a head full of blond hair.

Eric sent out an email to update us all about their their new bundle of joy. I cried when I read the last lines of the email:

"A year ago to the day we left the hospital under drastically different circumstances, and we feel extremely fortunate now that Lily is in our life. We have to feel she was delivered to us by our angel Caroline looking down from heaven. We can't tell you how happy we both are. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and encouragement."

There you have it, proof. Proof of angels.

Congratulations, Eric and Samantha, on your new daughter, Lily! I am so incredibly happy for you.