Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

As I've written before, my sister and I were both diagnosed with breast cancer and went through treatment in the past 6 months. I finished my radiation treatment in February. My sister, because she also had chemotherapy, just completed radiation last week. Her daughter, Renee and my son, Bob have organized to enter a team in the upcoming Cancer Walk in Des Moines. The team, Birdie's Bosom Buddies, is in our honor. (Thank you Renee and Bob). The walk is May 1 at Ponderosa Village at 9:00 A.M. If you'd like to walk with us, that would be great fun - the more the merrier! If you'd like to donate to the cause through our team, that would be great too.

More important to me, schedule and get your annual mammogram. My sister's and my cancer were both found through annual mammograms. If you're not a female, you know one. Encourage those around you to get their exam. A friend, whose sister died as a result of breast cancer, told me, if he had any idea she wasn't going annually, he would have taken her there personally. Don't have regrets. Knowledge is power, and there is so much good medicine now, breast cancer has fewer casualties than in the past.

Lastly, probably everyone reading this knows someone else with breast cancer. Call them, write a note, encourage them, pray for them. From a visit to my chiropractor this morning, I learned the whole body needs time to heal from the trauma of the surgery and treatment, maybe a year. So don't let up - keep us in your prayers.