Standing Up to Cancer - Pass it On

October 2011

In recognition of National Breast Cancer month in October, I am repeating a blog that I first published in 2008. We are moving closer to a cure. We have so much more work to do. Read on...

Cancer doesn't care if you are a democratic, republican, Presbyterian, Asian, a millionaire, popcorn salesman, or a wire-haired terrier. It sneaks into our lives with devastating results that deplete our physical bodies and fracture families held together by hope.

Celebrity status doesn't make you immune from cancer either. We see this when we look at the lives of Sen. Ted Kennedy, Elizabeth Edwards, Dana Reeves, Christina Applegate, Cheryl Crow, Melissa Ethridge and Gilda Radner. How about the imperfect timing of NFL star Gene Upshaw, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on a Sunday and died the following Wednesday?

What scares me the most is just how readily cancer manifests itself into our lives. We all have cancer cells lying dormant in our bodies. When we let our immune systems get run down, or we get sloppy with our eating and exercise habits, we give cancer cells a clear path to rise to the surface.

Unfortunately, even the healthiest, most diet-conscious, exercise fanatics aren't safe. We all have attended funerals of the physically fit whose lives have been snuffed out by colon, breast, lung or pancreatic cancer.

When I took a personal inventory in my family, I came up with an arresting list of loved ones who either have died from or endured the physical and emotional pain of cancer. Here's a snapshot just from my family alone; three uncles, my mom and dad, brother, brother-in law, grandfather, cousin's wife, and a second cousin.

Pictured at right is Cathy Askin, relay chairman for Relay for Life, Downers Grove, IL.

On to the next circle of people that I love; best friend, more than 12 women from my church who have breast cancer, six dear sailing buddies who have died, dear neighbors, and my academic advisor. Peggy Condon, my professor and thesis advisor (and who wrote the foreword to my book, Navigating the Journey of Aging Parents) endured more than 40 years in a wheel chair after a bad accident, only to die from liver cancer. The list goes on.

My mom used to canvass door-to-door for the American Cancer Society in the 1950s and '60s. Look how far we have come since then...Look how many people we have lost. Little did my mom know at the time she canvassed that she would be a breast cancer survivor 30 years later.

This past summer family and friends touched by cancer all across the country took part in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life events . I was fortunate enough to be the keynote speaker for the Relay for Life held in Downers Grove, IL. Since this year's theme was "Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back!" it only made sense to deliver the speech in boxing gloves and robe. Special thanks to Cathy Askin, a breast cancer survivor herself, for being the relay chairman.


Here are actions steps you can take right now To Stand Up to Cancer.

• Please share this blog's message with at least 25 people. Or, send it to five people who you know will do something about this horrific disease.




• We work so hard to get the right people elected for the right jobs. Get them to work for us.

Let our elected representatives know that it is time for our government to renew focus on research and end cancer. Paste this into your browser and you can get your message to congress. There is a sample letter and emails to your representatives. http://su2c.standup2cancer.org/getinvolved/congress.

• Donate money to the American Cancer Society,www.cancer.org/helpnow, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, walk.avonfoundation.org, or the Susan G. Komen for a Cure, www.Komen.org.
  

Wouldn't it be wonderful if in the years to come, our grandchildren could ask, "Grandma, what was cancer?" Thanks for reading and helping to Stand Up To Cancer.

Blessings and hope.

Cheryl Kuba