This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the American Cancer Society! I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to share my experience with cancer as a part of the American Cancer Society’s 100th Birthday Celebration! It’s important that my readers know a “sponsored post” means that I am being compensated for what I have written. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own and I would never accept an invitation to write sponsored content if it wasn’t a project I truly stood behind. In fact, I have decided that the compensation I will receive for writing this post will be donated to the American Cancer Society in an effort to finish this fight.
I learned at a young age to be afraid of cancer because my first experience with the disease left me without a best friend. As a high school freshman, Mindy was diagnosed with a childhood cancer. She felt a lump in her groin and I remember the day her sister called to tell me that it was indeed malignant. I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but I knew it wasn’t good and the dictionary confirmed it; Evil and life threatening. Cancer and its treatment ravaged Mindy’s ballerina body and turned her into a ghost – literally. Nearly twenty three years later, I still miss her.
Fast forward to 2008. I lay on a table with my left arm over my head, the doctors talked in whispers while looking at the computer screen. Hot tears rolled into my ears and dripped onto the paper beneath me. Two days later I got the call from my doctor who informed me that my own tumor was malignant. Those words – evil and life threatening – burned into my brain years before were now mine.
I was 33 years old and I had stage II breast cancer.
In a couple of months, I’ll celebrate five years of being NED (no evidence of disease). It didn’t come easy though as I endured several rounds of chemotherapy and weeks upon weeks of radiation treatment. I take cancer blocking drugs daily and deal with the psychological aftermath of what this disease brings. Two out of three people are cancer survivors. I’m thankful to be one of these people. I wish I could say the same for my sweet friend Mindy.
It’s been kind of cancer heavy around the blog this week but I’m an advocate at heart and truly believe that change cannot be made when we’re silent. I’d love for you to take 1 minute and 34 seconds right now to watch this video. The American Cancer Society will celebrate its 100th birthday on May 22, 2013 and they want to lead the loudest. most aggressive assault on cancer. I hear their rally cry loud and clear. Will you?
American Cancer Society has led the way in saving lives over the last century. Their advancements in cancer research has contributed to a 20% decline in cancer related deaths since the early 1990s. They have given nearly 1.2 million people more birthdays during that time! All this thanks to 15 doctors and business leaders who thought it was time to start raising awareness about a topic many didn’t want to even talk about. Think about the potential we have today to raise even more awareness! Sharing this blog post or the video above with your friends and family is one simple step to finish this fight!
The goals of ACS include
• Ensuring lifesaving cancer research continues to get funded.
• Enroll 300,000 people in a historic research study known as CPS-3.
• Making sure the people who need assistance are getting it.
• Keep fighting the good fight so that we continue to celebrate more birthdays, have quality health care, access to lifesaving screenings and more.
Will you join me in finishing this fight?
All you have to do is share this blog post. Tweet it. Facebook it. Heck, even email it. Whatever you do, MAKE SOME NOISE!
This post is sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
