Broken, Broken, Broken

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - Before I even got on the airplane this morning, things were breaking and I was whining. Boo hoo hoo, woe is me. The wheel on my luggag decided that 5:30 am was just far too early and checked out. Done, no more wheel. Did you need that on your rolling luggage? Oh, sorry! Getting out of the car, turn the key and break a fingernail. Well, now I will look like a big dork at my speaking engagement this afternoon, won't I? And no time to spare to go find a nail file. (Yes, Vera Bradley makes a fabulous nail kit.:) I gave mine to a friend!) Finally, I drag myself into seat 5A on a plane made for people who are no taller then 4'9". (I'm 6'0"). Yes, gentle reader, you guessed it. 5A is b.r.o.k.e.n. Can't recline, and my knees are actually jammed into the seat in front of me, I just don't fit. Crack open the laptop; Outlook has decided that it, too, needs a little vacation. "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook Window." So I'm sending emails to my office from my yahoo account, and just praying that they don't think I am some crazy spammer inviting them to be a part of my fabulous inheritance from Zimbabwe, should they just be willing to send me their SSN, bank account number and blood type.

As my son would say "mercible heaben." Well, twitter works. Thank you, Lord. Let's see whats happening in that world. Ah, the Blackhawks fans are still ready to grab that cup and bring it home. People were elected for this position or that yesterday, nice. They might be able to find a stop to that scary oil leak in Lousiana. Oh wait, what's this? A direct message from someone who thinks I need to see something, sure I'll click that link. Lady with breast cancer, always sad, always makes me angry at stupid cancer.

The twist is this. This lady isn't your standard cancer patient. When she goes for her treatment, she has a special guest that comes with her. Her son Braden comes as well. Not for support or encouragement, mind you. Braden is 5 and he has neuroblastoma cancer. They go for chemo together.

I know we have struggles, my friends. They are hard, they are scary, they seem endless. All I hope is that we can all learn that no matter how broken we feel, no matter how bad today is, there is always someone out there who has it even harder then we do. When I was in treatment, all I kept praying for was the well-being of my unborn baby. I was so thankful that my other children were strong and healthy. raden's mommy doesn't have that, sadly. This is a message more to me than it is to you, but feel free to embrace it as well. Snap out of it. Big deal, it's a fingernail. A piece of luggage. You are too tall and have to be smooshed for an hour. Shake it off. Visit sweet little Braden's page and tell me that his darling little face won't help you to realize what is really most important in life; and how important life really is.

NED

PLANET EARTH, 2010 - NED, he’s the guy. He’s the one that every cancer patient longs to dance with, to have near them – quite frankly, we want him to stalk us. NED is the name we want to hear the second after we hear the oncologist say ‘Yep, it’s cancer, all right!'

His name is whispered among fellow patients as if he’s the dreamiest man you’ve ever seen – hence the photo above. Suave, cool, calm, witty and debonair. Just everything you want in a life partner. We patients think of him at 2 am when we can’t sleep, and we pray that someday he will come to visit us. When our friends tell us of yet another PET scan or MRI, we stop what we are doing and say ‘Please, God, let her see NED this time.'

Oh, NED. I better meet you face to face this August. If I don’t see you there, you handsome devil, I will track you down and find you. You will be with me, sir, better believe it.

NED. To those of you blessed enough to be totally unfamiliar, goes by the given name of ‘NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE.'

In Her Shoes

ZIONSVILLE, INDIANA - Here on this blog I’ve introduced you to several people who have gone above and beyond to help breast cancer patients across the world. They do so for many reasons; some because they have had a loved one who has suffered, some because they have friends or co-workers struggling with the disease, some just because they never want their children to be the ones to "walk in our shoes." The shoes of a cancer patient are tough to step into, believe me.

This particular group of shoes belongs to some amazing ladies. They have pledged to work as hard as they can to raise funds for research. These gals are active fundraisers, working many months to encourage others to help them with their mission. Last year, they raised over $4,000 in just a few short months. This year, they are on track to surpass that number.

Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Let me tell you the best part. They are all in high school. They are the young, amazing women of the Zionsville High School tennis team, and their lovely coach. They are young enough to not think things like "Oh, I’m just too busy. I’m too tired. I don’t really want to think about cancer research." They just say "We know what is happening right now, and we want to get involved. We want to make a positive change – IN OUR LIFETIME." Thank you, my remarkable ladies, from breast cancer patients worldwide. I hope you never have to walk in our shoes. :)