LET'S KEEP SHARING THOSE MOMENTS

Cross posting from ShareThoseMoments in case you are new to this blog or weren't aware of my pet project.......

The project continues.  It's not been forgotten, it's just been one of many balls I'm juggling at the moment.

I've done a quick analysis of the responses.  My friends at Breast Cancer Action invited me to participate in a webinar.  I will be presenting the unsexy side of breast cancer.  The most important aspect of advocacy, at least for me, is to remember that it's not all about me.  It's about the community and bringing the voices of many to the conversation.  That is precisely what I hope to achieve during this webinar. 

I missed most of October.  In fact, I missed the entire month.  For the first two weeks, I was recovering from the effects of a reclast infusion.  The first day I felt better, my husband found his way into an emergency room which was the beginning of a ten day stint in an ICU.  Severe acute pancreatitis caused by hypertriglyceridemia, which, in his case, appears to be a genetic thing.  He was discharged from the hospital on November 1st.  Since I started the month of October in bed with a fever hovering at 102 and spent the rest of the month raising hell in a hospital where they need a few lessons in patient centered care,  communication with family members and the concept of shared decision making, I missed the pink hype.

We did a run through of the presentation the other day.  The first half of the webinar will focus on the sexualization of a disease and the manner in which some of the awareness campaigns cross too many lines.  We are women, not objects.  We are more than our breasts.  In fact, there's a living, breathing person attached to those breasts.  The second half will, I hope, get people to think about the women attached to the breast, about what happens after a breast cancer diagnosis, about what goes on in our minds, about the effects on our bodies and what is, or more accurately, is not happening in the bedroom.  At least some bedrooms.

If you'd like to join the webinar, there will be two presentations next week:  one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. The information is on Breast Cancer Action's website if you'd like to join one of the live webinars.  There is no charge.  Next week is the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, too.  I'll be following the twitter feed and it may not be possible for some to join the live presentation.  No worries.  BCA will provide a link so you can watch and listen at a more convenient time.

I hope to see you there.  The survey is still open.  If you want to weigh in, I'll be writing notes for my presentation right up until game time.  Add your voice.

In related news, I was interviewed for a publication of facingcancer.ca, Lives Affected By Cancer.  The article, "The Side Effect No One Talks About," is well written and I was happy to share a bit of my own story.  Shout out and thanks to Catherine Brunelle and Terri Wingham.  Each of them suggested the executive director, Sherry Abbott contact me for the article.

That's all for now.  Stay tuned for Wednesday and I'll be sure to get a link posted here.

~AnneMarie 

Like it?  Share it!