Thank you for visiting my webpage and a big big THANK YOU so much for your support this year in my crazy head shaving efforts for St. Baldrick's. And now... If you are feeling a little extra generous and brave (or maybe just a little wild 'n crazy) then please JOIN MY TEAM "March Madness" and together we can kick cancer's butt!!! It's real simple -- just go to the team page and click on "Join" and you will be I n!!! Come March 24th you will also be bald like me, but that's another story...
As many of you know, I am a cancer survivor myself -- I first shaved my head in 2009 when I was diagnosed with "advanced aggressive" throat (tonsil) cancer in February 2009. I just happened to see a St. Baldrick's flyer in a doctor's office and in the spirit of "Making lemonade when life hands you lemons" I signed up to do this kinda crazy thing (especially for a 50-year old mom). I shaved again in 2011 and 2013 and thought that this might be something I did in "odd" years (somewhat appropriate)... Until 2013 when my honored kid Molly spoke at the RVC event with a grace, wisdom, and passion beyond her years. Listening to her, I stood there with tears running down my face and such anger in my heart that any child should have to endure what she was describing. I knew what I had been through in 2009, but I had been an otherwise healthy and strong adult. Molly had been just a baby. Even on the worst days of my own cancer treatment I would tell myself "It's OK, I can handle this, it's me, it's not my child." I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to have a child diagnosed with cancer.
Hate is a word I reserve for things like poverty, injustice and cancer. I HATE cancer with a passion -- it has stolen far too many lives and futures. I fought it in 2009 and I will fight it until my dying day. Cancer is especially cowardly when it goes after young and innocent kids. I will continue to shave my head every year for St. Baldrick's so that when that evil hideous thing comes knocking on a kid's door, every child has the resources to look it in the eye, stand firm, and say "NO. NOT ME. NOT THIS TIME." Hit the road, cancer!!!
I'm shaving my head to raise money for childhood cancer research! Did you know that kids' cancers are different from adult cancers? It's true. And childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE TO ME, So I decided to do something about it by raising money for cures.
Now I need your help! Will you make a donation? Every dollar makes a difference for the thousands of infants, children, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancers.
