#464 I HATE CANCER, But YOU Can Help

More time to climb mountains with this guy.

It's Mets Monday and I wish I could give a glowing report on how life is like for the metster community--that we are all well and thriving.  Unfortunately as I write this, 113 will die today as they did yesterday and will tomorrow.  It's the same old story but this week seems to be more difficult  after hearing about the loss of many young Facebook friends and the spiraling decline of others. For every positive report  of being NED or good blood counts there are too many others losing their lives.  HATE +*&^^ CANCER.

What can you do to help?  Go to my web page, write letters (templates included), donate and share with others the facts about metastatic breast cancer.  Get the word out that we are not dead yet and we want to continue to thrive as long as we can.  Time is what we need and that translates into medical research to give us hope.

The last weekend in April Rob and I will travel to Washington DC and meet with legislators about the lack of funding for MBC.  To have the ear of the senators and representatives from our district for a short time will hopefully render their understanding of this disease and get their support for the much needed research money.

Go to www.onewomanmanylakes.org to give us more time with our families---and pass this on.

Support the metastatic community by going to  White House Petition--

Add metastasis research as a specific goal of the Cancer Moonshot

 It takes a nanosecond to sign and could save our lives.  Please, please pass this important piece of information on to others.

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#463 Blogolicious!

After a 2 1/2 day car ride with an antsy dog in the back and a stir crazy woman next to him, my darling husband pulled into our driveway and were welcomed home with a friendly greeting from  the next door neighbor.  So happy to be out of the car and on land even though the task of unpacking the car loomed large in front of us.  No complaints as we schlepped bag after bag into the house except the underlying question of, "Why did we take so much stuff?"  Next year--note to self--bring half the clothes and lots of laundry detergent.

On another note, after unloading the car and settling in, I went to the computer and low and behold received a lovely note from Nicole at @Healthline.com stating that my blog was Healthline's list of the Best Metastatic Breast Cancer Blogs of 2015". 

 Wow!!! I could give all kinds of responses like there aren't too many blogs out there, or I am one of seventeen--but instead I am going to glow in the limelight for this brief nanosecond and thank them for the acknowledgment.  I don't think I have ever been a top of anything so this gets checked off my bucket list ( well, it really wasn't a bucket list contender but what the heck).  

If you care to check out the highly respected and well written blogs of the MBC gang, go to http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/metastatic-breast-cancer-blogs.  I am number 12 on the list behind some pretty incredible writers.

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#462 The Voice of a Songbird

Two metsters

I thought I'd share the article below written by Heather McManamy's husband, Jeff.  Her book was released on Sunday and if you haven't had a chance to buy one, do it now.  You can find it on Amazon.com.  She was an amazing person and I had the privilege to connect with her on our fight for more funding. Added to her book being available, her friend Megan, wrote and sang a beautiful lullaby for Bri that you do not want to miss. See the details below.

Perspective.
Today was a day of emotions, reflection and perspective at the book signing.
Emotional because I wish Heather was there to see her work come to life. It should have been her there talking with news stations, addressing the gathering before the signing and celebrating with friends and Bri afterwards.
Reflection, looking back at what our life had become after cancer knocked down our once blissful door. I have been asked a lot this week what this book means to me and should mean to others. I finally realized today exactly what this book is. It's guide that Heather left us. A guide to teach us how to live more, laugh harder and love without boundaries, even when faced with the harshest realities. I don't post about Cards for Brianna to sell more books, I post about it in hopes that it touches more lives and maybe even changes a couple along the way.
Perspective, really making ‪#‎everydaymatter‬ and remembering that when our time starts to come to end, the only truly important things in life are the people, the relationships forged and the moments with them that create lasting memories. When we reach that time where the light starts to fade, I don't think we will wish our business card had a more important title, our house was bigger or our car was fancier. I believe we will see the faces of those important to us, feel that joy of knowing you made them happy and remember how special they made you feel.
Seeing all of the special people today that Heather had relationships with was amazing. I know she treasured each and every one of you. When it comes to friends, Heather definitely has the all-star line up. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for taking time out of your day to come. Brianna was beyond thrilled. She actually said tonight that she could have signed a hundred more books. That's pretty big, because she had signed 90 of them already. smile emoticon
On top of an amazing book weekend, our friend, Megan Petersondelivered the final version of "Bri's Lullaby". This song is AMAZING and I hope she is proud of how it turned out. Because we want to find any way we can to support METAvivor.org, the song is available at the following link for you to stream for free and if you decide you want to buy it, half of the purchase price will be donated to them in Heather's name. I hope you enjoy it as much as Bri and I do (you may want to have a couple of tissues close by). Yes, it's that good. http://meganpeterson.bandcamp.com/releases

Here's to living life
- Jeff McManamy

Bri's Lullaby, by Megan Peterson

Bri's Lullaby by Megan Peterson, released 10 April 2016 I don’t know why you had to learn so young How fragile this world is I don’t know what I’m going to miss as you grow Into the woman you’ll be But I…

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MEGANPETERSON.BANDCAMP.COM

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#461 Bikers/Runners--We Need YOU!

Calling all biking/running metsters!  Lesley Glenn and I have joined forces to continue to spread the word on MBC.  She is a California gal who climbs mountains--really big ones--so the two of us put our heads together and decided to show the world that we will not be ignored.  Having metastatic breast cancer will not stop us from living life climbing up mountains or swimming across lakes.

Our plan is to have someone--preferably on the east coast or from the south--to bike or run the same day we are swimming and climbing.  The media will be involved to broadcast our determination to live life to the fullest and bring awareness to this forgotten disease.  Right now we are both healthy enough to tackle this challenge for our mets sisters.

If you know anyone with mets who is a biker or a runner and would love the challenge, please put them in touch with us.  The date is June 28th.  All metsters are invited to join in on part or all of the activities.

1 Cure
1 Day
3 Women

113 women/men will die today from this disease.  We need a cure NOW!

Let's do this!

Thanks for reading #461 of 7777.