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Posted by -=Biscuit=- on 01/13/07 20:25
"Respondant" <Respondant@noemail.not> delighted us to no end by
taking a lime green crayon and scribbling in
news:BOGdndiutNq-szTYnZ2dnUVZ_tCtnZ2d@comcast.com, on the
hallowed day of Sat 13 Jan 2007 11:08:17a:
> -=Biscuit=- wrote:
>
> <sig partially restored>
>
> Help Heather kick cancer's ass! http://www.limeproject.org
>
> Mara,
>
> While I did not order a calendar, I have recently made a
> donation to Heather via pay-pal.
Cool, that's much more appreciated :)
> Speaking as a thirty (yes, 30) year survivior of Hodgkin's,
> (Stage 3B) I can only tell you that I think what you are
> participating in is a noble cause, indeed.
Thanks, I can only hope. It's been a drain on a few of us involved
in the project. While it's kind of exciting to see the amount of
publicity this has gotten, I'm at the point where I just want my
life back.
> I was 19 when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's. And like your
> friend Heather, I was MIS-diagnosed for a long time. I had
> been losing weight and feeling "run-down" for about six months
> before a lump the size of a golf ball appeared, seemingly
> overnight, on the left side of my neck. Which was followed
> within about a week by another similar lump in my groin. And
> THAT is when I finally decided I better get to a physician.
> The first of whom "diagnosed" me with ... get this ...
> Athlete's FootΉ, of all things.
Jesus....sounds a lot like my own cancer mis-diagnosis. For 10
years I was told it was "in my head." Ummmm, nope, doc...a little
lower than that.
> Various other MD's told me I had anything from a "bronchial
> infection" all the way to "walking pneumonia". And it wasn't
> until I inadvertantly (read luckily) stumbled onto a GP that
> had some training in oncology that I was diagnosed properly.
Yep, that was me too. The first REAL Onocoligist I was sent to...15
minutes into the exam before the pathology report came back, he
asked if there was any family there with me (in the waiting room)
who he should call in before we talked. They don't do that for good
news.
> Seems strange that can still happen in this day and age, (I was
> diagnosed in 1977) but apparently it does.
Medicine really hasn't progressed that much past leeches and
dowsing, IMO.
> And although I never had radiation therapy, I did have a
> nine-month course of chemo and oral medication.
I refused both. The doctor told me to get my affairs in order. I'm
still working on that ;-)
> So tell Heather to keep her chin up, and no. It won't be easy.
> There will be days when she'd rather be dead. I know. Been
> there, done that. But she WILL get through it so long as she
> keeps a positive attitude, and she's willing to fight.
She's been having some bad days lately, but the last PET scan was
clear, and this is very good news. I'm still amazed that she works
at a HOSPITAL and yet, because the number of hours she works,
doesn't have prescription drug coverage.
[...]
> And Mara? I would not contact Heather directly since I don't
> know her from Adam, but if you care to forward this post to her
> in the form of an email, I'd have no problem with a reply to it
> if she want's to talk.
A *lot* of people have emailed her. She's really overwhelmed by all
the attention and publicity. In fact she's refused any interviews,
which has hampered some offers of publicity, since they
(understandably so) want to interview her. She flatly refuses, and
we all respect her wishes for privacy. I don't blame her, no one
wants to be painted as a charity case.
There's been some VERY big names, etc who wanted to bring this
issue to the press...and honestly, I'm glad it didn't. I'm not
ready for some of my family to find out. Luckily they aren't
computer literate :)
>
> Have her reply to:
> spindlewood at comcast dot net
You can email her if you like. She doesn't bite :) She might not
reply, though.
>
> [Yes. That's a secondary account I created only for this
> purpose, but I assure you, it's an active email addy, and I'd
> love to speak to Heather, and explain to her that she's got a
> GREAT chance to beat that shit :-) ]
Really...if you want to, email her. Hearing GOOD, encouraging stuff
from people is part of what has made all this worthwhile. Every so
often I look at the list of donors and see $5, $7, $100 from people
in the list. I think the small amounts touch me more, since (to me)
that means it's someone who can't afford any more than that, but
who also really wants to help.
It makes up for the *other* people, who've ordered a calendar and
can email to ask why they haven't received it yet, but can't be
bothered to READ the website that lists in 3 different places why
there's been a delay (the printers fucked up).
And the fact that I've put in over 100 hours and spent over $1,000
of my own money towards this project...let's just say it's a good
cause and I'm glad to see it's a success, but I need to get on with
my *own* life.
I should note that Heather has been nothing but wonderful,
understanding, appreciative and totally bowled over by all this.
Until a couple weeks before the website launched (Nov 6, 2006) she
didn't even KNOW about the project. We started planning this a year
ago (Feb 2006) and kept it a secret from her as much as possible.
When the website launched and all the money and attention started
flowing in, it was pretty damn (understandably) overwhelming for
her.
In my blog entry about why I got involved in this (because prior to
being asked to be in the calendar...in fact, prior to November, I
didn't even know Heather personally), I wrote that because when *I*
had cancer, there were lots of strangers there for me, during and
after. People I didn't even know were coming over to cook for me,
clean my house, visit with me. It was a weird feeling to accept
help without being able to give anything back, but I did.
So this is my way of paying back, and paying it forward.
Email her yourself :) I'm sure she'd love to hear something nice
from someone, especially another Hodgkin's survivor!!
--
-=Mara=-
Help Heather kick cancer's ass! http://www.limeproject.org
Mara's Promo Photo: http://www.limeproject.org/promos/mara.jpg
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