As many of you probably know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Over at Etsy a number of sellers are offering items for sale to celebrate the month and will donate part or all of the proceeds to various breast cancer organizations.
I'm a survivor and for a few months after my diagnosis and treatment I was a member of a wonderful support group. The women in this group were inspirational and phenomenal. They were all in various stages of healing and were willing to share their amazing spirits and help with all the newly diagnosed, frightened women that joined each month. The truth is all breast cancer survivors have a tiny nugget of fear that lives within once they've been diagnosed. Never again is a mammogram routine. Never again is a breast exam casual.
Many doctors and researchers are beginning to feel that breast cancer is a chronic condition, especially in women of a certain age that have been previously diagnosed. And all of us know women who have been diagnosed for a second, even third time. Sometimes these women beat it. Sometimes they don't.
Last week a woman we all knew and loved lost her battle. I don't remember if it was her third or fourth visitation from the disease but this time it had spread far enough and wide enough that even with all her will, spirit and strength it was too much for her.....but she gave it a good, hard battle and everyone who knew her was touched by her good humor, her smile and her hope.
Another friend of mine was told just a week or so before this that her cancer has also returned and is now wreaking havoc throughout her body. She is in the process of taking care of business while undergoing palliative treatment. Her spirit is confident and positive. She says she is actually sort of excited, that she's going to get to find out what's on the other side. In the meantime, she is living, not dying.
The proceeds from the pieces I am adding to my Etsy shop this month will be donated in full to my support group, which in turn makes sure that women in need get rides, turbans, bras, whatever they need without a big fuss being made. I've seen the difference these small kindnesses make and though I'm all for the large organizations that are fighting the good fight out there I am choosing a smaller path with local and intimate connections for me. My donations will be made in the name of our friend that passed away last week.
If you are interested in supporting my efforts or the efforts of all Etsians who have pledged to join in this month of remembrance and donations just log on to www.etsy.com and search for breast cancer, pink october and other similar terms.











