I know I've mentioned them before but this time I really want to promote something new and cool they're doing...
There's this great and ever-growing nation-wide, mostly online group called I'm Too Young for This (or i[2]y for short) which serves as a support and advocacy group for we "young adults" (ages between 15-39) with cancer. Matthew Zachary, the organization's founder, is not only an accomplished pianist but he also tours the country to spread the word that yes, even we young adults who seem so invincible on the outside are actually getting cancer at an alarming rate (70,000 per year!!!)*. He also runs a weekly radio program on XM Radio channel called The Stupid Cancer Show which overflows with information regarding what's going on behind the scenes in the world of cancer in young adults. As a bonus, Kairol Rosenthal (the author of Everything Changes: The Insider's Guide to Cancer in Your 20's and 30's which I have found to be extremely helpful over the past several months since its publication!) also co-hosts the show with Mr. Zachary.
I could go on and on and on explaining to you what they do and how they do it but why should I when their website is so beautifully and simply laid out that you can easily find all that information -and then some!- when you can just find it there! Simply click RIGHT HERE and you'll be on your way!
And now for the MAIN POINT OF THIS POST:
With so many colors of supportive silicone bracelets out there, how am I supposed to choose just one for my particular kind of cancer??? Remember those green ones I sent out last year that we to signify Liver Cancer? Well, technically speaking, I don't even have liver cancer...I have bile duct cancer within the liver and do you think there's a color, bracelet, or ribbon for that rarity? So how can you still show support? Well, that's simple, I can just go HERE and order one that says "Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation" and has a pretty tree with leaves on the neutral cream-colored background! But what if I don't only want to show my support for one particular cancer and I want to spread the word wider about young adults who are in no way immune to cancer, too? In that case, I would order ONE OF THESE via the I'm Too Young for This Foundation (which redirects you to the amazon.com purchase page)! Heck, I'll even wear both! (I had to stop wearing my yellow "Livestrong" bracelet for a while because it really pisses me off when I'm having a particularly horrible day! It's best to just leave it off my wrist for a while rather that cutting it into a million pieces and setting them on fire -yes, sometimes I do feel that angry about having cancer.)
If you get a chance or are at all interested in supporting this group, please order yourself, your family members, some of your friends, whomever some of these bracelets! As soon as I'm finished writing this post, I know I'm buying a small handful of them for just a couple people (not giving and sending them around like last time, sorry!)! It's cool that you can purchase them through amazon.com, I think. Also, look at the bottom of the page where you can see how else you may choose to advertise their endeavors (buy a T-shirt or a hat, order a new Visa card, etc). Finally, if you're on Facebook and are impressed with this organization but are not yet a fan, please do befriend Matthew Zachary, the heart and soul of the organization, so you can keep up with what's going on in the world of young adults with cancer.
* Here's a quiz for you....why do you think so many young adults are diagnosed with cancer, typically at a dangerously late stage? Leave your answer in the comments section if you'd like to and I'll post the answer in a couple of days.
This is a blog about us Honeys. We've been married for 6 years, live in Littleton, CO, have a Chihuahua named Dobby, a Rat Terrier named Scarlett, three awesome cats (all referred to as our Furry Kids!) and some fish.
In November 2007 I was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer of the liver) and nave been undergoing chemotherapy since December '07 & Proton Radiation Therapy at M.D. Anderson in Houston, TX from December '08 - February '09, and then back on eternal chemo until we get the tumor to shrink away from one salvageable vein in the liver so that it can be surgically removed. We use this blog to keep family and friends updated on our struggles, loves, challenges, celebrations, goals, ideas and the general daily grind!
In November 2007 I was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer of the liver) and nave been undergoing chemotherapy since December '07 & Proton Radiation Therapy at M.D. Anderson in Houston, TX from December '08 - February '09, and then back on eternal chemo until we get the tumor to shrink away from one salvageable vein in the liver so that it can be surgically removed. We use this blog to keep family and friends updated on our struggles, loves, challenges, celebrations, goals, ideas and the general daily grind!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A Good Cause
Posted by Garnet at 12:47 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
6 comments:
Abbey,
Really good info to absorb. The website is great. In answer to your question:
I think the answer is twofold - First, because of youth and perhaps, feelings of invincibility, young people might wait longer to go to physicians with their complaints/symptoms.
Second, I don't think that cancer is the first diagnosis that a physician would consider in an otherwise, healthy, young adult. Therefore, important treatment could be delayed until the cancer is diagnosed.
Love and prayers,
Jane & Steve
My favorite daughter:
Jane has put text to my answer to your question --- mostly, like your doctors, they suspect things other than cancer which we all know is a old persons disease. And to, as Jane stated, younger people push through the pain.
Love you
Dad
Dad and Jane, you both are correct...at least in the terms that I was thinking. For years I've been going to the doctor for GERD problems and abdominal pain and every once in a while, I'd get an endoscopy done or an ultrasound. Three times in the past decade, I'd heard the ultrasound technicians casually mention that I have an "enlarged liver" or something along those lines. Nobody thought it mattered. I never gave it a second thought myself...until it got too big to deny.
Another reason is because many young adults don't have profitable jobs that offer medical insurance. That is a major problem and one that i[2]y often focuses on in their fundraising efforts: to offer young adults the proper screenings for cancer, should the possibilities arise.
And a third reason came up from Candace, my blogging buddy, when she read this post via Facebook (and that's where she commented). She addressed the dangerously high state of our planet's toxins, which I have also been concerned about but the more I thought about it...the less I could come up with an alternative. Until the Driz figures out a way for us to relocate to the Moon, we're stuck here with all the crap in our food, water systems, etc! Hurry up, Steve! ;) LOL
Abbey, I'd like to add my agreement to your Dad's, Jane's and Steve's comments. Invincibility, ability to push through the pain, misdiagnosis like with you, lack of insurance to get proper testing and care - it all makes sense. I'd like to add one more thing, although it doesn't have to do necessarily with just young people. It is the head in the sand denial of environmental factors, like you suggest. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I asked the doctors, could my cell phone have anything to do with it? You see, I carried my cell phone in my bra right next to my skin in the exact spot where they found the cancer. I had been doing this for years on a daily basis - easier to locate when it rings, especially when I didn't carry a purse or have pockets. When I purchased my cell phone, I was assured that cell phones were safe. At the time of diagnosis, 4 years ago, I was told that the emissions were very low and that there could be no possible adverse side effect, especially not harmful enough to cause cancer. Now, just a few days ago, I hear about the possible dangers of the use of cell phones and the development of brain cancer. HMMMMMMMM!!! Carol
Abbey
Delete the 'Anonymous' Crylic (sp?) comment. I see it has live links that could open a virus.
Dad
Deleted Crylic comment....
Post a Comment