It broke my heart when I heard the news: Only six years old, Olivia faced the rest of her life struggling to hold onto the memory of her mother. I didn't know her mother. Only that she was 31. The stories that were told of her positive energy, enthusiasm, sense of humor, and overall good nature painted a picture of someone I would've liked to know. But in the wake of her unsuccessful seven-year battle with breast cancer, that simply wasn't going to happen.
Which brings me back to Olivia ... As a father of two daughters approximately her age, I know how important Mom is. So I can sympathize with Olivia, as did many people. After the passing of Olivia's mom, a community came together to support her family. Her dad is a well-liked member of his neighborhood, church, and company. After hearing him speak about his beloved wife at her funeral, many commented on how strong and composed he appeared -- much more so than those around him, who were going to miss his wife, who were thinking about Olivia, and who were struggling to come to terms with how cancer could take someone so young.
Those are the commonalities that brought people together to help.
Many friends aided through typical acts of bereavement, such as bringing food to the house and spending time with the grieving family. Others took more extraordinary steps, like the creation of a scholarship fund for Olivia. In short, we were doing our part, as were other friends and family, to help ease the pain that we were all feeling. We knew that this could've happened to any of our families.
Breast cancer impacts one in eight women every year. The best defense is early detection, which is why mammograms and regular checkups are so important -- particularly as woman age. Breast cancer is cruel, torturing families and taking a woman's sense of femininity through the effects of chemotherapy and mastectomies. However, there is still no cure, and without a cure, there will be many more Olivias being raised without their mothers. That's a tragedy we must try to eliminate.
Friendly Neighborhood Helpers is issuing a challenge to help raise money for the breast cancer research charities with which we work. During this month, ask your children to draw a picture of a special woman in their lives; it could be Mom, an aunt, a teacher, or friend. Then upload it to Friendlies and select any one of the breast cancer charities below to help. We'll put the picture in our special gallery dedicated to fighting breast cancer. From there, share the link to the gallery with five of your friends and ask them to purchase at least one print for $0.99.
Together we can make a difference. We can raise awareness. We can help prevent further losses like Olivia's.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all, and energize science to find the cures.
National Breast Cancer Foundation
Founded in 1991, National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) extends women's lives through education about breast cancer and early detection. The Foundation exists to save lives by providing access to free and low-cost mammograms for those with limited resources, increased awareness through continuing education programs, and online community support programs.
National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund
The National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund (NBCCF) supports the educational efforts of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. It empowers and trains advocates to be effective in every aspect of the fight to end breast cancer. NBCCF gives women the tools to make their own informed decisions and take a leadership role with legislative, scientific, and clinical decision makers.
About Friendly Neighborhood Helpers
These charities and many more can be assisted via our website, Friendly Neighborhood Helpers (www.friendlyneighborhoodhelpers.org). At Friendly Neighborhood Helpers, a student (K-12) uploads artwork to the site, where people can purchase it in a variety of mediums (shirts, mugs, stickers, framed art, etc.). All of the proceeds are then divided among the student's school and a charity selected by the student.
To get more info, go to any one of the following places:
Our website: www.friendlyneighborhoodhelpers.org
Email us at: info@friendlyneighborhoodhelpers.org
Follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/FNHelpers)
Follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/fnhelpers)
If you'd like to make a donation to help us further our cause, you can do so at friendlyneighborhoodhelpers.org/donate.cfm
Lee Woodruff: The Many Splendors of Boobs
I had an aunt who passed away from colon cancer. By the time her cancer was detected, it had spread and had become inoperable and there was nothing they could do to save her. I often wonder if the outcome could have been different if the cancer had been detected sooner.
No, breast cancer does not "impact" one in eight women every year. If that factoid were true 12.5% of the population of women would be newly diagnosed with breast cancer every 365 days. And in less than 20 years over 90% of all women would have breast cancer. Does anyone honestly believe that 90% of all women will have breast cancer by the year 2031?
It's not even correct to state that breast cancer will strike one woman in eight over the course of her lifetime. The often cited, "one in eight" statistic, which is used to frighten women and bully them into lining up for annual mammograms, is based on the assumption that every woman will live to age 80. This assumption is obviously false since about half of all women die of various causes before their 80th birthday.
Brian Buck: "The best defense is early detection, which is why mammograms and regular checkups are so important...."
Sorry, but you are wrong again. Early detection is not the panacea the breast cancer industry wants you to believe it is. In fact, its benefits are overstated and its risks understated. You would actually have to screen 1,000 forty-year-old women every year for ten years in order to "save" one woman's life. And this unnecessary overtesting leads to overdiagnosis and overtreatment which harms far more women medically, emotionally and financially than it ever helps.
That said, I did incorrectly state that 1 in 8 women per year are impacted, rather, it's 1 in 8 in their lifetime. Thank you for pointing out the error.
Regardless of your belief on how to detect or fight breast cancer, Olivia and many like her miss their mothers. If there is something we can agree on, hopefully it's that eliminating breast cancer is a worthy pursuit.
Eliminating breast cancer is a worthy pursuit. However, it does a grave disservice to six year old Olivia and every other American woman regardless of her age to continue to promote the fanciful myth that "the best defense is early detection."
As much as people would like to believe that screening mammograms save lives, research has proven it not only does not save lives -- it helps to destroy them. With early detection, for every one woman in a thousand whose life is saved, ten more women are needlessly diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy even though they do not have the disease.