As those of you who follow my blog know, I try to write each day about the lessons I am learning in my life.\u00a0 Those who know me well know that I also don\u2019t believe in coincidences in life. Rather, I firmly believe that things happen for a reason. So the events of today led me to believe that I should write today\u2019s blog on the subject of cancer.\u00a0 I know that sounds odd, but I can explain:<\/p>\n
I was invited several weeks back to take a seat on the Huntsman Cancer Foundation Executive Council.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have to think twice about whether to say yes to the request as I had a Grandmother and an Aunt who both had breast cancer and who have both passed away, which makes the cause of fighting cancer and researching to find a cure for cancer something near and dear to my heart.\u00a0 For those of you who are not as familiar with the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, it was founded by respected billionaire and philanthropist Jon Huntsman, Sr who lost his mother to cancer when he was young and it has grown to be a world-class premier Cancer Center. \u00a0This year alone the institute will provide over 100,000 cancer treatments.\u00a0 In addition they perform incredibly valuable research that is helping to better treat and hopefully someday eradicate cancer.\u00a0 Huntsman Cancer is a public charity and relies on the support of corporate donors and individuals to continue to expand their research and treatment centers, and I am honored to be able to help support such a worthy cause that helps so many in the world.\u00a0 Anyone interested in getting involved can visit www.huntsmancancer.org<\/a> to learn more.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great cause!<\/p>\n So, this morning happened to be the very first meeting of the Foundation Council, and here is what I found to be a \u201cnot-so-coincidence\u201d \u2013 This afternoon it just so happened that I also was scheduled to get my very first mammogram ever, to be screened for breast cancer.\u00a0 The two appointments were totally unrelated and it was just a crazy coincidence that they both ended up scheduled for the same day. Coincidence? Doubtful.\u00a0 So I decided the reason must be that I was supposed to write today\u2019s article on the importance of everyone going in for their cancer screenings!<\/p>\n Look, I am going to be open about the fact that I hate, and I don\u2019t often use the word hate, but I hate going to the Doctors.\u00a0 Nothing against Doctors but I will pretty much do anything to avoid having to go to them.\u00a0 I can\u2019t stand the waiting rooms, and the paperwork, and the white rolled out tissue paper they make you sit on as you climb on the table of doom, and the little gowns that tie in the front and never cover you up properly, and the big words that go way over our heads but we feel too embarrassed to ask for clarification from the doctor on, and the fact that I am too old to get a lollypop if I act like a good girl during my appointment.\u00a0 So yeah, I hate the whole experience.\u00a0 But the fact is that I am now 41 years old and I had never had a mammogram, even though I had been told I should since my 40th<\/sup> birthday.\u00a0 I avoided it like the plague.\u00a0 And then something happened.\u00a0 One day while researching for a talk I had to give I came across the blog of a young woman who was dying of cancer.\u00a0 As I read her blog I found myself completely sucked into her story and I read her past posts for hours.\u00a0 She shared how she had just gotten married when she went in for a doctor\u2019s visit and found out she had a mole that had turned to skin cancer.\u00a0 She shared her frustration that if she would have just gone to the doctor sooner they would have been able to treat it easily, but now it had progressed and was quite serious.\u00a0 I read of her two years of chemotherapy treatments, medications, nausea, weakness, hair loss, passing out, sadness, and tears.\u00a0 Then as I caught up to current I came to the final post by her husband letting everyone know that his wife had passed away.\u00a0 I cried my eyes out.\u00a0 Literally.\u00a0 All I could think about was the fact that early detection would have changed everything for her.\u00a0\u00a0 Early detection would have allowed her to remain in this life with her sweet husband and family.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t stand the thought of being that woman who someday would be writing a blog about \u201cif only I had gone in when I should have\u201d.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t do that to myself, my children, or my husband.\u00a0 As so I scheduled my mammogram.\u00a0 I dreaded it.\u00a0 I bemoaned it.\u00a0 But I did it.\u00a0 And the truth is that although it wasn\u2019t fun, it wasn\u2019t horrible either, and that hour of my life could potentially save the rest of my life.\u00a0 So I am proud that I did it and I am committed to doing it every year, along with having my moles checked and every other check for cancer detection.\u00a0 And I hope that by sharing my experience with you that even just one of you will take my message to heart and go and schedule that appointment you have been avoiding and dreading and putting off.\u00a0 DO IT!\u00a0 Don\u2019t let your fear or dread stop you from saving a life \u2013 YOURS!<\/p>\n Happy Day Everyone!\u00a0 Have a fantastic weekend\u00a0and please take care of yourself.\u00a0 Get your\u00a0Doctor’s Checkups! As those of you who follow my blog know, I try to write each day about the lessons I am learning in my life.\u00a0 Those who know me well know that I also don\u2019t believe in coincidences in life. Rather, I firmly believe that things happen for a reason. So the events of today led […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[168,500,46,63,856,864,855,860,163,863,51,7,30,29,857,862,859,858,296,865,35,861,363,125],"class_list":["post-2913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adversity","tag-appreciation","tag-attitude","tag-blessings","tag-breast-cancer","tag-breast-exam","tag-cancer","tag-cancer-foundation","tag-courage","tag-early-detection","tag-family","tag-future","tag-gift","tag-god","tag-huntsman","tag-huntsmancancer-org","tag-jon-huntsman","tag-jon-hutsman-sr","tag-lesson","tag-life-lesson","tag-love","tag-research","tag-treatment","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2913"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2919,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913\/revisions\/2919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n~Amy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"