Saturday, February 02, 2008

Important Matters

Hello to all, and thank you for all of your kind words and support throughout the last month. I am now eight months pregnant and still feeling pretty good - although I am feeling more and more eager to deliver this baby. I wouldn't wish it too soon, though. Despite all the discomforts I am now experiencing, every moment will be well worth the healthy beautiful baby we get to hold in the end.

I continue to do some writing - a few press releases and some articles here and there. I have found that at this stage, I am enjoying the slower writing pace. It gives me time to prepare for the baby, but yet keeps me writing here and there, which also helps to pass the time.

But what I want to write about right now, I think is so much more important than how I am feeling, or what I am doing with my time until baby comes. I want to write about Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC).

My good friend, Betsy, has a blog. Perhaps some of you have checked it out, maybe not. Regardless of that, I have found a blog through hers that has moved me to tears. The blog is called Toddler Planet. It is about one woman's struggle with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. I have visited Susan's site from time to time, and always leave inspired - inspired by her strength, courage, determination, and her goal to inform others of what IBC is and how to detect it.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer is not the typical breast cancer that we, as women, get educated about at our yearly gynecological visits (if you don't get a yearly exam, then you should seriously make the time to do so!). IBC is the most aggressive form of breast cancer there is and it is not detectable by a mammogram. IBC presents as sheets of cancer (or nests, as doctors refer to it)rather than lumps. What's worse is that doctors often mistake it for bug bites, or infections and try treating it with antibiotics. It is so aggressive that early detection is important for successful treatments. IBC knows no age boundaries. You can be a victim at 16 or at 76.

Here are a couple links that provide wonderful information about what it is, and how to detect it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEP5zY9rRao&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llBNfFaT0mw&feature=related

I am glad I stumbled upon Susan's site because I had never even heard of this condition, which is also known as "The Silent Killer." This lack of information seems to be the recurrent theme of all the victims who have had and are suffering from this disease. If you are reading this post please take a moment to view the videos I linked to. Women, inform yourselves and girlfriends. Men, inform your wives, mothers, and all the women you care about. Maybe you will save a life. Maybe it will be your own.

Hey, and if you have a spare moment, and are in need of some inspiration, stop by Toddler Planet and see what an amazing woman Susan is!

6 comments:

Matthew C. Keegan said...

Lisa, good to "read" about you again! My prayer is that you will have a smooth childbirth and that the next time you blog, you'll have the new baby in your arms (at least put him/her down first as blogging and baby holding can be difficult to do! ;-) )

Anyway, thanks for the IBC information -- I will explore further.

Lisa Vella said...

Thanks so much, Matt! As usual, it's always a pleasure to see that you keep up with my blog - probably more often than I do these days! That will change though. I plan to come back to my writing focused blog eventually.

I'll bet you know lots about blogging and baby holding at the same time, don't you? Twins, right?

Well, you take care and I hope to see you soon in the blogosphere!

Lisa

Betsy Henning said...

Thank you Lisa for lending your own articulate voice to alert readers about IBC. Blogging has been an effective tool in getting the word out. 3 Cheers for Susan going public in an all out effort to help others. 3 cheers for all of us who have done our part to keep the message going through those we (figuratively) rub elbows with through the blogosphere.

God Bless You! Betsy

Michele | aka Raw Juice Girl said...

How touching, Lisa! I never knew this existed...

Thanks for sharing it with us.

~Michele

Matthew C. Keegan said...

Lisa, no our boys are six months apart -- we adopted them separately when very young.

I got started blogging after the boys were older (now 8 and 7) and can't imagine blogging with babies around!

Let us know how this works for you -- we won't mind seeing spit up on your pages!

;-)

Robin said...

Lisa, Thank you for the information! It was very useful. I have bookmarked the links on my computer. Congrats on your pregnancy! Robin