#M8kingPinktoberProductive....Catch up with our tips #2-4 in this post :)

If you are just joining us...Welcome!!! I'd love for you to add your email to our "Follow by Email" link if you'd like to stay up to date with us! That's certainly the easiest way! :)

     Now, on to Pinktober! I have had many who want to follow me to keep up with the tips I'll be posting this month for AWARENESS of cancer. And no, these tips do NOT apply just to breast cancer, it just seems to be a good time to share them since the pink vomit has ensued ;) So, here are the tips #2-4 so that you can be all caught up :)

     Tip #2: Make them a cancer care notebook. This notebook continues to be instrumental in keeping my own records of everything organized, and it's a life saver to take to appointments and have a copy of everything right there in hand. "Can't remember when that scan was?? I know, let me check in my handy dandy notebook," said in the best Blues Clues voice I can muster 🤣 In the notebook should be dividers with pockets so that they can easily slide papers without holes into the pockets until they get home. Make sure the tabs include Diagnosis Info, Labwork, Scans, Appointment Notes, Meds, Radiation (if they will be having it), and AFTER Cancer. I'm telling you, you'll be one of their favorite people EVER for thinking of this!! 😊 *And as always, see the Pink, say a Prayer!

     Tip #3: Give them a ride to their next appointment. When you're going through cancer, there are MANY rides back and forth to your many appointments, and sometimes the quiet can be a little much for your brain ;) If you give them a ride, chances are they'll enjoy chatting a little bit about something other than their reality for the day :) *And as always, see the Pink, say a Prayer!

     Tip #4: To go along with tip #3, but for the ones that don't have a schedule conducive to actually taking the patient to an appointment, give them a gas gift card. Many patients have to travel MANY miles, one way, to get to a main cancer center. I mean, think about your own town. Do you have a main cancer campus in your town that can give treatments and appointments, or would you have to drive an hour or more too? It's the little expenses that not everyone thinks about adding up until they've been there, done that :) *And as always, see the Pink, say a Prayer!
#M8kingPinktoberProductive

Pinktober: Why Survivors don't always love the holiday & Tip #1

     Many have asked why many breast cancer survivors do not love Pinktober. "Afterall, it brings awareness to the very disease you beat, why would you not like it??" I certainly cannot speak for all of them, but I will tell you my thoughts/feelings on the subject. First of all, I believe the CONCEPT of Pinktober is great! Awareness is NEVER a bad thing for any topic. Wisdom is always needed, and cultivation of that wisdom is certainly Biblical. However, the concept has become, I believe, just another money maker for organizations that SAY proceeds go to research and cancer patients, but in actuality, it's such a small percentage that those who really need the help, those in the valleys of treatments and turmoil, don't actually get it. For example, when I was a patient in the trenches, I had numerous breast cancer research organizations call me asking for a donation that would go to helping breast cancer patients. I would tell them I was one of those very patients, tell of my gratefulness to them for what they were doing, and then ask where I could go for this "help," and do you know not one of them had an answer for me?? Not one. That was the beginning of many eye openers for my family in the "business" of breast cancer.
   
     Here's the thing, yes, we need to be aware, but we don't just need to be aware that breast cancer EXISTS, we need to be aware of the REAL PEOPLE who are dealing with the disease, and what exactly that entails for them. I assure you, my "awareness" of breast cancer NOW vs. 4 years ago, is significantly different, and I guess after going through the disease, it's sickening to me that anyone would use those sweet patients, and the struggle they are going through, to put more money in their own pockets. So, in a nut shell, that's why I cringe when I walk into stores and see their Pinktober displays asking for donations to help breast cancer patients.

     Now, on that same thought, my own daughter is the first one to point them out, "Look momma, it's pink just for you and your breast cancer!" And you know what, I'm proud she's aware and SEES them. It makes my heart jump to know that my daughter sees her momma's fight as a celebration, but here's where my family tries to guide that awareness and excitement for the color pink....into the PATIENTS who are fighting the dreaded disease, and not just in October even. Cancer doesn't really care what month it is, side note ;)

     I'm a big believer in not just whining about something, but also DOING something about it. So, for all those reasons, for the next month, I'm going to give real life ways that we can be a productive part of the concept of Pinktober, and make its need for existence more purposeful and a blessing to those who actually need it the most!! I'll try to pop an idea up everyday for celebration of Pinktober from a SURVIVOR'S point of view ;)

     Tip #1: If you would like to give monetarily, I can tell you with 100% certainty that a cancer patient could use a personal small monetary donation. If we sit all the scans, meds, medical supplies, and etc. bills to the side, and JUST look at specialty doctor copays for a cancer patient, they spend in those copays ALONE over $100 a week. Y'all, that is JUST in copays to see their doctors who are trying to save their lives. A must pay wouldn't you say? So, if you want to help monetarily, send a cancer patient a small check and tell them it's to cover a doctor's copay. If you don't know anyone, I have a few I could send you an address to, or you can go to the nearest cancer center and pay an amount on a stranger's bill. They won't be able to tell you the person's name, but it will certainly brighten that patient's day anyway when they are struggling to keep up with the expenses. I hope this helps you all understand a different side of Pinktober. It's certainly not the only side, and probably not the right side for some, but life experiences certainly create different viewpoints in one's life, and that is certainly what has happened for our family ;) Above all, ANYTIME you see the color pink, whether it be in October or not, please say a prayer for those who are fighting cancer!! That my friends, will do more for them than anything else in this world 😘 #M8kingPinktoberProductive #Plus1cancerfreeday