Ellyn Davidson’s Weblog

That’s me one year ago today with my freshly shaved head.  And here I am today with a full head of hair.  My 2 year old took today’s picture which was an interesting experience but it was fun to see the difference in my head.  I was feeling good that day once my hair was finally shaved–I remember the feeling like it was yesterday.  But I’m much happier with hair on my head today.  Hope you enjoy the little things!

I should start off this blog post by saying I know it’s a really bad time to be fundraising for anything but I finally found some time to start focusing on FORCE.  I also need to say that I did mention in a previous entry that I wouldn’t ask for money and I would only plan fundraisers but I sort of changed my mind.  Some of you may just want to support my fundraisers and that’s totally great.  However, if you have a few extra dollars (that you didn’t invest in the stock market) and want to put it towards an organization that helps so many people with so little funding, please feel free to make a donation of any size.  I would be very grateful. I should also mention that in the early spring (maybe even late winter), I’ll start fundraising and working on growing my 3-day team too.  Other than that, I promise not to ask anyone for anything else.  Maybe. 

I’m very excited about my first fundraiser for FORCE.  For those of you who live in the Detroit area, it’s at High Wire Girls at 32799 Woodward Avenue North of 14 Mile Road on December 2 from 7-9:30.  They have great gifts, great price points and I’m bringing some wine.  So please join me.  10% of all the purchases will go directly to FORCE and they’ll also have a raffle and some other fun purchase incentives.  I’m working on some other great fundraisers too so if you can’t make this one, maybe you can join me for another. 

On another note, I got an email from an old friend of mine who wanted to let me know about something she is doing to raise money for Gilda’s Club in honor of her friend who was just diagnosed with breast cancer.  Of course, her friend is another young mother who’s turning 35 next month and just started chemo.  I haven’t had the chance to talk to her but I did pass on my Sex and the City DVD set that I so enjoyed during my post chemo haze.  Anyways, Ally from Frameable Faces is donating 15% of all her sales during the month of November to Gilda’s Club in her friend’s honor.  Be sure to check out her great work on her website.  So there’s one more way you can support a cancer cause and show your support for all the young mothers diagnosed with this disease. 

Thanks for continuing to support me!

Breast Cancer awareness month is still in full force.  There are pink lids on Yoplait yogurt, pink vacuums at Target and reminders all around us that breast cancer is a serious issue.  I remember this month so well prior to having breast cancer.  I looked at it as an outsider and felt sad for those touched by the disease.  But I never thought I would be one of them.  It never occurred to me that I should be really serious about breast self-exams.  So, frankly, I never really did them.  And many of my blog readers know how my story goes.  I seriously hope that those of you who know me and have my been reading my blog no longer take breast self-exams lightly.  Even if you do not have a family history, you can get breast cancer.  You do not need to be overweight to get breast cancer.  You do not need to smoke to get breast cancer.  Yes.  Those things increase your risk.  In my case, I did have a family history.  And while it felt distant, it really wasn’t.  My inherited genetic mutation caused my breast cancer.  But the key is I did not know it existed.  So my message to all of you women is do breast self-exams monthly.  Be diligent about your health screenings.  Be your own health advocate!  1 in 8 of us will get breast cancer.  Let’s make sure to catch it at the earliest possible stage.  And let’s keep working so that our children and our children’s children will not have to think about a 1 in 8 statistic.

I’ve added a small selection of the 382 pictures that my dad took during our walk weekend.  Pretty amazing since he didn’t even walk.  Everywhere we turned, there he was.  Thanks dad for recording our wonderful weekend.

I love October.  The leaves are changing.  Soccer season is in full gear.  Apple orchards are open and people are decorating their house for Halloween.  This is the first October I can really sit back and appreciate.  Three years ago, I was in the first trimester of my last pregnancy trying to stay awake and eat enough food to curb nausea.  Two years ago, I moved out of my house in October to start a complete renovation on my current house.  And last year, I started chemo.  This year, I can simply enjoy the month of October.  And this year, I have one more reason to enjoy this month–the world becomes a sea of pink and everyone around me is raising money to fight breast cancer.  It’s a reminder of how many people are touched by this disease and how many people are so passionate about finding a cure.  Everywhere you turn, there are people donating percentages of their proceeds to breast cancer.  I could seriously go broke buying the mass of pink products out there.  I feel like this month is one big celebration of all the breast cancer survivors out there. I’m one of them celebrating, standing tall, appreciating life and hoping that we can stop fighting soon and say goodbye to breast cancer forever.  Hope you all enjoy this month with me!

As breast cancer awareness month launched 2 days ago, Dr. Susan Love and the Avon Foundation launched the army of women.  This is a ground breaking initiative aimed at partnering women with researchers.  They need 1,000,000 women of all ages and ethnicities, and these women will have a part in finding a cure.  Read more and sign up today.