Ellyn Davidson’s Weblog

In the past two days, I’ve taken a deep dive into the world of Twitter and I’m finding it hard to do much except dig through Twitter and look at articles that other people suggest.  And of course, I’ve searched breast cancer and my tweet deck is lined up with a gazillion messages on breast cancer.  In fact, every time one comes through I get a little tweet and can’t help but check.  Yikes.  I need to curb my addiction.  But I’m sure that will come with time–hopefully. 

One of the more interesting articles I’ve come across has to do with a tumor’s likeliness to metastasis (spread).  This is pretty important and critical information because if a tumor has no intention of metastasizing, then, once you take the tumor out, theoretically there’s no need for chemotherapy or radiation . . . and who wouldn’t want to avoid that?  On the flip side, some women with stage I breast cancer may actually need chemotherapy to avoid metastatic disease and this test could help predict that too.

Even more exciting is the possibility of a blood test that could predict metastatic breast cancer before a tumor forms—something that could be very useful to people with a strong family history of breast cancer.  If you want more of the technical details behind this news, check out this article. 

If you find any new and exciting research in the area of breast cancer, be sure to share it with me by posting a comment.  And more importantly if you have any suggestions on how to avoid getting sucked into your tweet deck, let me know that too.   

I’m anxious to hop on my treadmill for a quick walk—back in training mode.  But I’m even more anxious to share my excitement at the latest news coming out of Washington.  Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz along with Senator Amy Klobuchar announced legislation they will introduce to educate young women (women under 40) about their risks of breast cancer.  In a TV interview, Debbie Wasserman Schultz talks about her own successful battle with breast cancer that included 7 surgeries over the course of the year. 

Ironically, she just told her children Saturday Night which made me chuckle a bit since there wasn’t anything my kids didn’t know.  I’m guessing if I was a Politician I might have kept my discussion about my new nipples to myself instead of posting on my Facebook status and blogging about them.  But I’m not and I did.  And now I’m digressing a bit. 

Representative Wasserman Schultz sums it up so well when she says that people don’t necessarily think about breast cancer under 40 (unless you have a family history and actually know you have one—unlike me).  Even Physicians don’t always look at breast cancer as a serious risk for women under 40 and often insurance companies don’t want to pay for diagnostic testing for women under 40.  So the plan for this bill is to change all of that with The Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act (EARLY Act) which would direct the CDC to implement a national education campaign directed at women under 40 and Physicians. 

This bill will truly save lives by making sure women understand their risks before they turn 40. Right now there are over 250,000 women under the age of 40 living with a breast cancer diagnosis.  Each year over 10,000 young women are diagnosed and 1,000 of them die.  It’s time to make sure everyone knows they are at risk for breast cancer regardless of their age.  Thank you my fellow survivor for helping us all through this battle. 

In the 2008 Breast Cancer 3-Day, my team of 25 walkers raised nearly $87,000.  I’m extremely proud of this accomplishment and even happier to know that our efforts are helping everyday in the fight against breast cancer.  But I do understand things have changed since September 2008.  Many people watched their retirement dollars sink; others lost their jobs and still others took significant pay cuts.   So raising money is no easy task these days.  I have friends who confidently signed up last year knowing that raising the money would be no problem.  These people are hesitant this year to even try and I completely understand that.  My hope is that my fundraising effort will collectively subsidize the Ta Ta Breast Cancer walker’s minimum donations and more importantly continue to help in the fight.  I can’t help but think about how much funding will decrease this year in the area of breast cancer and I can’t help but continue to do my part.  So, yes, I’m still asking for monetary donations even if they are significantly smaller.  Every dollar helps.  But my goal is to find other fundraising opportunities that don’t require people to spend additional dollars outside of their normal budget.  With that, I’ve created a list of current efforts:

·         I just came across the cutest website–Note Card Farm–for personalized note cards, address labels and gift stickers.  They make great gifts and I ordered a bunch for my kids and my family.  Best yet, I’ve worked out a Ta Ta Breast Cancer promotion where 10% of your purchase goes to my team.  So order some cute note cards or address labels and help support our team. 

·         I’ve written often about www.shoptoearn.net/breastcancer.  Please don’t forget to use this site.  It’s the best way to turn your everyday purchases into donations to breast cancer.  Once you are in the portal, check out 1-800-contacts, priceline.com, Meijer or hundreds of other great retailers.  For a huge selection of every imaginable organic product, click on shop to earth. 

·         If you live in Southeast Michigan, the hottest new salon in town is helping us. Salon Pavlina is a full service hair salon catering to both men and women. They also do manicures/pedicures, facials, waxing and make-up. They are located on Northwestern Highway and opened up this past October. If you’ve never been there before, call and make an appointment–let them know you heard about them through Ta Ta Breast Cancer and they’ll donate 30% of your first visit back to our team. Pavlina, Christina and the rest of the team are all great. Check out their website for more information http://salonpavlina.com/ or call 248-539-3500.

·         There is still two more weeks to purchase Annie Tickets for May 10 at 6:30.  I have main floor seats for $64 and balcony for $44 and a large portion of the ticket price comes back to our team. 

·         If you need your carpets, windows or gutters cleaned, call In-home Window Cleaning at 248-623-5858. Schedule a free estimate. If you hire them, make sure to mention Ta Ta Breast Cancer and 10% will come back to our team.

·         Visit TD Nails in Berkley, MI for manicures, pedicures, waxing or facials on Mondays and Tuesdays and mention Ta Ta Breast Cancer, 10% will come back to our team.

·         If you would like your very own Ta Ta Breast Cancer long-sleeved thermal, tank or short-sleeved shirt, go to Sprout in Royal Oak on Washington or send me an email at ellyndavidson@yahoo.com.

I am thankful for any support you can give in this fight.  Whether it’s supporting any one of our ongoing fundraisers or making a donation, your support is saving lives.  I know that first-hand and I’m tremendously thankful every day. 

Last Night, we had another great FORCE meeting and HoneyBaked provided food for us.  After the meeting, I sent a thank you to our HoneyBaked contacts and realized that the letter was worth sharing on a broader scale. 

Dear Wendy and Geoff,

Thank you so much for providing the delicious HoneyBaked food last night.  The meeting was fantastic and each time I have one of these meetings, I realize the true power of FORCE and the importance of the ongoing success of this organization.  Here’s a few highlights. 

One woman attended the meeting with tears in her eyes.  As a young child, she watched her mother die of breast cancer.  She lost her father to Crones Disease and a brother to a heart attack.  She is 33 years old, unmarried with not one single family member.  Completely alone in this world except for some friends.  A week ago, she found out she has the BRCA mutation giving her an up to 85% lifetime risk of breast cancer.  She is prepared to have a bilateral mastectomy but her friends think she is absolutely crazy.  The first place she found was the FORCE message board and after posting her story, she got returned messages from perfect strangers who told her they were there for her and completely supported her.  The same thing happened in the meeting last night and she walked out feeling stronger, happier and more positive about her decision.

There was another young woman there with her sister, mother and father.  She started her battle with cancer in July and is in the reconstruction phase of her breasts.  She is very uncomfortable right now and worried about the final result.  After the meeting, we went in the bathroom and I was able to show her what her breasts will look like when she is done.  She gave me a huge hug, thanked me, and walked away so much happier.  Her sister (BRCA also) has not had cancer but spent the entire meeting with tears in her eyes.

A third woman also lost her mother and most of her family members to breast and ovarian cancer.  She has two young children and intends to see them grow up.  She is currently battling with her insurance company to cover preventative screenings.  The genetics counselors in the room stepped up to tell her that they will write letters of medical necessity to get her screenings covered.  She had no idea that they would take care of this for her.  We also were able to share that prophylactic surgeries are covered by insurance–most people had no idea. 

 These are just three of the stories.  There were more and this is just one meeting in one area.  I read the message boards and know the stories go on and on.  Without funding, FORCE cannot continue. 

 In addition, I know that FORCE is 100% looking out for me and my risk factors.  They are the ones making sure that research continues in the hereditary cancer and this is so incredibly important to people like me with the BRCA gene.  I intend to live the rest of my life free of all cancers.  And I credit FORCE for making my life better in this way.

I thank you from the very bottom of my heart for what you are doing for my organization!  I am telling the world about HoneyBaked!!!  I am sending my friends and family your way, blogging about you and announcing you to my Facebook friends.  I’m asking them to do the same. 

I wish you much success always and hope this campaign is tremendously successful for all of us!

Sincerely,

Ellyn

I’m not much of a ham eater.  In fact, I think the only time I ever ate ham was in a sandwich marked turkey and I was convinced it was just very pink turkey.  It really doesn’t have anything to do with my religious beliefs—even though I am Jewish and I grew up in a house that didn’t eat ham or any other pork products.   Despite this, my new favorite company is HoneyBaked.  If you clicked on the link, you may have already discovered why.  If you haven’t, let me explain.  A short while ago, 51 HoneyBaked stores in 7 states including Michigan decided to support the fight against breast cancer—this alone puts any company at the top of my list.  But, HoneyBaked went one step further and supported my absolute favorite organization, FORCE.  Not only are they donating money to FORCE, they are promoting awareness of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.  So here I come HoneyBaked and hopefully my readers will join me too.  Help support this company that is helping support me and so many others!  And if you don’t eat ham, they’ve got lots of other great food.  Make sure to check out their website where you can order online, print some coupons and view their catering menu.  Thanks again HoneyBaked!   

My nipples are tattooed and my breasts are completed.  It was pretty uneventful.  Dr. Sherbert numbed me just in case I have any feeling.  Since I felt the needle and I did get a little light-headed, I’m guessing I do have feeling so numbing was a smart idea.  After that, Annette (the tattoo artist) and I chatted about color.  She took a look at my pre-op pictures and we talked about my original nipple color.  We settled on a color and she went to work.  Now I’m home with some saran wrap on my nipples feeling pretty decent (other than the start of another cold).  Is winter almost over?

Tomorrow’s another big day—tatoo day.  I trust these will be the only tattoos I ever get on my body.  It will be exactly 18 months to the day from my mastectomy to completion of my breasts.  I must admit I took it slowly—I’m sure others finish the process much quicker.  But frankly I didn’t mind my faceless breasts and I don’t really care about the tattoos.  I’m sure in the long run though I’ll want my completed set so I might as well finish the job.  Wish I was bold enough to get butterflies, hearts or something else really cute on my breasts but I’ll just stick with plain old circles.  Hmmm.  I wonder what color suits me best.  I’ll report more tomorrow when I come home. 

I just got my huge shipment of Ta Ta Breast Cancer shirts–long sleeve, short sleeve, tanks in white, pink and blue.  I’ll be selling these soon.  In the meantime, my kids helped me with a photo shoot so I could show the new shirts off. 

I completely forgot about my very important 1 year anniversary today until my mom mentioned it to me.  It’s been exactly one year since I had my ovaries, tubes and uterus removed.  Anniversaries are always a good time to reflect (especially when you don’t forget about them).  So now that my mom jogged my memory, I was thinking how lucky I am. I’m in menopause but never reminded that I’m in menopause unless my friends are talking about their miserable periods, their crabbiness or buying tampons.  Wow.  I’m afraid to say I have no hot flashes – at least none that are bothersome, I sleep like a baby when I’m not writing blogs, working or watching stupid shows—like the bachelor.  Yes,  menopause has been good to me.  Is it Prozac? Not sure.  Whatever it is, I’m one happy camper.  If you are BRCA and worried about prophylactic surgeries causing bad menopause symptoms, there are some people that escape them all together and just enjoy the positive benefits.  Hopefully you’ll be one of them too.