Happy 30th ~ Love, Cancer: St. Baldricks Foundation Event

Saturday - March 8th - Let The Shave Begin!

What an event!!! And I was so happy to be apart of it. The turn out was amazing, as you can see from the photos and I couldn't be more proud to be apart of such a great fundraiser. Our small group of 10 raised over $4000 and the event alone, at the Boise Knitting Factory, raised over $130,000 for Child Cancer Research. A- Mazing! Currently the statistics show that only 4% of cancer research funding goes to children. There is a major funding GAP http://www.stbaldricks.org/filling-the-funding-gap/. If cancer research is near and dear to your heart - raise money for local events. If any research or cause is dear to your heart - raise money for LOCAL events. I cannot stress that enough! I have learned so much over the past month and want to share whatever I can when it comes to cancer - Hence, my blog!

Cancer is the #2 killer in the United States and will affect over 1/2 of all Americans in their life time. Frankly, after going through this process thus far, I feel they only want to keep us "sick". The Pharmaceutical business makes over $125 BILLION dollars off of cancer "treatments" a year. Why on earth would they want to cure us??? The thought of all of this makes my blood boil, to be honest and I could sit here and get on my soap box all day long on this topic. But at the end of the day, nothing will change. A movement of people could not force the pad lock off the cancer cure door but instead we all rise up in support and raise research funding the best we can until there's "too much cure" that they cannot hide it from us any longer. That is my hope!

I remember in the beginning when I had 20+ doctors visits; tests, scans, surgeries, classes, etc. how scary and interesting this whole process was. But to a child, I cannot imagine. I remember going in for my IV Port surgery and biopsy with the machines and injections that I had to go through that day... the one thought that got me through, was that there are children my son's ages who go through this exact ordeal and how scary that must be for them. They have to be stuck in the same huge machines that I do and poked and probed constantly like I was. If THEY can do it - I can do it! Being up on stage and having the announcer tell my brief story and why my head was getting a "touch up" was awesome and emotional. I choked up and could have balled like a baby! But sitting in front of me were several children going through chemo - I had to keep it together ... but not without dropping the F bomb once. Oh my goodness how mortifying that was however I don't think they heard with all of the hustle and bustle going on! My partner in crime on stage was Brenda, a friend I had met through my co-worker, and she had brought me onto her team "Bigger Than Baldness". She shaves her head every year in honor of her sister who had cancer. It was an experience I will never forget!