For Mom...

My mother was a force of nature.

Growing up with four older brothers, I was her only daughter and the youngest child, so she spent a lot of time making sure I was getting the positive attention I needed. I played plenty of GI Joe with the guys, but mom would take me with her when she volunteered at the YMCA childcare. She wasn’t just a mom to me, but to so many other kids as well. She loved everyone.

I can’t say I always understood her as a teenager, and I had more than my fair share of rebellious fits. Regardless of what I said or did, she was always there for me.

It wasn’t until after Christmas in 2001 that she, with dad sitting there trying not to cry, was sick. We knew that she had leg problems but many of us thought it was from when she broke her leg hiking in Oregon. It had been very bad and she had a slight limp ever since.

It wasn’t a break, it was something worse. Much worse.

Her voice breaking, she told us about a recent appointment she had with her doctor before the Thanksgiving. She had known for a while, but she had convinced dad not to ruin the holidays with the news. She wanted to wait.

She had cervical cancer.

It was an advanced case, according to the doctor. A biopsy of her cervix alerted them, but then an excision procedure confirmed it and had Stage IIIB, the cancer spreading from her pelvis.

I blinked. I couldn’t imagine that this woman, the kind of woman I had always wanted to be, could be stricken like this. I knew that I would be there for her the same way she was with me when I was growing up. No matter what happened, I would be there for her.

I moved in and for the next five years I helped out when I could, but I watched that disease eat away at her.

She passed away in May 2005 at home.

It’s so hard to write this, but I promised myself that I would. That I would do this for mom, write about our experience and hopefully raise the level of awareness for other women – I wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone else if I could help it.

Champion Awareness...

It is so vitally important that all women begin to take the issue of cervical cancer seriously. The issue isn’t just about awareness its about making sure that research is taking the correct steps forward to combat this awful disease that 35% of American women who contract it, more than 4,600.

Cervical cancer will kill nine women per 100,000 worldwide and is considered the fifth most deadly cancer.

It’s only through educating ourselves and others; by pushing our lawmakers and Congress to allocate more federal aid to cervical cancer research will this horrible affliction finally be eradicated.

I urge you to not just read this website but allow it to educate and arm you so that you can help others and donate research efforts that may save lives one day.

The life you save may very well be your own.