Breast Cancer Awareness Knit-A-Long
Although Breast Cancer Awareness Month was officially last month, the subject continues to be heavy on my mind and heart. If you've been following this blog, you know that I I'm just recovering from breast cancer scare... I even have the scars and bruises from a bilateral lumptectomy to prove it. But I was one of the very lucky ones, my biopsies came back benign.
Nonetheless, while I can't say that I know first-hand the challenges of facing breast cancer, I do know the fear that surrounds the very thought of it. During my ordeal over the past few months, I've realized that there are many many resources available for women who need them, as well as support for their family and friends. I have a deepened understanding of the need for regular breast self-exams and annual mammograms for women over 40 or in high risk groups. I have discovered that many women that I know have been touched by breast cancer - either themselves or their loved ones - and new and/or deeper friendships are developing as a result. Most importantly, I know that there is much that needs to be done, and there is no shortage of opportunities to encourage and support those who are fighting it, celebrate its survivors, and support efforts to find a cure.
Take my friend Paige, for example, who recently cut her nearly waist-length hair in order to donate it to Locks of Love, an organization that provides wigs for women who've lost their hair during chemo... or Lois, who spearheads a local knitting group that knits chemo caps and other items for cancer patients. Then of course, there are my girlfriends (5 of them), who brought food, gifts, flowers, essential oils, a cherished hankerchief, a beautiful poem about Faith, a book of daily devotions, and of course their company both before and after my surgery. They laughed with me, they cried with me, they knit with me. They were and continue to be there for me.
So now it's my turn. I believe this experienced happened to me for a reason, and I'm determined to find some small way to make a difference because of it. One of the first things I'm doing is joining Think Pink a breast cancer awareness knit-a-long. I'm planning to knit some chemo caps for the Cancer Center at the hospital where I was treated, as well as encouraging the ladies in my church knitting ministry to do the same. I also want to use this forum to remind people to do their monthly BSEs and to tell-a-friend.
If you're interested, be sure to check out the Think Pink site.
FYI - Here are the links to some sites that offer free patterns for chemo caps:
http://www.headhuggers.org/
http://www.pillarsofhope.org/favorite_pattern.html
http://www.3gcs.com/adcock/free%20patterns/chemohat.htm
http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/chemo_cap-scarf.html
http://www.chemocaps.com/page3.htm
http://www.martaschmarta.com/chemocap.htm
Nonetheless, while I can't say that I know first-hand the challenges of facing breast cancer, I do know the fear that surrounds the very thought of it. During my ordeal over the past few months, I've realized that there are many many resources available for women who need them, as well as support for their family and friends. I have a deepened understanding of the need for regular breast self-exams and annual mammograms for women over 40 or in high risk groups. I have discovered that many women that I know have been touched by breast cancer - either themselves or their loved ones - and new and/or deeper friendships are developing as a result. Most importantly, I know that there is much that needs to be done, and there is no shortage of opportunities to encourage and support those who are fighting it, celebrate its survivors, and support efforts to find a cure.
Take my friend Paige, for example, who recently cut her nearly waist-length hair in order to donate it to Locks of Love, an organization that provides wigs for women who've lost their hair during chemo... or Lois, who spearheads a local knitting group that knits chemo caps and other items for cancer patients. Then of course, there are my girlfriends (5 of them), who brought food, gifts, flowers, essential oils, a cherished hankerchief, a beautiful poem about Faith, a book of daily devotions, and of course their company both before and after my surgery. They laughed with me, they cried with me, they knit with me. They were and continue to be there for me.
So now it's my turn. I believe this experienced happened to me for a reason, and I'm determined to find some small way to make a difference because of it. One of the first things I'm doing is joining Think Pink a breast cancer awareness knit-a-long. I'm planning to knit some chemo caps for the Cancer Center at the hospital where I was treated, as well as encouraging the ladies in my church knitting ministry to do the same. I also want to use this forum to remind people to do their monthly BSEs and to tell-a-friend.
If you're interested, be sure to check out the Think Pink site.
FYI - Here are the links to some sites that offer free patterns for chemo caps:
http://www.headhuggers.org/
http://www.pillarsofhope.org/favorite_pattern.html
http://www.3gcs.com/adcock/free%20patterns/chemohat.htm
http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/chemo_cap-scarf.html
http://www.chemocaps.com/page3.htm
http://www.martaschmarta.com/chemocap.htm
posted by Syd at
4:42 PM
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