Bridget

Melinda Mae
By: Shel Silverstein
Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae,
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would,
So she started in right at the tail.
And everyone said, “You’re much too small,”
But that didn’t bother Melinda at all.
She took little bites and she chewed very slow,
Just like a good girl should…
…And in eighty-nine years she ate that whale
Because she said she would!
____________________________________________
I work hard and play hard too.
My drink of choice is a Margarita- sugar, no salt.
I am a total yoga fiend, and I am trying my hand at hip hop class. Although I have found I can't shake it as well as I thought I could- SADNESS.
But that's the surface stuff:
I am a Stage 4 Cancer Survivor.
I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer at 21, just one week after my graduation from Boston University.
Doctors told me I was "too young" for breast cancer. I wasn't sent for a mammogram for several months after I first found the lump in my left breast.
By the time someone finally paid attention, my cancer had travelled to my liver. I was given a 20% chance of living ten years.
I will always live with this tumor in my liver. The chemo got rid of all the cancer in my breast, but once cancer has spread it really becomes difficult to treat. I will always be in chemotherapy and all because I was not sent for a mammogram! It is heartbreaking.
I have finally come to terms with my diagnosis though! I realize I needed to learn how to live with cancer, and make cancer a positive part of my life. I put my life on hold in the beginning of this cancer journey, but now I have turned a corner and decided to make every year count!
I have thrown myself into cancer advocacy. In this age of Mammograms, Ultrasounds and MRIs no woman should ever be diagnosed in the final stages of cancer. The doctors bumbling of my case is an outrage!
To raise awareness, I have done something totally crazy. I am walking 60 miles in one weekend this October in Washington DC. My mother and I are walking together to celebrate my 25th birthday! If you'd like to join me, register today for the Breast Cancer 3-Day benefitting Susan G. Komen for the Cure at www.The3Day.org
For those of you in the Boston area, I am involved with a Boston-area non-profit called Thrive. Our goal is to decrease the sense of isolation that comes with a breast cancer diagnosis under the age of 40. Unlike most other support organizations, we meet over dinner in our living rooms to chat about life. Our issues can be cancer-related, but often we talk about the usual trials and tribulations of being young and establishing a new life. We'd love to have you join us!
My greatest accomplishment thus far, is being chosen to serve on Susan G Komen for the Cure's National Young Women's Advisory Council. I represent the interests of young women as Komen awards grants for research and education.
Please check out my causes. Take today and learn something!
www.the3day.org
www.komen.org
www.thrivetogether.org
www.youngsurvival.org
Myspace Layouts - Flowers Myspace Layouts
Myspace Codes - Myspace Generators - Myspace Backgrounds