Square ladies...I need your paragraphs.

lindaprocopio said:

Do you have an example so we know what to write?
I am so honored to be included in this! I can't seem to get started writing the text, though. Would you have an example you could share of what you want that would help me stop procrastinating & feel more confident about what you're looking for? Thanks!

TeaLurker said:

Echoing MK_4Dani
May we still submit a square if we send it via priority mail?

My relatives in your area would also like to buy raffle tickets, if that is still possible.

(I haven't been able to lurk for several weeks, so my apologies if I missed any other posts about this.)

leesag said:

Square Paragraph
My name is Leesa Green. I am 46 years old, I was diagnosed in 2010, Stage IIIC. After 8 months of NED, my ovarian cancer become one of the very rare cases of direct brain metastasis. I used to define myself as a mother, wife, and teacher. Now I have to add, Ovarian Cancer and Brain Tumor Survivor. I'm proud to be all of those things. They each have challenges and rewards. While I would not have chosen to be a cancer survivor, my life has new meaning because of it. I have made many wonderful new friends whose strength both awes and inspires me. I have learned the value of family and friends and the waste of time in small disagreements.

My family has risen to the challenge and surrounded me with love and support. My friends who have stuck with me are awesome. I can call any time day or night to discuss my fears and anxiety with them. Some things you just can't share with family. They have all been with me every step of the way.

I would not have chosen this path, but now that I'm on it, I plan to do what I've always done. I'll look for beauty and hope wherever it can be found. So far, I've found in my family, my friends and the Teal Warriors of CSN and Inspire. God Bless Us and help us find a cure.



(Is this okay Carlene?)

lindaprocopio said:

After putting it off, I lifted heavily from my bio here...
It's harder to write abbout yourself than it is to write about anything else! So I paraphrased most of this from my bio here, just to make myself stop procrastinating & get this done. It's such a honor to be included; the least I can do is get my part done. Here's what I came up with:

At 55, I was always ridiculously healthy, always ate a high fiber organic diet and went to the gym almost daily, never overweight, never sick, religious about my annual check-ups since that was the only time I ever saw a doctor. So imagine my shock when, with absolutely NO symptoms of any kind, I had a 'highly suspicious' routine PAP test in July 2008. That led to a series of biopsies, ultrasound, D&C radical hysterectomy and staging October 10, 2008, and was diagnosed as Stage III-c with an highly aggressive grade 3 cancer. & PAPs don't typically hint of this type of cancer, so that was a LUCKY break for me!!

For rest of 2008 and half of 2009, I did chemotherapy followed by 28 rounds of pelvic radiation and 3 rounds of vaginal cuff internal radiation. I enjoyed 5 blissful months of remission that included a week-long 'Camp Grandma' sleepover, a week at the beach with my children and grandchildren, and a 2-week trip to Greece, Turkey, & Italy with my husband. Unfortunately, we cancer metastasized in my lymph nodes in the fall of 2009. A chemo regime of dense dose taxol brought me back into a brief remission, and then we tried 3 other chemo drug combinations throughout 2010 and early 2011, but by now my cancer had mutated into something that seems un-killable, and had metastasized to my liver. The blessing of all this chemo is that I had no side effects other than baldness and fatigue and enjoyed an excellent quality of life throughout the endless chemo attempts. In the summer of 2011, we switched to tamoxifen/megace to try and hold me stable, and an experimental Sir-Spheres radioembolism treatment, and that seems to have knocked back the liver mets and bought me some time. The trick is to find something that will buy you enough time until the next new treatment comes along!

I have wonderful support from my family and friends. I do a tremendous amount of research on my cancer, and on the drugs I am prescribed or that I learn others with similar cancers are taking, and I actively advocate with my oncologists for aggressive treatments. I make myself eat right, sleep a lot, and stay on top of good bowel function, and I try to maintain a positive attitude. I have continued to work every day until recently when I gave the last shares of our family business to my sons, and that has been very therapeutic. I live in the "now" with much joy. Facing your own mortality is a GOOD thing. Everyone should realize that every day is precious and that love is to be expressed and shared openly.

kayandok said:

Yes,
that is a great idea.

I also think that if a picture is taken of the finished quilt and made into a poster, it would sell. You could charge double what it costs to print it at Kinko's or whereever. Not sure if anyone is up to doing this, but I would definitely buy one and frame it for my wall.

kathleen

kayandok said:

Yes,
that is a great idea.

I also think that if a picture is taken of the finished quilt and made into a poster, it would sell. You could charge double what it costs to print it at Kinko's or whereever. Not sure if anyone is up to doing this, but I would definitely buy one and frame it for my wall.

kathleen