Bouncing the Ball, Traveling Book, 
FORCE Conference

 and Exciting News!

Well, when I first started to write this edition on the Traveling Book I was thinking I had dropped the ball on keeping everyone up to date on the book and its whereabouts.  But the more I thought about it, it is more like bouncing the ball then dropping it!  I have been so busy speaking, traveling, working on some exciting news and keeping up with everything else that I think it is more precise to say that I have been bouncing the ball from place to place and not really dropping it.  Which although I am very blessed to stay busy and doing what I like with the book and my company, I will try and promise not to have such a lengthy delay in the future.  As for the book, it has not stopped but has been traveling to some new and wonderful places and all of those will be address, so stayed tuned for Peru, Italy, New York, and several other places it has traveled and the amazing people it has met!

As for now, where to start to catch you all up?

FORCE Conference.....

 

I will start with Florida and the incredible FORCE Conference that I was asked to attend and had the honor of speaking at, a truly amazing adventure and this of course will lead me to the Traveling Book's next stop as well.

At the end of June, I had the honor of flying to Orlando, Florida to speak at the 2011 FORCE Conference.  FORCE stands for Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered and address' the issue of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers as well as the BRCA Gene.  Here is the FORCE mission statement:

"FORCE was founded on the principle that no one should have to face hereditary breast and ovarian cancer alone. We are the only national non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by hereditary breast and ovarian cancer".

For just a bit more information on the BRCA Gene here is a excerpt from the FORCE website:

 

 

"BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the most common genes involved in hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Testing can be performed on either a blood or cheek swab sample to tell if a person has one of these BRCA mutations. This test does not detect whether a person has cancer or not; it indicates whether a person carries a change in one of these genes which can increase cancer risk".

 

 

For even more information please go directly to the website at www.FacingOurRisk.org or speak with your Doctor if you have any other concerns.

 

 

So now that you have a some information on what FORCE stands for and how they help to contribute to the knowledge of breast and ovarian cancers let me tell you about my journey in Florida.  The conference was amazing!  I have never been to such a well organized, well thought out and well put together conference.  Thanks to Sue Friedman the founder of FORCE for taking charge and helping so many men and women with this gene and these cancers.   In my time and my journey with cancer I have spoken to several groups; support groups, survivors, patients and supporters but this group was different.  This group was not only survivors, but men and women, Moms and Dads, husbands and wives and friends who carried the gene, the BRCA gene who were there to find out information on how to help themselves, their families, their loved ones and others.  I spoke to women who were there to make a decision on preventative surgeries meaning planning a mastectomy or hysterectomy in order to prevent having the gene and the prognoses of the gene giving them this disease that had already effected their families.  What a huge decision.  There is a difference when you are faced with the disease and have no choice in the outcome and surgeries, but to be young and trying to face the possibility that cancer will strike and taking preventative measures is hugely different and effects every aspect of your life.  For example having children, changing your bodies, living your life with the changes to name a few.  My hat is off, my heart is open and I stand in honor of these brave men and women making such tough decisions for their futures.  With this background, I want to share that I was there as the comic relief so to speak.  The break away session that they could come to in order to finds a little humor, a little inspiration and a break for the amazing information they received at this event!

My session was entitled "Mental Makeovers & Savvy Insights" and I touched on how strong we really are in our lives from the very beginning and how we sometimes forget that when the next big challenge comes along and I had an amazing group of women in attendance.  For an hour and a half, we laughed, we cried and we shared!  I thought I was there to help them but really they helped me.  They made me see that we all need to remember, need to realized that we are so blessed for the breaths we take each day and how we can find strength, courage, camaraderie and humor in even the darkest situations.

 

Even my Cheerleaders where there to help!

I came away from this weekend not only with a new me, a renewed strength and a renewed belief that if I can share my story and if just one person comes away with something that helped I have done my job, I have played it forward, I can sleep well.  And I made some wonderful new friends!  Life is good!



Debbie & I relaxing at the end of the day...

After the conference I did get to relaxed and joined my life-long friend Marion in the Florida Keys!  Wonderful to see her, wonderful, wonderful time!  And get to relax in the beautiful Florida waters!  Again....Life is good!

Now the Traveling Book......

Port Jefferson Station, New York

Joan & Mae

As I mentioned, at the conference I met some amazing people and one of them was Joan Perrin.  Joan was amazing!  Fun, funny, interesting and a twin!  Joan and her twin Mae along with the rest of their family has been touched by cancer and the BRCA Gene.  Joan and Mae have celebrated their 60th Birthday and are blessed by this fact as it was a bit of a road to get there.  Twelve years ago Joan was diagnosed with Stage 3 Peritoneal/Ovarian Cancer, she then found out that her cousin was diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer and other cousins had been diagnosed and were positive for the BRCA gene.  Shortly after finding out this information Joan and Mae were tested, both positive,  and just a short year later Mae was diagnosed with Peritoneal Cancer.  As if this wasn't enough in 2005 Joan was diagnosed with breast cancer, followed shortly by her twin Mae.  Through all of this Joan was incredibly positive and just a joy to meet and I would like you to hear for yourself just how positive she is:

 

"This past July, my twin and I turned 60, a wonderful milestone considering our medical history.  We became involved with FORCE, an organization for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer.  This past June we attended our second FORCE Conference, where I had the pleasure of attending a session led by Regina Savage. I shared with her my dream of publishing an anthology of humorous poems that I wrote as my way of coping with my cancer and chemo.  We both agreed that laughter is the best way to deal with it.  Mae and I were happy to sign the Traveling Book, and send it on it's way".

What amazing women!!  To stand tall in the face of defeat and survive is truly amazing, to stand tall and keep your positive, upbeat attitude and above all humor intact is truly inspirational!  Again, my hats off and truly my honor to meet such amazing women!  My heart is truly inspired and has lead me to the months following the conference to help move the book forward, to speak more and to do what I can to help and participate in paying it forward!

Before I end my story about Joan and Mae, I want to pay tribute to their cousin Lana.  I did not have the opportunity to meet Lana, but Joan has some amazing words that although Lana was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer 12 years ago was a constant bright light to Joan.  Sadly as Joan and I last spoke, Lana was not doing well and had been moved into hospice here are Joan's words:

"Lana is the strongest, bravest gal I know.  Her support was vital to my recovery.  I am hoping that she will be strong enough for Mae and me to visit.  I am heart sick about losing her. Lana told me, "Don't say that I lost my battle with cancer, because I really won.  I had 12 years, that the Doctor's said I wouldn't have.  I saw my daughter get married, and I became the grandma to three beautiful grandchildren."  See what I mean about how inspiring she is".

I love doing the stories of the Traveling Book, I love speaking to survivors and giving what little wisdom I can to help, but cancer is not always positive, not always a winning story and never easy to deal with.  Cancer is a disease that in the last several years has touched us all whether it be a friend, a co-worker, a family member, a loved one, a wife, sister, mother, daughter, brother, husband, partner or son and with this knowledge we are sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker, but hopefully always there for others! As for today and this story, we can learn from the strength these women have to see the positive at the end of the tunnel to stand together and to be grateful for the time we have, something we can all learn from and hopefully live by!

Two more items.....

Christmas Book Donation

The Christmas Book Donation is about to begin!  I am excited to host the 2nd Annual Christmas Book Donation Program where books can be purchased and $5 from each purchase will be donated to a charity of your choice and the book will be signed, gift wrapped and delivered to hospitals all over the US.  This year I will not only donate to a cancer charity which is FORCE that you just read about, but I will also donate to a community program that is a non-profit based in the UK named BigPinkHeart, we are currently working together to start their wonderful community programs over here, but also The Fisher House which is an amazing organization that helps families of our injured military be able to stay close to the hospital for free in order to be with their loved ones.  I wanted to do three charities as I believe cancer survivors will benefit from the book when they receive it so they are being helped along with FORCE.  Our community and our children always need help to promote positive attitudes, manners and respect such as BigPinkHeart's Mission.  And we all need to be proud of our military for fighting for our country and our lives and deserve, if they are injured, to have their families with them during this time. So stayed tuned as the information will go out shortly.

Next...

Quiet Angel Publishing, LLC has BIG News!

We are now publishing books!  QAP is now working on three inspirational books from the US and a series of children's books in the UK!  And you will want to  stay tuned for this as there is lots of exciting news that I will be telling you about shortly!!  So keep posted!!

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