Just a few days ago, dad taught us how to play euchre and we’re having a blast playing family games in the evenings. We’ve played Rat-a-tat-cat, Ruckus,Life and many more great games! We’re having a great summer! Bayla and I are getting along very well. We went to a family reunion in Kingston on Sunday and we had a great time! So far I give our summer five stars!
Last week, I invited you to join me in my effort to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation by sponsoring me here.
In the 8 days since, you’ve raised over $2000!
Huge, huge thank yous to:
| Barbara Reid-Crysler Geoffrey Butler Bert and Rhoda Blevis Armeda Vanderwoude Wilf and Barb Clavette Clare Rogers Denise Doyen Garry and Kathi Tysick Stephanie Calmenson and Mark Goldman Carol Heyer Diane Greenseid Cathy Arneson Nancy Pevey Lane Smith and Molly Leach William Flanagan Orit Fruchtman Diane DeGroat Sally Ito Hugh Brewster Paul Zelinsky Tania Carriere & Gerry Gaetz Marla Frazee |
The Sinanan Family Carol Grannick Coreen Corcoran Rich Cantrell Patricia Kahn Sriram Venkatarman Stacey MacNevin Ebony Haywood Joan Buzick Tanglewood Books Mary Antolovich Jay Schmidt Daniele Rossi The Bonsall/Small Family Joanne Lennon Greg & Andree O’Donnell Betti Stiff Cher & Mo Willems The Giassa/Whammond Family Whitney and John Hoffman |
You rock!!
What generosity will the remaining 68 days of sponsorship bring?
Reconnecting.
Sharing this journey online has rewarded me with opportunities to connect with friends and relatives from the distant past.
Living this journey has rewarded me with the courage to face old fears, step beyond the comfort of keystrokes and into real-time, face-to-face encounters.
My life is so much richer as a result.
And it’s getting easier.
Lucky me.
Earlier this week, I invited you to join me in my effort to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation by sponsoring me here.
In the four days since, you’ve raised over one thousand dollars!
Huge, huge thank yous to:
The Sinanan Family
Carol Grannick
Coreen Corcoran
Rich Cantrell
Patricia Kahn
Sriram Venkatarman
Stacey MacNevin
Ebony Haywood
Joan Buzick
Tanglewood Books
Mary Antolovich
Jay Schmidt
Daniele Rossi
The Bonsall/Small Family
Joanne Lennon
Greg & Andree O’Donnell
Betti Stiff
Cher & Mo Willems
The Giassa/Whammond Family
Whitney and John Hoffman
You rock!!
What generosity will the remaining 73 days of sponsorship bring?
On October 6, 2009, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
On October 3, 2010, I will run for the cure.
You can join me in this effort to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation by sponsoring me here.
Many thanks,
Andrea
Happy Birthday, My Sweet Bayla!
And many, many happy returns.
Love,
Mom
||:xoxoxo:||
Being Me.
It’s a month, today, since my final radiation treatment.
In these four glorious weeks, I’ve been living it up and lollygagging with good friends and good family.
I’ve grown some eyelashes and some hair.
I’ve stepped up to the scariness of public speaking.
I’ve coasted obliviously through a significant earthquake.
I’ve enjoyed schedule-free summer days with Lucy and Bayla.
I’m now two weeks into my five years of hormone therapy and — touch wood — its been blissfully imperceptible.
My white blood count is still low (I had a good cry over that news this morning). And various muscles and joints are still struggling with the effects of chemo.
But I feel like myself again — only better, stronger and happier. Really.
I am the rebuilt me.
And, with every thought and every choice, I’m working to stay that way.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
PAB2010 was an unforgettable weekend.
Thought-provoking sessions, amazing food and, most importantly, passionate, intelligent, interesting, friendly, fabulous people.
If you’re creative, online or off, you’ll want to catch the full schedule of sessions as they are rolled out at PABconf.com.
In the meantime, I can’t help sharing Sylvain Grand’maison’s 5-minute Jolt, below.
Cancer crashed and auto-rebooted my life. Wiping out my routines, habits and friendships and leaving me with a fresh, if physically diminished, slate.
And the opportunity to start anew.
As Sylvain suggests, below, we can reboot our lives any time.
And we’re better off for it.
| It was October 7th, 2009.
Mark and I stood waiting for an elevator at the Women’s Breast Health Centre. We’d just left our first post-diagnosis appointment. “Nine months of treatment, Mark. It’s a pregnancy,” I ventured hopefully. And thus began my Me-ternity. |
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| Yesterday marked the end of that nine months.
The good news is, I didn’t even notice. |
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| Happy, happy day. |  |
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Related Posts:
We digital folk find it difficult to be without our online community. We love our digital relationships so much that anytime we’re presented with a decent 3G signal, we find ourselves temped to check our email. Frankly, Andrea and I have done pretty well over the last few days. Then, curiosity got the better of us.
We’re touched that since posts to WeCanRebuildHer.com slowed down we’ve been receiving lots of email asking how we’re doing; how our children and dog are.
I’m pleased to report that life is grand, full of celebrations, fresh air and the kinds of family and friends that make this life great! In fact, as I write this, we’re transitioning from one wave of celebration and relaxation to the next — which involves a fire pit, sticks and gooey mounds of sugar.
I hope you’re enjoying the beginning of summer as much as we are — whether online, offline or both.
Happy Canada Day!
Happy Independence Day!
Happy Day!
PAB is an annual conference and community formed in 2006 which has become a very important part of our lives both as co-organizers and participants. While its roots are in podcasting, the program has matured and become almost exclusively about content creation, community and engagement.
Andrea was part of the JOLT! program for PAB2010 this past weekend. JOLT!s are 5-minute, slide-free presentations during which the speaker is selected to wake-up the imaginations, brains and collective energy of the community.
Andrea’s Contested Irrelevance commanded a standing ovation. Not only that, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house as she shared the story of how the connections and friendships we’ve made online through Just One More Book and We Can Rebuild Her (and others) helped us through our journey to breast cancer survivorship and made us feel relevant.
Video of Andrea’s JOLT! will be available online in the coming weeks. Of course, we’ll embed it on this site.
Congratulations, Andrea. You’ve inspired and touched so many people.
Photo of Andrea and Mark at PAB2010 by Tod Maffin.
Today’s my first full day of freedom.
No needles. No zaps. No waiting rooms. No tests.
Looming or current.
When I discovered that lump, way back in August, I couldn’t have dreamed what lay ahead.
When I heard my diagnosis, way back in October, I couldn’t have dreamed what lay ahead.
I’ve had my share of bad and good news this year.
Sharing with you has brightened both.
Thank you for getting me through the bad.
Thank you for being and celebrating the good.
I still can’t dream what lies ahead. But with the support you’ve given me I’m striding towards it.
Thank you.
Mark
Andrea
Lucy* (10)
Bayla* (8)*Luba = Lucy and Bayla
