fannie & millie .: handcrafted goodness

I’m back.

Summer is over, sadly enough, and I’m back at the rest of my life. Things got a little out of hand at the end there with too much riding in preparation for Cycle Oregon, root canals, family trips, and on & on with the excuses…The mini hiatus turned out to be a major break from blogging, etc., but I feel refreshed and inspired.

CycleOregon was fantastic fun, as alway. I posted lots and lots of photos and wrote the whole thing up on flickr. Please check it out if you’ve ever wondered what CycleOregon might be about. I took quite a few photos, but realize that the longest, hardest days are not documented as well as the shorter days.

The Livestrong Challenge was also a success. Thank you so much to everyone who donated! Our team raised $3,830.00  $3,930.00 for a very worthy cause. Tim Schauer was our amazing and motivated #1 fundraiser. He raised $2,065.00 $2,165.00 while selling his house, buying a house and moving! He’s an amazing guy and a great friend.

This was my fledgling year as team captain and I’m already making plans to do it bigger and better next year. I seriously want our team to raise at least $10,000.00 for the LAF.

Here are two photos from our wet, wonderful, hypothermia inducing day:

- we’re indoors in this second photo - the camera is just all steamed up :-0

Well, that sums it up. I’ll see you again soon - really!

What would your world look like without the threat of cancer?

In April I wrote about my family’s experience with cancer, but have avoided sharing the news we received shortly after that post. At his one-year-anniversary doctor’s appointment, we found out that the Gleevec Chris was taking is no longer working for him.  The good news is, there are some new medications he can try.  So far, it seems that the Sprycel he is taking now is doing what it’s supposed to do. We actually consider ourselves among the lucky ones, we have medical insurance, the Leukemia was diagnosed in time and we have wonderful and supportive friends and family. Even so, the additional support offered by the Lance Armstrong Foundation has been really important to us. They have worked to empower us to feel more in control and to take charge of Chris’ treatment by giving us numerous, invaluable resources and also by helping us to connect with other survivors so that we don’t feel so alone. They also have a broader agenda quoted here from their website:

We must close the gaps between what we know and what we do in the cancer fight.

Nearly 47 million Americans lack health insurance. About 16 million more are underinsured.

Health care coverage and financial concerns should not dictate who lives, who dies and who suffers unnecessarily.

Ethnic populations in the U.S. carry a disproportionate burden of poor quality cancer care, and minorities are much more likely to die and suffer needlessly from the disease.

With screening, we could prevent 1/3 of all cancer deaths.

90% of colorectal cancer deaths, 30% of all breast cancer deaths in women over age 40 and virtually all cervical cancer deaths can be prevented now.

Cancer funding is decreasing and government attention is fragmented.

While 13 different government agencies fund cancer research, no one is in charge of the nation’s cancer program. Hard to believe when 10 million people in our country are living with cancer.

We must be more efficient, more collaborative and more directed about how we use what we know.

We must close the gaps.

We must make cancer a national priority.

Today.

Please join me in supporting the LAF. It’s a matter of life and death.

If you’ve been planning to join Team BFR, tomorrow is the day to do it! Click on the coupon to go directly to the team page.

Today is the anniversary of the worst day of my life.

Exactly one year ago, the man I love, my life partner, was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia.

As cyclists, we were big fans of Lance Armstrong’s achievements; as people living with cancer, we became even bigger fans. More than 1.3 million people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer this year alone. Three out of four families in America will be faced with caring for a family member with cancer. When my son heard that Chris had cancer, he said, “doesn’t everybody get cancer these days?” That’s not the world I want my children to be living in, and that’s why I support the work of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Last fall, due to the generosity of Team Rubicon and their large donation, Chris had the opportunity to ride with Lance Armstrong at the Livestrong Challenge in Portland. If you know Chris, you know how exciting an occasion this was for him!

My goal this year is for him to ride with Lance again. Today I signed up to be a team captain for the Livestrong Challenge. Our team name is BFR because Chris never uses anything but the BFR! I don’t even think he knows how to shift!

I’m not very good at asking for help, but I’m going to get over it for Chris and the Livestrong organization. Please join our team or make a donation; or better yet, do both!!! I would be thrilled to exceed our fundraising goal of $5,000.00. If you would like to help, please click here.

Oh, and by the way, today is a happy day because Chris’s Leukemia has responded very well to treatment and I am so grateful for every minute we have together!