On this morning 16 years ago, cancer caused an irreparable crack in my heart. We said good bye to my dad after a courageous 6-year battle with cancer (ugh I still can’t write this sentence without crying). And on this day 16 years ago, I committed to continue my dad’s legacy of fighting cancer. My
Today is National Cancer Survivors Day, a time to celebrate the almost 17 million cancer survivors in the United States. As a bone cancer, melanoma and breast cancer survivor, this is one of my favorite days because it’s a day to celebrate life beyond cancer. And also be aware of simple ways to help improve
Have you ever taken action to raise awareness of a cause or issue that needs support or to be changed? Or have you wanted to but didn’t know where to start? I wanted to help you get started by sharing five ways to advocate for change. Many people think advocacy is lobbying legislators but that’s
Last week I attended the awesome American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Leadership Summit & Lobby Day in Washington, DC. It’s one of my favorite cancer advocacy in action events. Our goal: fight cancer. We achieved that – 588 cancer advocates from all 50 states and Puerto Rico attended more 400 meetings with our federal
Most of you know my personal connection to cancer. A few months ago, I finished treatment for my third cancer. My younger sister is a melanoma survivor. Our dad died 15 years ago from multiple myeloma. Too many of my family and friends are affected by cancer. With more than 16 million cancer survivors and
I had the awesome honor of attending the One Voice Against Cancer advocacy event in Washington, DC last week. This event brings together volunteer advocates from cancer organizations from around the country to provide an unified voice focused on long-term, sustained funding for cancer research and prevention on the federal level. It’s one of my
As I count down the days to chemo ending, then radiation ending, I am long looking into my bright future filled with fun adventures, love and laughs. Why not celebrate treatment’s end by biking across Iowa? It’s the first thing most people think to do, right? haha I decided to again join LIVESTRONG to bike
I’m honored and excited to share that I will be again joining LIVESTRONG at the annual One Voice Against Cancer lobby day in Washington, DC. I’ll be joining other cancer advocates to meet with our federal legislators to talk about cancer research, access to care and more. You all know I’m super passionate about cancer
Life doesn’t always take us on the journey we expect, does it? I should know this very well by now. As a now 3-time cancer survivor, and every day adult who is thankful to be alive in her 40s, life certainly takes us on detours, some beautiful, some scary and sad. But as long as
There are millions of amazing, inspiring stories in the cancer community, including many of you reading this. It makes it more humbling and an honor for me to be invited to share my cancer survivor story on the LIVESTRONG blog. You can read my story on their blog here. On a side note, I had
