A community for those affected by colorectal cancer.
A cancer nerd's first post - a long time in the making...
Welcome to my very first blog post. Ever.
I have thought about blogging for the past number of years. My friend Sarah and I wanted to start a celebrity gossip/social commentary blog because we think the emails we send back and forth to each other with our cheeky comments about celebrities' latest career forays and flops, wardrobe malfunctions and/or general lack of fashion sense, accidental pregnancies, accidental marriages, etc., are quite clever. If we do say so ourselves. I have wanted to start other blogs too. I write in journals a lot, so of course I have thought about writing online instead. When I moved to London last January with my boyfriend Mike, I came thisclose to starting a blog about our life here (which, I must say, has been pretty darn wonderful).
What has stopped me each time? The audience factor. Sarah and I came to the realization that we think our emails are so hilarious because they are full of inside jokes that crack up us and us alone. I don't necessarily want total strangers reading my personal journal entries, and at the same time have a fear that nobody would. Same with the London blog-that-never-was: what if none of our friends or family read it? What if no one was interested? Because surely, at the heart of every blog entry everywhere, is a desire to connect. A hope that what you write will engage someone else on some sort of level that will enrich the experience for both reader and writer.
I have wanted to start a blog on this website since I first joined, and I am really excited to be starting this today - if still a little fearful that no one will find what I have to say interesting, insightful, engaging, or comforting. So many of those who have joined My CRC Connections are currently coping with colorectal cancer in a much more direct way than I am. My stepdad John passed away from colon cancer in July 2004. The rest of my family is healthy enough right now (knock on wood), and I am healthy enough too. So what the heck am I doing here?
As the years have flown by since John's death, I have become increasingly active in colorectal cancer advocacy. I want to get the word out there so that people know they need to be screened for this disease, and then actually follow through with their appointments. Even though colon cancer ran in John's family, he procrastinated about getting a colonoscopy until it was too late. A great man's life was cut short, leaving my mom and me heartbroken. No one should have to experience such a thing if it can be avoided. And with colon cancer, I have learned, it often can.
I want to help get a message out to caregivers too. I want those who are thrust into the heartwrenching role of caring for a sick loved one to know that it is ok to ask questions, to do research, to understand what is happening. When John was sick, I felt helpless. I didn't realize I could have asked his doctors why they were choosing specific chemotherapy drugs, or why they did not operate. I could have asked if there were any clinical trials available. I could have picked up a book or Googled "colon cancer" to understand what and where a colon is, and how and why they become infested with cancerous cells and tumors. Some people don't want to know. And that's ok too. But I did, and I didn't do anything about it. Well, I am now.
Being the coordinator of Voices of NYC, from May 2006 until January 2008, made two things crystal clear to me: first, that I want to devote my life to colorectal cancer advocacy; and second, that I have a lot to learn. My members, most of whom are survivors with incredibly inspirational stories to share, would chat about different drugs and treatments, ostomies, surgeries, even body parts with which I was totally unfamiliar. At the time, I had a full-time job in addition to my volunteer work with CCA and other non-profit organizations, and in my downtime I preferred to watch "Dancing with the Stars" or read PerezHilton.com or smooch my boyfriend than Google "iliostomy" or "Erbitux" or learn the four stages of cancer. But then I left my job to move across the pond with Mike and, as my mom says, "take a swim in Lake Me." I am currently in the middle of nine months of me time. I am in the fortunate position of being unable to obtain a work visa, and I have been accepted to an MBA program at Cambridge that starts in the fall. So for now, I am on a pontoon boat out in the middle of Lake Me, with a giant stack of cancer history and science books for company.
I have become a cancer nerd. And if there is any group of people who will be able to appreciate that, I hope it is this group. Some of you I know well, most of you are strangers, but we are all connected through a terrible disease that has ripped through our families and ourselves. And we are all stronger for it.
So stay tuned, if you're interested. I watched the PBS special "The Truth About Cancer" last night (thanks to the miracle of modern technology that is the slingbox, I can watch my mom's TV in New York on my computer here in London) and it wrecked me and I need to explore why. I have also read some amazing books and will talk about those too.
Until next time, cheers!
I have thought about blogging for the past number of years. My friend Sarah and I wanted to start a celebrity gossip/social commentary blog because we think the emails we send back and forth to each other with our cheeky comments about celebrities' latest career forays and flops, wardrobe malfunctions and/or general lack of fashion sense, accidental pregnancies, accidental marriages, etc., are quite clever. If we do say so ourselves. I have wanted to start other blogs too. I write in journals a lot, so of course I have thought about writing online instead. When I moved to London last January with my boyfriend Mike, I came thisclose to starting a blog about our life here (which, I must say, has been pretty darn wonderful).
What has stopped me each time? The audience factor. Sarah and I came to the realization that we think our emails are so hilarious because they are full of inside jokes that crack up us and us alone. I don't necessarily want total strangers reading my personal journal entries, and at the same time have a fear that nobody would. Same with the London blog-that-never-was: what if none of our friends or family read it? What if no one was interested? Because surely, at the heart of every blog entry everywhere, is a desire to connect. A hope that what you write will engage someone else on some sort of level that will enrich the experience for both reader and writer.
I have wanted to start a blog on this website since I first joined, and I am really excited to be starting this today - if still a little fearful that no one will find what I have to say interesting, insightful, engaging, or comforting. So many of those who have joined My CRC Connections are currently coping with colorectal cancer in a much more direct way than I am. My stepdad John passed away from colon cancer in July 2004. The rest of my family is healthy enough right now (knock on wood), and I am healthy enough too. So what the heck am I doing here?
As the years have flown by since John's death, I have become increasingly active in colorectal cancer advocacy. I want to get the word out there so that people know they need to be screened for this disease, and then actually follow through with their appointments. Even though colon cancer ran in John's family, he procrastinated about getting a colonoscopy until it was too late. A great man's life was cut short, leaving my mom and me heartbroken. No one should have to experience such a thing if it can be avoided. And with colon cancer, I have learned, it often can.
I want to help get a message out to caregivers too. I want those who are thrust into the heartwrenching role of caring for a sick loved one to know that it is ok to ask questions, to do research, to understand what is happening. When John was sick, I felt helpless. I didn't realize I could have asked his doctors why they were choosing specific chemotherapy drugs, or why they did not operate. I could have asked if there were any clinical trials available. I could have picked up a book or Googled "colon cancer" to understand what and where a colon is, and how and why they become infested with cancerous cells and tumors. Some people don't want to know. And that's ok too. But I did, and I didn't do anything about it. Well, I am now.
Being the coordinator of Voices of NYC, from May 2006 until January 2008, made two things crystal clear to me: first, that I want to devote my life to colorectal cancer advocacy; and second, that I have a lot to learn. My members, most of whom are survivors with incredibly inspirational stories to share, would chat about different drugs and treatments, ostomies, surgeries, even body parts with which I was totally unfamiliar. At the time, I had a full-time job in addition to my volunteer work with CCA and other non-profit organizations, and in my downtime I preferred to watch "Dancing with the Stars" or read PerezHilton.com or smooch my boyfriend than Google "iliostomy" or "Erbitux" or learn the four stages of cancer. But then I left my job to move across the pond with Mike and, as my mom says, "take a swim in Lake Me." I am currently in the middle of nine months of me time. I am in the fortunate position of being unable to obtain a work visa, and I have been accepted to an MBA program at Cambridge that starts in the fall. So for now, I am on a pontoon boat out in the middle of Lake Me, with a giant stack of cancer history and science books for company.
I have become a cancer nerd. And if there is any group of people who will be able to appreciate that, I hope it is this group. Some of you I know well, most of you are strangers, but we are all connected through a terrible disease that has ripped through our families and ourselves. And we are all stronger for it.
So stay tuned, if you're interested. I watched the PBS special "The Truth About Cancer" last night (thanks to the miracle of modern technology that is the slingbox, I can watch my mom's TV in New York on my computer here in London) and it wrecked me and I need to explore why. I have also read some amazing books and will talk about those too.
Until next time, cheers!
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Tags: The Truth About Cancer, Voices of NYC, advocacy, cancer, cancer nerd, caregiver, colon, colorectal
Comment
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Comment by Michele Horwitz on April 26, 2008 at 10:01pm -
Hi Jen, Hope all is well. I look forward to reading your blogs - whether it's about cancer advocacy or perez hilton ( I confess to reading all the gossip blogs ) ! I just had a clean PET/CT scan and am ready to give back and get back to life ! Vanessa is doing a fabulous job with the Voices of NYC !
Take Care
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