Help Save The BOOBIES!!

We're getting down to the wire for David's first fund raising event!! He's halfway to the $5000.00 commitment he made to donate to the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center and to get himself an opportunity to summit Mount Rainer!!

Please consider giving of yourself... your time... your ART!... YOU! :)

For more information on the event and to see a list of our sponsors, please visit David's Blog:

climb4cure.blogspot.com . I've been hitting up friends from Daniel Smith for donations of their artwork and hope to procure some amazing, original art for the silent auction!!!

Icing on the Cupcakes...? !

A year ago today, which would have been one month out from having my breasts removed... the idea of 'someday' being ready for tattooing seemed like a 'dream' to me. Now that I'm here *shrugs* it just seems like a reality... not unlike other realities that get taken for granted or just plain overlooked. I would have thought that at this point I'd be on the edge of my seat, waiting for the day I finally got to to back to Dr. Miles' office, giggle with Cheryl, pick out some ink that matched the photos we took of my breasts prior them going into the 'toxic waste heap'...

I think that what this really all amounts to, is the fear of something else going 'wrong'. Not that there's any great risk associated with tattooing... hell, check out the rest of me ;) but I have a fear of pushing things too far, for the sake of vanity ... and having something go completely awry. After all, this isn't a hair cut or anything... it won't just grow back for another try, and it isn't a cupcake or a daisy chain or even a leg worth of swirls... it's just trying to get back what I wish I hadn't lost... and I'm not sure that's within the realm of reality?

BTW... for anyone reading this... this is a prime example of why I don't post here often ;) I 'try' to abide by the internal rule that if you have nothing good to say... say nothing at all ... nuff said ;)

YOU are NOT Alone...

What do you see when you look at this photo? A group of women, smiling, close, happy, enjoying each others company. What you can't see by looking at this photo... Breast Cancer. These are the women (some of them!) of the Seattle affiliate of the Young Survival Coalition. What you can't detect in the photo is various stages of surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation... fear, hope, trials, tribulations... you cannot see any of that, but you can see the LOVE, the WARMTH, the SISTERHOOD :)

We come from every imaginable background, from one end of the spectrum to the other. Various beliefs, education, financial status... some married, some not, some mothers, some not, some at risk of (or already beyond) losing the ability to have children as a spin out result of their Breast Cancer...

What we all do have in common is a diagnosis of some type of Breast Cancer and what we have as a group is a force beyond any other I have ever encountered. We all have different stories, different realities... I like to say "We're all in the same ocean, but have boats entirely of our own"... but in our daily struggles of keeping afloat amid the often tumultuous waters of treatment, we have each other. The bond, the strength, the hope that spreads with this commonality is one that continues to amaze me, and one that I'm very grateful for. Hearing the words 'You have Breast Cancer' throw you into an undertow where you may feel alone and drowning... I'd like to throw out a lifeline... one that I can't imagine having to have gone through this without.

To contact the Young Survival Coalition:

Email: yscseattle@youngsurvival.org
Direct phone: 866-541-1972 ext 4
Website: http://www.youngsurvival.org/seattle

To learn more about YSC National: www.youngsurvival.org