Happy Birthday, Mom. I miss you.



What I really wish for is just one more shopping afternoon trip with my mom... What I would do to have my mom, my children's grandmom, my family's anchor, to have her back,  to have lunch with her and my sisters and our daughters, to go shopping with her, hear her laugh, hear her voice again...

In 2005 she died from advanced Ovarian cancer, a cancer that is the quietest, evilest, deadliest killer - the doctors did not even test her for it until it was too late, thinking it was irritable bowel syndrome,something else, and with my mom being an RN, we were all in shock...

To carry on my mom's memory, I want to become her voice, what she would say to other women if she was here today -  and so I try to do my best to let others know that if they have these symptoms; bloating, pelvic/abdomen pain, constant fullness/problems eating and/or frequent urination - DO NOT brush it off; please get it checked out ASAP.  The earlier it is caught, the better the survival rate; but because this killer cancer's symptoms can be brushed off easily, misdiagnosed as a non-lethal illness, less then 20% are diagnosed early.  IT IS IMPORTANT to tell women to keep seeking answers if they have not found the solution to their symptoms - dont give up!

Since the declaration over 30 years ago of  "war on cancer", Ovarian cancer HAS NOT changed its mortality rates like others have - it is still considered the deadliest gynecologic cancer there is, all due to lack of research funding, promotion/media for early ovarian cancer detection tests and the right adequate treatment.  But that can change, as the "Susan G. Komen for the Cure" campaign has proven; time is now for another cure to happen...

If this message I have just typed in my mom's memory saves just one life, someone who is reading this, then I and the world have already been rewarded something so much more...

So...

what I really wish for is just one more shopping afternoon trip with my mom.

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