Stefanie Sloane's Regency Round Table » Life

Let’s Kick Cancer Where it Hurts

Stefanie — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:00:39 +0000

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month. I knew nothing about this particularly brutal form of cancer until my Grandmother Anita died from it over ten years ago. And then my aunt Suzie received the dreadful diagnosis and passed away only a few short years after her mother.

And then my Dad. Wallace, or “Buddy” to his friends and family, was diagnosed in May 2005 with terminal pancreatic cancer. He passed away on August 5th of that same year. He was 62. This was a difficult time for my family on so many levels, the loss of him made that much more painful by the realization that there was a 50% chance that the disease ran in the family.

Pancreatic cancer is known as the “silent disease.” Symptoms often do not present until it’s too late, translating to a meager 5% survival rate of 5 years past the diagnosis date. It has one of the highest fatality rates of all cancers (37,170 cases diagnosed in the United States in 2007, and 33,700 deaths) and is the fourth highest cancer killer in the United States among both men and women.

My Dad was a spitfire of a man, a healthy short-man complex combined with extreme intelligence and a ferocious will making for an individual that one could not forget. To watch him suffer from this disease–the second most painful behind bone cancer–was unbearable. Laid low by the mind-numbing medications and persistent pain, it was only due to my Mom’s devotion and around the clock care that he died with some small measure of dignity intact.

It took time, but I’ve finally been able to accept that some good can come from this. I can schedule my brother and I for tests that will help with early detection. I can feel good about my choice to not smoke, something that leads to a 50% increased chance of the cancer occurring. I can eat my fruits and vegetables and get massive loads of vitamin D.

I can support groups like the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, a “nationwide network of people dedicated to working together to advance research, support patients, and create hope for those affected by pancreatic cancer.”

I can publicly applaud people like Patrick Swayze and Dr. Randy Pausch (1960 – 2008), who shared their stories so that others might benefit.

I can be thankful for my mom. She gave until she had nothing left, and then she gave some more. She is a shining example of what we all should strive to be each and every day.

And I can tell you my story. If just one person walks away from reading this and decides to investigate their family’s cancer history or even commits to eating a few more green vegetables, then I’ve done something.

And so can you. Support cancer research. Talk to your friends and family. And dare to hope.

One Word

Stefanie — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0000

VOTE.

I Was a Halloween-ie

Stefanie — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:54:29 +0000

For various and assorted reasons, chief of which was Halloween, I found myself on the streets of Seattle last Friday night. It wasn’t raining–no, really. No rain. But it was a bit chilly. And though I’d opted for the only non-slutty costume to be found in the city that actually covered my body parts, I couldn’t help but longingly eye a woman’s adorable puffer coat. It looked like this:

So cute! So warm! So would have covered up my costume, but after three hours of frolicking, I wouldn’t have cared. How about you? Did Halloween night treat you right?

My Choice for Halloween: Slutty McSlut

Stefanie — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:35:58 +0000

Um, surely I’m not the first woman to take notice of the rather disturbing fact that our choices when it comes to Halloween costuming are, well, somewhat limited.

Apparently, I should really want to be a slutty nurse. Or a slutty maid. Or a slutty leprechaun–I’m not even making that one up. Really. See for yourself:

Seriously? Is this what the marketing gurus think we women want? C’mon Ladies, let’s send a message loud and clear: No more insulting costumes! Next year we want creative, fun, interesting options that actually cover our assets.

Is that too much to ask? I think not.

As for this year? I’ll be saving my cash and coming up with my own. Maybe I’ll wrap myself in tinfoil and go as a leftover. Warm and modest–NICE.

Another One Bites the Dust

Stefanie — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:47:30 +0000

For some reason, I found the report of Madonna and Guy Richie’s impending divorce sad. It’s not as if it’s a surprise, the average length of a celebrity marriage coming in around two years. No, by Hollywood standards their eight year union really should have earned them some sort of sparkly award.

Nor is it my long history of admiration for the Material Girl, beginning with my first pair of fingerless lace gloves in the seventh grade, continuing with an unforgettable trip to L.A. to see her in concert, and alive to this day for her phenomenal ability to reinvent herself and make a statement–even if I don’t always agree with what she has to say.

No, I think this particular bit of melancholy has everything to do with the death of a relationship, the romance and promise that surrounded the beginning now stripped down to the legalities and ugliness that are sure to mark the demise. A family will be no more, kids sure to be shuttled between the two and sentimental keepsakes shipped off to seperate homes.

The pressure on a celebrity marriage must be of biblical proportions, yet some how we assume that if anyone can pull it off, it will be the larger than life individuals for whom life seems charmed at times.

Maybe that’s what makes romance novels invaluable–at least, one of the reasons anyway. The hero and heroine are larger than life, but they struggle just like you and me. And they fail, just like you and me. And, ultimately, they figure things out–in sweeping, romantic form no less–just like you and me.

Poor Madonna and her Guy. They both could use a good read right now. Suggestion anyone?

It’s the Little Things That Count

Stefanie — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:11:32 +0000

From Dooce, one of my favorite blogs, a moving story of a chance meeting and lives changed forever:

“The Cab Ride I’ll Never Forget” by Kent Nerburn

In this day and age, where life moves at a million miles a minute, it’s more important than ever to listen with all of your heart to the quiet moments where wonder and awe abound.