Newsletter: Myself: Together Again

	Founder's Note
	M:TA 2007 Recap
	Coming Up
	Other News

Founder's Note & M:TA 2007 Recap
Hello and happy holidays. As I write this it is 75 degrees outside which makes it hard to believe that we are weeks away from Christmas and the New Year. I am also finding it hard to believe that this project is going into its third year-Wow!. We have so much to look forward to in 2008, but before we get to that we would like to re-cap our 2007 accomplishments: _________________________________________________________________________
January 2007 - M:TA began the process of becoming our own public charity and we set off on our own. - Booklets became available to order on Amazon.com as well as through our website. - Debbie had her baby! Photo by Missy McLamb February 2007 - We exhibited the project in Arlington, Virginia at the 7th Annual Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer- we met some extraordinary women as always. - We had our annual Valentine's Day fundraiser at Scout and Molly's in Raleigh. The money we raised covered our conference expenses March 2007 - Judith Underwood from the Nail and Body Shoppe in Raleigh partnered with M:TA for one month and donated a percentage of her sales to the project. April 2007 - The team worked on making contacts with pharmaceutical companies in an effort to get the booklets into more hospitals and physician's offices. May 2007 - We traveled to Tampa Florida to exhibit the project at FORCE's 2nd annual "Joining Forces Against Hereditary Cancer" Conference. June 2007 - We had another amazing team for Race for the Cure here in Raleigh, NC and we raised a lot of money for our Komen affiliate.	July 2007 - Sobo's Restaurant fundraiser for M:TA on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This event was sponsored by Johnny and Tommy Knorr, owners of Southern Boys Concepts. We shared this evening with another organization: Women Supporting Women. This event launched M:TA into the Maryland area with more Maryland fundraisers to follow. August 2007 - Debbie spoke at a conference held at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital's Comprehensive Cancer Center in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The title of the conference was: "The Treatment of Breast Cancer- It's More Than Medical." Debbie spoke at this cancer center in 2006 and loves the people there. September 2007 - We traveled to Greensboro, NC to exhibit the project at the annual meeting of the North Carolina Division of Public Health's Cancer Center and Control Branch. The title of this meeting was "Parading Tools for Healthy Living." Debbie chose to exhibit here because in 2007 she was asked to be on North Carolina's Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program's Advisory Board - We returned to Maryland for an event in M:TA's honor. This event took place at Phillips Seafood Restaurant in Annapolis. We met some amazing people and also shared the proceeds of the evening with another great organization: Survivors Offering Support (SOS). October 2007 - Breast Cancer Awareness Month was a busy month for the project. Thanks to a generous donation from Kirt and Sheri Storch, owners of Certa Pro Painters here in Raleigh, M:TA booklets were available free to all of the hospitals and physician's offices in our Triangle area. We still have plenty of booklets left to give out FREE so please get in touch with us at info@myselftogetheragain.org - We received a generous grant from the Harris- Legacy Foundation and are working on how those funds will be used in 2008. November 2007 - We worked on our planning for 2008 and we have much good news to share.
_________________________________________________________________________ As you can see, 2007 was a great year for the project. Our re-cap does not reflect how much time we spent this year making contacts with pharmaceutical companies and trying to see if we could find a company that would be the right fit in helping us get the booklets around the country in medical settings. A big thank you goes out to Melvin Katz with Pfizer who worked tirelessly trying to find partners for M:TA in the pharmaceutical arena. Although we have not yet been successful in finding a company who could carry this out, we have made some wonderful contacts and those folks have really helped us brainstorm new possibilities. So, here is our BIG 2008 news: In 2008, the M:TA booklet is being published by a small publishing company in New York. We cannot share too many details about this yet, (contracts are getting ready to be signed), but the idea is that publishing will help us reach so many more women all over the world and as of yet, we have not found a better way to make that happen. What does it mean for us to be published? One of the most significant differences between the booklet now and a published book is that once a book is published, it will receive an ISBN number and barcode, as well as other identifying marks that allow it to be sold through book channels as well as carried in any other stores that take an interest. We will be able to sell the book on Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon books, as well as beginning with local stores, work with these large book chains to carry your book. We can also then send the book to national reviews and attain some press coverage for the book, which as a booklet, book columns, etc do not usually review such things. Being published will launch the book into the public eye, helping to spread our message and our pictures through new avenues. All of this will help to increase the number of people exposed to the M:TA Project and of course, with more sales, our organization will also profit from the book which allows us to do even more. The book getting published will add a whole new dynamic to our Foundation. Our plan will be to take the profits from books sold and put them right back into the organization. This will then allow us to do some direct giving to breast cancer patients and survivors which is something we have wanted to do for awhile. As I close this note I want to share with you how M:TA hopes to make a difference for women undergoing reconstruction this coming year. My vision for M:TA has always been the same: finding ways to help women understand breast reconstruction and also help them navigate through the process and feel empowered doing so. The booklet and our materials that we display around the country have helped but we feel its time to do more. Reconstruction does not end for women once they have rebuilt their bodies; in fact, that is just the beginning. After reconstruction is over the real emotions seem to set in. It takes women awhile to feel comfortable with their new look and I think it is also a time when women grieve what they have lost. Another tough obstacle to overcome following reconstruction is finding clothes that fit well and flatter a woman's new shape. For women, shopping is suppose to be fun. Some would even say its what we do best. However, finding the right tops, lingerie, and swimsuits after reconstruction is challenging to say the least. This is where the M:TA Team would like to step in and help- making that after-reconstruction process a little easier on women. Our plan is to partner with department stores and lingerie shops and offer women some special perks and even money to make those after-reconstruction-shopping experiences a little smoother. Putting this plan into action will take a lot of work, but we feel great about the support M:TA has received across the country and we feel certain that our future partners will help us make this a success. As we identify stores around the country that will be participating we will post those on our website and we will see to it that women have a good shopping experience. After my reconstruction, I was invited for a shopping day at Dillards in Cary, North Carolina. I was treated so well by the employees and in particular, Janice Moore who is a Body Fashion Specialist with Dillards. I have not forgotten Janice and the delicate attention she gave to me at a time when I felt very self conscious about my body. This experience I had helped us come up with this idea and we hope we are able to make other women feel just as good. Happy, healthy holidays, ~Debbie M:TA Project Creator & a young Breast Cancer survivor

Scout & Molly's Valentine's Fundraiser- stay tuned for date and details.

The 8th Annual Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer February 22-24th in Jacksonville, Florida. The M:TA team will be exhibiting at this conference for the third straight year. We hope to see a lot of you there. For more information please visit: Young Survivors Conference

A new program in Raleigh, NC which serves the Triangle area has asked me to share their information with you. www.morethannurses.com has helped many women I know personally cope with the many dilemmas that face patients as they undergo care and treatment. More than nurses offers many services, but the ones I am most familiar with are the private services they offer patients who don't have anyone who can shuttle them to appointments, stay in the hospital, offer care in the home, etc. Please visit there site for further information- they are a wonderful resource.

Have a happy and wonderful holiday.
~The M:TA Team