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Hello. The last time I wrote to you was right before the holidays. Is it just me or do the holidays seem more and more stressful the older we get? I am still wiped out from the Winter in general, but as I write this, the flowers are blooming outside and I feel refreshed that Spring is here. M:TA has had a good first quarter in 2008. January was and always is a busy planning month for us. We essentially map out our year and begin going over the details for our pre-Valentine's fundraiser which took place on February 12th.
By the beginning of February we hit the ground running and had our annual fundraiser at Scout and Molly's Boutique and their new "shoetique", Walk here in Raleigh, NC. This was the 3rd year for this event and it was definitely our best year. I cannot thank the girls at Scout and Molly's enough - they work so hard that night to make sure all of the women are finding the perfect outfit and 20% of sales are donated to M:TA - it is a very generous gesture by the owner, Lisa Disbrow. A few pictures are up on our website on the Events page. Thank you Lisa! Also, to all of you that came out and/or donated that night - we are so very appreciative to see you year after year - thank you!
*Lux Salon, The Museum Spa, and the Nail and Body Shoppe - all Raleigh owned businesses donated wonderful spa products that were used in the goody bags we gave out - what a hit! Thank you for those generous donations and for your partnership with M:TA.
At the end of February we headed to Jacksonville Florida for the 8th Annual Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer. It was a great weekend: exhibiting the project, networking, and most importantly, meeting lots of women who have amazing stories. This was our 3rd year as an exhibitor. This year our booth backed up to an organization called: Pink Link. Pink Link was founded by Vicki Tashman. When you join Pink-Link (it's free!), you are instantly linked to a network of fellow survivors, family members, medical pros and others who, in essence, become your "pen pals" via their website www.pink-link.org. You get to ask questions, share experiences, dig for information, give a resource, help each other through rough spots - essentially they are an online cancer support network. I really enjoyed getting to know Vicki and I encourage you to check out her site - especially if you are a person who is dealing with cancer and not really wanting to get out and go to support groups - this may be a great resource for you.
Debbie giving away our tulips to a patient and her fiance at the end of the conference.
On March 29, M:TA hosted a patient/survivor brunch at North Ridge Country Club in Raleigh, North Carolina. This event was special to Debbie because she was chosen three years ago as a patient to participate in this pampering day. After the brunch we hosted, fifteen women were treated to a day of pampering at Dillards department store in Cary, North Carolina. These pampering events gave Debbie the idea to launch Women re-Hooked.
Women who attended the brunch hosted by M:TA.
In the next few months we will be continuing our efforts to get our new program Women re-Hooked off the ground. We have realized that although we have sponsors who are willing to donate bras, and we have department stores on board as well as professional bra fitters, what we don't have is a way of accessing patients who we can put these events on for. So, if you subscribe to our newsletter and support the project, please just ask us to organize a Women re-Hooked event in your area. Click here to learn more about the Women re-Hooked program.
I want to close this note by acknowledging all of the wonderful people who write into our website on a weekly basis thanking us for the pictures and the work we do. I have said it before but I will keep saying it - there are just a handful of people who keep this project running with me and I want the M:TA community to know who I share my thank yous with. Missy McLamb, (photographer), Rebecca Rosal, (graphic designer), Cande Barrow, (accountant), the folks that work with my husband and do our legal work, and volunteers/partners/donors who make our events happen. Believe it or not - this is the crew and without them we would just be the little engine that couldn't! Seriously, the thank you emails that come into our site keep us going and inspire us to keep on working so that women can access pictures and feel hopeful in what lies ahead - so thank you!
~Debbie
M:TA Project Creator & a young Breast Cancer survivor
Publishing Update:
Most people probably read in our last holiday newsletter that the M:TA booklet is being published. At first, our main reason for wanting to publish was so that the booklet could become an actual book and have an ISBN #; therefore we could sell it in different types of medical magazines and bookstores. Now that we have started the publishing process, we have realized that there is a larger story/picture to tell/show than just what exists in the booklet. We are discovering that the booklet has brought so much hope to women who face reconstruction so we feel we need to expand on that idea of hope and tell more about Debbie's life since cancer: her pregnancy, her genetic testing, her feelings about her new self/body, and the effects reconstruction has had on her life 4 years out from her cancer. It is a tricky process because we really have no intention of doing a memoir. The Myself:Together Again project and booklet began as an informational and somewhat educational resource and we would like to keep the integrity of that in place yet try and add a more personal story - quite a challenge.
So, Debbie heads to upstate New York in May to meet face to face with the publishing folks and freelance writer who will most likely be writing Debbie's story. Its all very exciting and busy. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, some great books have come out recently: Jessica Queller's Pretty is What Changes: Impossible Choices, The Breast Cancer Gene, And How I Defied My Destiny. Also, Kelly Corrigan's new book, The Middle Place. Kelly has also written a children's book about cancer.
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