June 7th, 2009 - Women's Way 2009 Recruitment and Education Event

I had the privilege and honor to speak at the Women's Way 2009 Recruitment and Education Event. The event's main mission was to honor those touched by breast and cervical cancer who are also participants of Women's Way. Women from all over North Dakota who participate in the Women's Way program (North Dakota's Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program) arrived full of smiles and spirit! There was a band concert by Way Cool - it was way cool! A Celebrate LIFE Style Fashion show where survivors of breast and cervical cancer modeled clothes from local merchants as their story was told inspiring us all with hope. One woman said, "I was broke, homeless, jobless and dying...but not broken!" Another said, "It's not about failing....it's about getting up after you fall." And another said, "My husband held onto me and didn't let go as I started 16 months of chemo and radiation." The women who modeled received a pink rose if they fought breast cancer and a purple rose for cervical cancer and they all received a pink scarf from Tara Lacher the "Pink Scarf Lady". What was amazing to me was the women who held more than one rose in her hand. One woman even had 2 pink roses and 1 purple rose! She fought this relentless disease 3 times and there she stood smiling, healthy and strong! Christina Clifford Beckwith, a breast cancer survivor herself and founder and CEO of The Cancer Club (http://www.cancerclub.com/) AND author of "Not Now ....I'm Having a No Hair Day" along with several other books on fighting cancer with humor entertained us and shared her story. I spoke to women about changing your life by altering your attitude....especially when it comes to health. We need to take the initiative to say "Enough is enough" and fight together to conquer breast and cervical cancer! Did you know UNINSURED women diagnosed with breast cancer are 2.5 times more likely to have a LATE STAGE diagnosis and more than 3 in 5 INSURED women in ND between 40 and 64 did not have a mammogram in the past 2 years due to high deductibles? Women's Way offers a way to around those statistics for eligible women and it SAVED the lives of these courages women. The key to finding cancer is early detection....the key to detection is regular screenings! We need to dig deep and fight cancer starting at the beginning...with continued early detection and prevention. A wise man once said to me, "We can either be our own worst enemy or our best friend depending entirely on attitude towards ourselves and the approach to the nature of our true self....the inner soul to know this is not enough...one must ACT on the knowledge....PRACTICE the theory....and CONQUER!!"