Sickle Cell Awareness

Today is the end of September, can you believe that? I, for one, need the year to slow down a bit. It seems like just yesterday, Lefty and I were driving back into the city limits to celebrate a new year together and now here we are on the edge of October. This was a month of firsts for us. We went to our very first blogging conference together, which was lovely. A first of many, I am sure. Last month we did the ALS challenge and this month is Sickle Cell Awareness month. Like ALS, Sickle Cell and its sufferers are relatively unknown except by those who suffer from it or those who are caretakers.

Many people don't even know what having Sickle Cell Anemia entails. Sickle Cell is a hereditary, blood disorder where red blood cells assume a rigid, sickle like shape. Sickle-cell disease is associated with a number of acute and chronic health problems, such as severe infections and attacks of severe pain ("sickle-cell crisis"), and an increased risk of death. A person inherits two abnormal copies of the haemoglobin gene, one from each parent. If you only have one of the abnormal copies, from one parent then you have the Sickle Cell Trait (like me) and you do not experience the above named symptoms. The highest frequency of sickle cell disease is found in tropical regions (and tropical people... again, like me!), particularly sub-Saharan Africa, India and the Middle-East. In the United States, about 1 out of 500 African-American children and 1 in every 36,000 Hispanic-American children born will have sickle-cell anemia. Sickle cell trait occurs among about 1:12 African-Americans and 1:100 Hispanic-Americans.

And so what are we doing to raise awareness for this debilitating disease? The ice bucket challenge was already taken :) but my almost life long friend... and Sickle Cell Warrior, got me hip to their campaign #BoldLips4SickleCell so, of course I had to participate! Below are my pics, both serious and silly-- lipstick is Rimmel Bordeaux (because Bordeaux is the color that you NEED when doing a bold lip challenge). Educate yourselves, my lovebugs and see what you can do in your community to help bring awareness to this disease. Now... SHOW ME THOSE LIPS!! :)

Excuse the seatbelt shot from Lefty's car-- we were headed to the blogging conference and he is all about safety first... even while taking dreamy eyed selfies :) 

The Day that the Buckeye Nation Cried

Today is a horribly sad day for the Buckeye Nation. Today, Stefanie Spielman lost her long, hard fought battle with breast cancer. A consummate optimist, she took the diagnosis (at the age of 30) with amazing grace. I remember when the Columbus news stations started covering her diagnosis- my sophomore year of college. I watched a young woman who married her college sweetheart take the breast cancer challenge and win (remission) four times. She was a mainstay in Columbus, always on the sideline watching and cheering for the amazing Buckeye team- years after her husband Chris graduated and went to the NFL. She has also been, at least for me, the face of the James Cancer Hospital at OSU.

An inspiration would be an understatement. I never saw her cry. I never saw her feel bad about her situation. She just got after it. Stefanie and Chris were heads of fundraising for cancer research in central Ohio. I don't even live there anymore, and I still know that where ever they were needed to get people to donate, they were there. I clearly remember seeing Stefanie, Chris and their (4) children on a commercial about cancer education and fundraising.

Forty-two is too young for her to be gone. She won't see her children become adults. She won't see her grandchildren. She will miss college graduations and weddings. Forty-two is too young...

While we mourn the loss of an amazingly spirited woman, we need to take some action Buckeye nation. I used to work for an organization that researches and fights cancer through many avenues. From working there I can tell you that during our lifetime, 1 in 3 of us will be diagnosed with some sort of cancer. Because of their funding and research, more of us will be successfully treated, but I am longing for a time when cancer-as it is today- does not exist. What can you do? There are plenty of ways that you can raise cancer awareness in central Ohio. Donate to the James (http://www.jamesline.com; click on the ways to give tab) or call the central Ohio office of the American Cancer Society (888.227.6446) and pledge a donation. For those of you in the Buckeye Nation in the Chicagoland area, there are plenty of ways for you to give also. There is an amazing place called the Wellness Place (http://www.wellnessplace.org) that raises money for cancer education, care and help for those in the midst of their battle. You can make a donation- or you can shop (!) and they will get a donation from the money that you spend (http://www.shopbelongings.com). Also, the suburban offices of the American Cancer Society are also available to take donations. Whatever you decide to do- TAKE ACTION. Make sure that there are fewer 42 year old moms losing their battle to the ugly disease called cancer.

My prayers go out to the Spielman family. I hope and wish the best for you through this rough times.

Miss Mox