Motivation Monday - So You Think One Person Can't Make A Difference?

Motivation Monday is the day of the week when I've shared a motivational book title of my "have read" or "wish to read" lists.  This week I have a bit of a twist, I'm sharing a bit of my own story.

My husband has been fighting a stomach cancer diagnosis since a tumor was found at his GE junction 03 March 2013.  The tumor at the bottom of his esophagus/top of his stomach was ulcerated and the blood loss put him in IMC for 4 days, he'd lost roughly half his blood.  Before he left the hospital a port had been placed, a second opinion esophageal ultrasound had been scheduled to stage the cancer, and the next Monday chemo was scheduled to start.  So began our cancer journey...and the great limiting of my time in creating these posts that you all love to read so very much! ;D

03 November 2014, Wisconsin turned blue as 31 October 2014 Governor Scott Walker signed the Proclamation declaring November as Curing Stomach Cancer Month.  A giant thank you to the governor and Bob Neeno, Proclamation Director, for getting this very important work done!

This October, as Breast Cancer Awareness Month was awash in pink, his bi-monthly CT scan (utilized by the oncologist to watch for metastasis) came back with cause for concern.  It looked like metastatic cancer in his liver.  As we waited for the liver biopsy to be scheduled we felt helpless.  Very, very helpless.  A small thought came along, we did a little research, and we began to look at what we could do to get others wearing periwinkle blue (the cancer awareness ribbon colour for esophageal and stomach cancers) to support NoStomachForCancer.org and their November as Stomach Cancer Awareness Month campaign.   While visiting another website that has offered support during this hellish dance with stomach cancer, Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer, I saw in their take action tab information about how I could go about doing something.  That something was applying for a proclamation in my home state to have my governor proclaim November as Curing Stomach Cancer Month.  That was 20 October 2014 and only 3 states had such a proclamation: North Carolina, Florida and Michigan.  You can see in the above map that other states have rallied to the cause, and my home state of Wisconsin will soon join them!  

You can view the pdf version of this Proclamation here!

It is a small thing, really.  I filled out the application and sent it.  The governor's office thought it was a good idea and signed it.  Both of those are in and of themselves small actions, but the difference they can make is huge.  20 October when I filed the application, it was a giant step from helplessness into the arena of doing something.  Doing something felt empowering.  We did some research and found t-shirts and wristbands from NoStomachForCancer.org  that could raise money for research.  We began to pull together a few support wear selections for our friends and family to join us.  Even just doing that was better than the anxiety of worry, of the wait, the fear of what comes next.  Today, when we received an e-mail that our proclamation had been signed I felt what a difference one can make when you channel even the energy of anxiety and worry into action.  

A heartfelt thank you to Bob Nenno, Proclamation Director, who made the dream of having this proclamation in place for the month of November a reality, even though it typically takes 4 weeks.  Another heartfelt thank you to Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin, for signing the proclamation to make November Curing Stomach Cancer Month.  Hopefully  these small actions we have taken will raise awareness, help raise funding for this horrible, deadly and horribly underfunded area of cancer research.  

Today's Motivation Monday message is that one person can indeed make a difference.

If you'd like to join us by showing support, please view our CaringBridge website to read about our "November is..." campaign.  07 Nov 2014 Update:  We've made it even easier to help us with our campaign, especially for you tech savvy folks!  You can now use PayPal thanks to YouCaring.com, so click here to come see our fundraiser!