Let's Talk: Mammograms, Cancer & Abortion

Today I took my 43-year-old special needs daughter for her first Mammogram. I know that I was a lot more nervous than she was.

My daughter with mammographer Caroline and her helper Maggie.

"Mommy" went first to show her that it "didn't hurt".

And when it was her turn, my daughter was a trooper (as was the mammographer!).

We're both ready!

I bring this up as a gentle reminder to my all of my blog friends to be sure to stay up to date with your mammograms and wellness visits to your gyn. or primary care doctor.

"Nancy with the laughing face . . ."

Our family is BRCA2 positive so screenings for breast and ovarian cancer are very important for us.

We discovered our genetic mutation when we lost our sister, Nancy, to ovarian cancer.  This picture is difficult to look at but, having cancer is more than difficult.  I miss my sister every day.

Cheryl & Nancy

Please don't take a chance. Get screened for women's cancers and share any symptoms with your doctor, even if they seem silly. Nancy's symptoms mimicked menopause so she waited.  Then it was too late.  Here is Nancy's ovarian cancer story in her own words.

the bumper sticker on Nancy's VW

These are the symptoms of ovarian cancer.

Please take a few minutes to read them

I try not to get political on this blog but I can't discuss women's health without mentioning the elephant in the room:  the attempts by a growing number of state legislatures to ban safe, legal abortion. 

Graduating from college in 1969, I grew up before Roe v. Wade.  I clearly remember horror stories of friends who became pregnant and had no options. If your family had money, you could fly to Europe for an abortion; if your family was poor or middle class, there was no safe option. Lives were ruined and families were torn apart.  Women can't get complacent. We simply CAN'T GO BACK THERE!

I was brought up Catholic. But I am firmly PRO-CHOICE. Who better to decide on such a private matter than a woman, her doctor, and, if she chooses, her clergy person? Certainly not a male politician who has never met her and does not know her medical, emotional and financial situation.

If my special needs daughter got pregnant it would literally kill her. Who should decide then?  Her family . . .  or her Congressman?  For me the choice is simple.

As a Mom, grandmother and retired teacher, this meme makes a lot of sense to me:

As women, we need to start talking - and  really listening - to our bodies, and to each other.

A Sewing Bee for Women with Cancer

While I was in Searsport for Fiber College, I was finally able to join the ladies of the "Searsport Sewing Bee" as they made chemo scarves to donate to women with cancer. That seemed especially appropriate to me since September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month.

 

 

 I started sewing scarves for my sister, Nancy, when she began chemo for ovarian cancer in 2006. I made them for her and for other women having infusions at Maine Medical Center.

 

Nancy at MMC

 

Then, when Nancy passed away in 2010, I just stopped sewing.

I was crazy with grief and

couldn't concentrate on the scarves anymore.

 

Until I met Kendra.
 

Kendra
 

Amazing Women: Life Is Made Up of Moments

I just got an e-mail from Kendra, the woman who hosted the group of Searsport women who sewed forty-two scarves for women with cancer in one afternoon.  Kendra wrote:

"I received this today from one of the ladies~ she calls the group Kendra's Angels and can not wait for the next adventure.  She took the day off work so she could be here." 

 

Beneath this, Kendra copied what her friend had written to her and forwarded it on to me. I was so touched by what this woman wrote that I really wanted to share it. 

Here it is:

" When I heard about this event  (Kendra's scarf sewing party) , I looked forward to it every day.  

 

When I got there (of course, a couple of minutes late) my chair and sewing machine awaited me.

The assembly line was in motion, and the time went by in a flash - I couldn't believe it when you said the top stitching was already done.

Then we adjourned to your backyard where I stood in awe of the beautiful weather, the mammoth sunflowers in bloom, and watched the dogs romping gaily across the manicured fields.

 

Life is made up of moments - and this was one of those that will stay with me forever. 

Thankfully your daughter contributed by artistically hanging the kerchiefs on the line and freeze-framing the event with her photos.

It's like autumn...you want to grab and hold onto the foliage because in no time, the leaves will drop from the trees and time will march on with whatever is next.

 

But we can pull these photos up any time and go back to the magic of that day. We bonded within our group and now have bonded with women across Maine. Yes, there was energy in the room!"

Photo courtesy of  Fiber College, Searsport 2014

 

I'm tempted to blog my thoughts, too."

To Kendra's friend . . .

You just did!

 

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

This post is linked to:

Show & Share at Coastal Charm
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Amazing Women: Helping Women with Cancer

In a recent blog post, I wrote about some remarkable women from the Searsport, Maine area who  were planning to get together to sew scarves for cancer patients in Augusta.

 

Well . . . they did!

The "Sewing Party" was hosted by Kendra. a woman I met at Fiber College. Thanks to Kendra and her friends, the legacy "My Sister's Scarves" will live on and benefit women with cancer in mid-coast Maine.

Kendra emailed to tell me that she wanted to help with the scarf project in honor of her sister-in-law, who has been battling cancer for six years.

 

So she invited over fourteen (!!!) of her closest friends . . .

and their sewing machines . . .

Put out some refreshments . . .

 

And got busy!

In just two hours, this industrious group completed 42 scarves!

(If you and your friends would like to make some, the pattern is here.)

Kendra reports that they had so much fun, they want to do it again.

(They're accepting donations of cotton fabrics if anyone would like to help out; you can contact me and I'll get it up to them).

 

In the e-mail in which she sent me these photos, Kendra told me a story I wanted to share.

 

 

 She wrote, "I wanted to tell you.  I have a daughter who was sleeping when everything started  ~~ when she came downstairs she started crying  because the scene (of all the women sewing scarves) touched her so much."

 

I love the clever way the ladies decided to show off their finished scarves . . .

where else on a gorgeous September day in Maine but on the clothesline behind the barn?

 

 

I think they look pretty happy to have finished . . . especially Kendra...

She's the one celebrating in the front of the group.

 

I just received this in the mail (literally . . . while I was typing this post) :

 

 

Isn't it amazing how women just help each other out, without being asked?

 

Sewing in memory of . . .

My dear friend, Diana

Breast Cancer

1941 - 2010

 

My sister, Nancy

Ovarian Cancer

1952 - 2010

 

 

This post is linked to:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Time Travel Thursday at Brambleberry Cottage

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants

I Quilt Thursdays at Pretty Bobbins

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Inspiration

Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch

Wow Me Wednesday at Ginger Snap Crafts

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Cozy Little House

 

 

 

 

Chemo Scarf Pattern

I was overwhelmed by the response to my September 14th post about sewing "Nancy's scarves" for cancer patients. So many of you have asked for the pattern that I'm posting it here.

Feel free to share.

Cut a pattern out of newspaper or craft paper. Pattern is an isosceles triangle 29-1/4" long on one side and 20-1/2" long on the other 2 sides. 5/8 seam is allowed in the pattern.

Here's my well-used pattern . . . coffee spills and all!

Since the scarf is reversible, for each scarf you will be will be cutting the pattern twice - once from each of two coordinating fabrics. Be sure to place on the fold of the fabric when cutting out.

 

 

Sew the two scarf pieces together, right sides together. Leave an opening for turning. Turn the scarf right side out and press. Topstitch 1/4 to 3/8 inch from the edge and you're done!

My sister was such a good sport about modeling for me!

Since Nancy was a 3rd/4th grade teacher, I made her scarves for every holiday. The kids loved them. Here she is in her Halloween scarf  . . . so many happy memories, yet my eyes still tear up.

Occasionally, Nancy would just wear this to make the kids laugh!

 

I don't have a pattern for the Mickey Mouse hat so we'll all just have to stick to sewing scarves!

 

If you would like to learn about ovarian cancer, you can read Nancy's story, in her own words, here.

Thanks to each of you for doing this in memory of Nancy and all of our "sisters" who have been touched by cancer. 

 

Happy Sewing!

 

 

 This post is gratefully linked to:

I Quilt at Pretty Bobbins

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios

Sewing Scarves for Cancer Patients

This is the story of two amazing women who I met on the last day of Fiber College and a random act of kindness that has touched my life...and will soon touch the lives of many women with cancer.

For years, while my sister Nancy dealt with the side effects of ovarian cancer treatment, I sewed her scarves. Lots of scarves. It became my therapy as I supported her.  I wrote about Nancy's scarves on my blog at My Sister's Scarves. I hope you'll take a minute to click on the link and read her story.

The short version is that I made so many scarves Nancy couldn't possibly wear them all so we began making them to donate to the Maine Medical Cancer Center in Scarborough, where Nancy went for chemo, and the Cancer Community Center in South Portland. After Nancy passed away in 2010, I was left with bins of cut out scarves to sew. It became more than I had time to keep up with so I brought a bin of the scarves-to-be to Fiber College with me last week, hoping that some of the quilters there might be able to use the fabric. The bin sat on the quilting table for four days, and, at the Farewell Get-together on the last day, a woman named Kendra introduced herself. Let's call her  "Amazingingly Kind Woman #1".

Nancy's scarves

Kendra explained that she and a group of her friends from the Searsport area would like to complete the pile of scarves left in the bin and donate them to the Augusta Cancer Center. In the time it took me to finish my bread pudding (yummy!), Kendra had surrounded herself with interested sewers and was showing them the scarves. She actually had one on! I felt myself tearing up and had to walk outside for a minute. Thanks to Kendra, "My Sister's Scarves" would go on . . . and help other women like Nancy.

And it doesn't end there...

Nancy 2006

Another woman, Beverly from Medford, Maine, introduced herself and asked if she might have a cut-out scarf to use as a pattern so that she could make some to donate to women with cancer in the Dover-Foxcroft area. (Again with the tears and the dash outside to compose myself). To me, Beverly will always be "Amazingly Kind Woman #2".

Now I'm wondering if this might go viral . . . more and more of us sewing these simple reversible scarves for cancer patients.

Nancy's New England Patriots Scarf, Side #1

 

and Side #2   Go Pats!

A few days after I returned from Fiber College, Kendra forwarded this to me . . . her invitation to her friends to join her to sew scarves. (And check out the reference to moose hunting...this is Maine after all!)

Good Evening Ladies~~~

 

I am back and ready to do something!!! Bruce will be away moose hunting so I think it is time for a get together.

 

So on Wednesday September 24th  at 2:00 you are invited to our house.  We will be making kerchiefs for chemo patients.  I was given a box ~already cut out ~ so we need to sew them~turn them~hand stitch the opening ~press them~ and then top stitch them.  We need lots of hands~~it doesn't require any sewing skills.

 

I will have wine and appetizers.
Hope to see you all~~it will be a good time!!!

 

~Kendra

So this post is a great big THANK YOU to Kendra and Beverly, two very kind women who I was so fortunate to meet.
 

"Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you."
~Princess Diana

 

  

 This post is linked to:
Sew Darn Crafty at Sew Many Ways

 

In loving memory of my sister, Nancy Smith Tufts

1952 - 2010



 

Relay for Life 2010

Nancy at Searsport Shores, Site #22, Aug. 2007