I love awareness items. They prompt people to ask questions, they show support for a cause, and it brings the cause to the forefront.
There are several causes I support that have ribbons, and a few I support that dont have ribbons. I am trying to design ribbons for the ones that dont have one, but it's difficult to get them to the forefront.
Here are the ribbons I support:
Pink Ribbon Items
My grandmother had breast cancer and she survived. When she got breast cancer, she was 80 years old and she found it herself. She was diagnosed on September 11, 2001. She beat it and lived until April 2010, when she died of something completely different.
Teal Ribbon Items
This ribbon stands for many things, including all womens gynecological cancers. Two of my aunts, who are sisters, have been diagnosed with gynecological cancer. One has ovarian cancer and the other has uterine cancer. My Mom just had a hysterectomy because of possible cancer, but luckily it wasn't. There have been three hysterectomies in my family this year alone, so this is a real concern on mine and my sisters part. This is not a good thing, because it's genetic. We are becoming very prone to these types of cancers in my family, and especially on my mothers side. It's truly frightening.
Blue Ribbon Items
The Thin Blue Line for police officers killed in the line of duty. Police Officer deaths are something that should never happen.
Red Ribbon Items
Red for Firefighters killed while on duty. This is another thing that should never happen. Police and Firefighters fight to protect our lives and safety, and they put their lives on the line more often than people realize. They must be remembered.
Black
This one can stand for melanoma, POW-MIA, anti-gang violence, anti-terrorism, and trauma awareness. It can also stand for mourning either alone or with another wristband to signify mourning for a specific purpose:
Black and Pink: Mourning for a daughter, Mourning for a Breast Cancer Victim, Mourning for a Mother, Mourning for a baby
Black and Blue: Mourning for a son, Mourning for a father, Mourning for a baby, Mourning for a Police Officer, or Mourning for any other blue awareness item.
Black and Red: Mourning for a firefighter, etc.
You get the idea.
Here are the ones that dont have ribbons that I know of that I'm working on personal designs for:
Pituitary Tumors
Animal Abuse
Wolf Protection and Awareness
Religious Tolerance
There are others, but those are the main ones. I created a teal ribbon last night for my aunts who are fighting cancer, and it's a special ribbon that means alot to us. I'm hoping it will show them that we support them and that they are always in our prayers.
This has been an extremely rough year for my family and I, and it hasn't slowed down.
Five deaths, two close calls, five people fighting cancer- three family members and two co-workers (three are dying), and one benign but no less dangerous tumor diagnosis. All since late March. I feel at the moment like my entire family is dying and there's nothing we can do about it. My friends all seemed to have disappeared. I'm honestly not sure what to do, but we will survive. We Will Survive. That's our motto. ^_^
So, what Ribbons/Causes do you support?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Welcome to Causes I Believe In
Hello! Welcome to "Causes I Believe In" which is a collection of posts regarding the causes and movements that I would like to help get their message out for awareness about a particular subject.
I have one cause on my mind lately that is very dear to me, and it's regarding a subject that is almost entirely unknown in the general population, as well as the medical community. There are several groups trying to get the message out there about this disease which accounts for almost 15-20% of brain tumors. This disease I am talking about is Pituitary Tumors.
Most pituitary tumors are benign, but because of where they are located and how they can grow, they can cause so many problems, psychologically, emotionally and physically. The symptoms they can cause can be so varied as well that it can be difficult for a doctor to pin down what is wrong, and usually they end up treating the symptoms, not the cause.
That's what happened to me. I had been having problems with many things for a long time, and for a long time no one could figure out what was wrong. They would tell me, (concerning my mood swings, which can be a symptom), your bipolar, your depressed, your ADD. But even when they said that was what it was and sent me home with medication, I knew that wasn't right. But I accepted it and took the meds. They didn't work. I went to a specialist for some problems I was having for something different and she ran some blood tests, which came back somewhat normal, except for my prolactin levels were extremely high. She ordered an MRI and they discovered and microadenoma. I did the research and suddenly, I had my answer! These were all the symptoms I'd been experiencing! Right on this list! I did more research, (which can be a bad thing, trust me.), and learned that its the second most common brain tumor, accounting for 15-20% of all brain tumors.
What scared me though, was that I had just been diagnosed with this and my doctor told me, in no uncertain terms, that this was something not to toy with. I HAD to get it taken care of.
Then I lost all my insurance.
These groups are trying to get the word out about pituitary tumors to people and medical communities, get a testing standard out there, and make sure that no one else has to suffer and possibly die because of something that's treatable. Early diagnosis is key, and without it, treatment can be difficult and very expensive.
I believe everyone must know about this disease, women and men alike, and realize that it's not a taboo subject. It needs to be spoken about and people need to know that it's real. It's not just "paranoia", "hypochondrism", or anything else. It's real. People who have these symptoms need to be tested and treated. It will be a long process, but it will happen someday. Testing for this will be as routine as anything else. I just hope it happens sooner than later.
The following are websites that I have found helpful resources at:
www.pituitary.org - Great website, but to access the forums you need to pay a membership fee. There's still great information on here regardless.
www.abta.org - American Brain Tumor Association. Wonderful website with so many resources! I've been looking through it for two days and still haven't seen everything! They have Tumor and Treatment Info, Care and Support, Research and Progress, as well as Events and ways you can help.
I will add more links and information as I find it.
Also, for your information:
"Adenoma" translates into "Gland Tumor".
The colors for pituitary tumors is Gray on one side, and white/red/white on the other. (Not officially, but it's a nice ribbon.)
Pituitary tumors affect women and men.
Until recently, they were considered very rare tumors. Now it is believed that one in five people have a pituitary adenoma.
That's all I have for you today. I hope I have peaked your interest in a sadly little known subject. If you have a story you'd like to share, feel free to do it! I like to know that I'm not alone in this. I have a couple more causes in the mix and will post them when the time is right. Have a wonderful day and I will see you all next time!
God bless!
-Rae McConnahan
I have one cause on my mind lately that is very dear to me, and it's regarding a subject that is almost entirely unknown in the general population, as well as the medical community. There are several groups trying to get the message out there about this disease which accounts for almost 15-20% of brain tumors. This disease I am talking about is Pituitary Tumors.
Most pituitary tumors are benign, but because of where they are located and how they can grow, they can cause so many problems, psychologically, emotionally and physically. The symptoms they can cause can be so varied as well that it can be difficult for a doctor to pin down what is wrong, and usually they end up treating the symptoms, not the cause.
That's what happened to me. I had been having problems with many things for a long time, and for a long time no one could figure out what was wrong. They would tell me, (concerning my mood swings, which can be a symptom), your bipolar, your depressed, your ADD. But even when they said that was what it was and sent me home with medication, I knew that wasn't right. But I accepted it and took the meds. They didn't work. I went to a specialist for some problems I was having for something different and she ran some blood tests, which came back somewhat normal, except for my prolactin levels were extremely high. She ordered an MRI and they discovered and microadenoma. I did the research and suddenly, I had my answer! These were all the symptoms I'd been experiencing! Right on this list! I did more research, (which can be a bad thing, trust me.), and learned that its the second most common brain tumor, accounting for 15-20% of all brain tumors.
What scared me though, was that I had just been diagnosed with this and my doctor told me, in no uncertain terms, that this was something not to toy with. I HAD to get it taken care of.
Then I lost all my insurance.
These groups are trying to get the word out about pituitary tumors to people and medical communities, get a testing standard out there, and make sure that no one else has to suffer and possibly die because of something that's treatable. Early diagnosis is key, and without it, treatment can be difficult and very expensive.
I believe everyone must know about this disease, women and men alike, and realize that it's not a taboo subject. It needs to be spoken about and people need to know that it's real. It's not just "paranoia", "hypochondrism", or anything else. It's real. People who have these symptoms need to be tested and treated. It will be a long process, but it will happen someday. Testing for this will be as routine as anything else. I just hope it happens sooner than later.
The following are websites that I have found helpful resources at:
www.pituitary.org - Great website, but to access the forums you need to pay a membership fee. There's still great information on here regardless.
www.abta.org - American Brain Tumor Association. Wonderful website with so many resources! I've been looking through it for two days and still haven't seen everything! They have Tumor and Treatment Info, Care and Support, Research and Progress, as well as Events and ways you can help.
I will add more links and information as I find it.
Also, for your information:
"Adenoma" translates into "Gland Tumor".
The colors for pituitary tumors is Gray on one side, and white/red/white on the other. (Not officially, but it's a nice ribbon.)
Pituitary tumors affect women and men.
Until recently, they were considered very rare tumors. Now it is believed that one in five people have a pituitary adenoma.
That's all I have for you today. I hope I have peaked your interest in a sadly little known subject. If you have a story you'd like to share, feel free to do it! I like to know that I'm not alone in this. I have a couple more causes in the mix and will post them when the time is right. Have a wonderful day and I will see you all next time!
God bless!
-Rae McConnahan
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