Breast Cancer Awareness Giveaway!

My last blog post was a pretty personal one that spoke of the type of aggressive breast cancer that took my mom in July of this year. It has been really difficult for my family losing her, and to us, it felt sudden. 

But I want to honor her and do something to spread that awareness about inflammatory breast cancer. So, this month, I will be hosting a giveaway. 

The giveaway will begin on 10/1 and will end on 10/30. So you'll have plenty of time to make sure you're entered and share share share!!!


It has been a long time since I have ran a giveaway, and in most of my giveaways, there was only 1 winner. This time there will be 3! 

Winners will be announced here on my blog November 1st! So be sure to keep checking back. Don't forget to increase your chances to be one of the winners by commenting below and sharing. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wondering how to enter? Here are the rules:

You will need to enter yourself using AT LEAST ONE of the entering methods on the rafflecopter giveaway form. You can do as many or as few as you would like but at least 1 must be done.

You MUST fill out this form with your information so I may contact you and send you your prize. If you do not add your contact and address information, your entry will not be counted.

**Your contact information will not be public. It is for my eyes only**

The 3 winners will each be offered the opportunity to choose which one, out of these products below, that they would like to receive as their prize.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Awareness Keychain by capturedbyKC

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Awareness Reusable Grocery Bag

by capturedbyKC

Grow Hope Coffee Mug by capturedbyKC

Grow Hope Pinback Awareness Button by capturedbyKC

Thanks for joining me in this giveaway and please remember to share. Hope you have fun and good luck everyone!

Losing My Mom to IBC

It's nearly October, and for many of us, that means seeing Breast Cancer Awareness articles, donation requests, news stories, fundraisers, and etc at every turn. In sync with breast cancer awareness month, I just want to share a topic that mattered to someone who mattered a lot to me.

Breast Cancer is a demon that plagues the lives of people we love everyday. My mom was one of those people who . She was an amazing woman with a fiery spirit. She was stubborn and outspoken too(probably where I get it from). She fought harder than anyone I have ever seen, and I am so proud of her. 

In 2013, she was diagnosed with stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer. Please look into this type of cancer. It is rare, it is fast growing, and it is very aggressive. 

Image Credit to The IBC Network Foundation

After 6 highly intense rounds of chemotherapy, a mastectomy, and 33 radiation treatments... my mom was finally confirmed to be "cancer free" in 2014. She had sacrificed a lot to fight the fight. She lost her hair, her hearing in one ear, and eventually the medications destroyed the strength in her teeth. She was forced to have them pulled and get false teeth. But she was alive. 

We were blessed. 

Anyone who has been reading my blog or follows me on social media knows that I recently lost my mother to this cancer. There was a relapse, only this time because of the type of cancer she had, it spread throughout her body and into her major organs before anyone knew what was happening to her.

The thing that people don't understand about the importance of awareness is, the doctors don't know much about cancers like this. Nothing is guaranteed. Learning all we can about this is important because, the sooner it's spotted, the more time a doctor has to react and learn how to give you your best chance. 

My mom wanted people to learn about this cancer and to share what they know with others. She didn't want people to go thru what she went through. So this has become very important to me.

Please take a moment to study up on this cancer and be informed that just because it isn't noticed on a mammogram, doesn't mean it isn't there. Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare aggressive cancer, but it is not so rare that it can't affect you.

Breast Cancer Awareness Tshirts

All types of awareness is important, but this month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This awareness topic is one that is close to my heart because my best friend and Mother is fighting against a rare, serious, and very aggressive form of breast cancer. 

Image resource: http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/inflammatory-breast-cancer

If you don't know what inflammatory Breast Cancer is or would like to learn more, please take a gander at my previous post here explaining a bit about it.

Every little bit we can do to help spread awareness is important. Whether it is through conversation, billboards, blogging, or even through fashion. It all helps and I wanted to showcase a few awesome breast cancer awareness t-shirt designs.

 

Fight Like a Girl Boxing - Breast Cancer Tshirt by MissionWeCanDoIt

 

I Believe - Breast Cancer Awareness T Shirt by MEDIAbee

 

Breast Cancer I Wear Pink Ribbon TRIBUTE Tee Shirt by cancerapparel

 

Halloween 1 Breast Cancer Survivor T-shirts by awarenessgifts

 

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Awareness Tee Shirt by capturedbyKC

Creations For A Cause

It has been quite a while since I've done any sort of blogging. A lot of unforeseen and unfortunate events have taken place in my home life between then and now. One of which was my best friend and Mother being diagnosed with stage III Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

If you have never heard of Inflammatory Breast Cancer or don't know much about it, don't feel bad... neither had we. Now we do and I wish this had not been how we had found out. It is something everyone should know about but many are unaware of. Please research and get informed because it is aggressive and very serious.

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My Mother (photo taken sometime before cancer)

The Above photo is one of my Mother, Martha. Just in the last few years before IBC, she has been through so much and through all of that I have seen just how brave and strong she is. I couldn't be more proud of her. I have witnessed her battle with divorce, the threat of losing her home, and even job loss... she has fiercely bounced back from it all. She is an inspiration to me. 

While she is one of the strongest people I know, she cannot beat IBC alone. She has many family and friends for moral and emotional support, but cancer is costly. 

She has only had 1 chemotherapy treatment so far and because of the aggressiveness of the cancer, the reaction of the chemo along with viral stomach infection caused her to be hospitalized for 8 days. Now she is unable to work. Bills are starting to pile on.

 Every day I am searching and searching for resources to help so that she won't have to worry about the threat of losing her home again. I've talked with social workers and other aids, but there just doesn't seem to be a lot out there. She can only fight one battle at a time. Please consider ordering one of my awareness gifts I've designed. All of the royalties will go towards financially helping my Mother during this battle. Any little bit helps and would truly be appreciated. Many blessings!

Shop My Awareness Gifts Here at Zazzle

And

Shop My Awareness Gifts Here at Cafepress

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A Bit About IBC

Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare, serious, and very aggressive form of breast cancer in which cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast. This type of cancer is called 'Inflammatory Breast Cancer' because it causes the breast to appear swollen or 'inflamed'. It has acquired the unsettling nickname 'The Silent Killer', because many times there is no lump and is a rapid progressing form of cancer- usually taking only a matter of weeks or months. 

Please Click the links below to research more about IBC

and share this blog with others so that they to may be informed.

Awareness is important.

IBC Explanatory Video

www.eraseibc.com 

www.ibcnetwork.org

Cancer.gov- About IBC

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