Here we go!! My first major speaking appearance as Ms. Iowa American Coed. Tonight I will attend the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Iowa's corporate cocktail reception at Stoney Creek Inn in Moline, IL from 5:30-7pm. Anyone is invited, so if you are in the area and would like to attend just show up!!
For those of you that don't know and have not followed any of my blog or stories, my daddy was diagnosed with Leukemia back in the 90s and passed away on December 30, 2004. I was a youngn' still in high school when I found out and I learned of this after overhearing someone talking at another family member's funeral. I don't think I really understood what Leukemia was even though I knew of some people that had it. I just knew that it was a cancer and it made you very, very, sick with having something to do with your blood. That is just what Leukemia is, a cancer of the blood or the bone marrow. How scary is that? I can't imagine being in my daddy's shoes at the time he found out or was so sick and did not know what was going on. I was not around to know what was going on and didn't know what the signs are for someone who could have a blood cancer. I am still not fully educated on this subject and am continuing to do research to be more knowledgable. I would by lying if I said that I did not have the fear that I may one day have it too. It is important to have blood screenings done it least once a year, especially after the age of 25. It has been quite some time since I have had anything like that done due to the loss of insurance when I had lost my job in 2009. (I will be at my new job a year next month, and this insurance we have does not do co-pays) My goal is to have some blood work done by the end of the year as I do realize that I am a direct decendent of someone who had the disease. Blood work will be able to make sure that my white blood cell levels are low/normal. Unfortunately, even blood work may not always catch the cells because the Leukemia is in early stages or has entered a remission. The American Cancer Society predicts that at least 1/5 of the people with Leukemia have not been diagnosed.
Back in 2000, 256,000 children and adults in the U.S. were diagnosed with Leukemia and 209,000 died from it. This number is scary in that it does not show enough people that survive this. With these numbers, which I would hope have decreased since the year 2000 makes it even more important to be able to fund studies and research to find better ways to treat the disease, effective means of treating it, and improving the quality of life for patients with the disease.
I am excited to help raise money for this cause. Maybe one day there won't be another daughter that has to plan a funeral by herself for her parent because of losing his battle with Leukemia. Tonight I will talk to top corporate people of companies around the Quad Cities and tell them about my experience losing a family member to Leukemia. I pray that I am able to deliver the right words and make it through my speech without shedding too many tears. Maybe I will reach the heart and ear of someone who is debating whether they want to give money to this cause that is dear to my heart as well. (I also have another platform)
So tonight, I stand for Leukemia...
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