If Not Me, Then Who?

As I hope you know by now, it is Lung Cancer Awareness month, and the members of the LC community have been working our lungs out (see what I did there?) to educate and raise awareness about this horrible disease.

A heartfelt thank you to my friends and family who have put up with me going on (and on and on...) about lung cancer awareness. But it means a lot to me. Obviously.

During this week, this week of thankfulness, 3,000 people in my community will die from this ignored, underfunded, misunderstood, and stigmatized disease. 

3,000 people.

In this week of Thanksgiving I am constantly reminded of just how freakin' lucky I am to still be around today. I can breathe. I can speak. I can write. Too many people in my community are no longer able to do so.

I speak out for myself and on behalf of those who no longer can. I keep talking about it, because so far I am not one of the 3,000.

I keep advocating because I still can. If not me, then who?

As part of the effort to educate and raise awareness, I have been posting images, stories, and facts each day on my Facebook page. If you haven't yet, please join us on the Lil Lytnin' Facebook page.

I also had the opportunity to share my story on a few other platforms. Click through each link to read the articles.

For the first time in my lung cancer advocacy career, I wrote for a non-cancer-related site, Parents Magazine.

| The Parents Perspective

 

I guest blogged at Livestrong.

A Survivor Story: Tori Tomalia

Lung Cancer Awareness Month (#LCAM) got some nice coverage on NBC news and I got to share my story again, this time alongside two awesome women, Emily Bennett Taylor and Arielle Densen.

Lung Cancer for Nonsmokers Still Stained by Stigma - NBC News

By the way, I swear I have submitted other photos to these media outlets, but they always choose this one. I can't blame them, Edda did an amazing job with it!

I also made an online quiz, a fun, interactive way to learn something about lung cancer. 

What do you know about cancer?



So there's a recap of what I have been working on over the past month (I mean, in addition to juggling side effects, raising kids, living life, helping start a business, etc.). Don't think I have forgotten about the outstanding people and groups that have been doing great things for LCAM14. I will have a "Best Of" list in a subsequent post. Stay tuned!