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Watch Ace of Cakes tonight at 10pm…

The American Cancer Society, the Official Sponsor of Birthdays, joined forces with the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to reinvent the birthday cake. Because healthy living is key to creating a world with less cancer and more birthdays, the Society and CIA challenged CIA’s baking and pastry students to create a better-for-you birthday cake. The winner is now the official birthday cake of the American Cancer Society. “Ace of Cakes” Chef Duff Goldman joined the Society and CIA to select the winner, Chef Alexandra Mudry’s new take on red velvet cake, from a pool of five talented finalists.

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Let’s talk about fear. Are You Afraid of Breast Cancer? If so, you’re not alone. Cancer is a scary thing…And all the pink in the world can’t change that. Sure, pink ribbons may be pretty, but breast cancer is ugly and scary. Here are some facts about breast cancer…

• An estimated 182,800 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2000.
• Approximately 42,200 deaths will occur in women from breast cancer in 2000.
• One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.
• Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.
• Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.
• Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.

Many women are blogging about their breast cancer fears. From little fears to big fears. They have fears of mammograms, fears of treatments, fears or recurrences, fears of dying…and on and on. What are your breast cancer fears?

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September was childhood cancer awareness month and I never had a chance to post on it. But I did want to at least mention Carolyn Rubenstein’s book Perseverance.

Can you imagine being in high school or college and suddenly learning you have cancer? You thought you had a lifetime ahead of you and the whole world at your feet, but suddenly you’re told… maybe not. How would you cope?

That’s the question the twenty young people in this book had to answer when they were diagnosed with childhood cancer. Perseverance shares life lessons learned through their stories and educates the reader on how to incorporate them into his/her life. It tells of their trials and tribulations, of their triumphs, and of the unique challenges that day-to-day life brings them. Perseverance also provides an intimate look at the lives and journeys of these young people and how their courage and strength have affected the lives of others.

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I’m sure you’ve heard that October is breast cancer awareness month. The problem with breast cancer awareness is that being aware is only helpful if you can actually do something about it. And in the case of breast cancer, that something is getting a mammogram. Sadly, not every woman can afford to get a mammogram.

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I’m honored to be a member of the American Cancer Society’s Blogger Advisory Council, a small group of volunteers that advises the Society on its social media strategy.   Part of our mission is to help spread the word that we have power in the fight against cancer.  And our first step is to build awareness and encourage women to get involved.  Because…Visibility equals power! So we have started a blog “chain” to spread the word among women bloggers. We call it Bloggers for More Birthdays.

You can help…Join Bloggers for More Birthdays by dedicating a blog post to someone you love who’s been affected by cancer.  It’s a simple way to celebrate those you love.  Just write a post (like I’ve done here), host our badge, and know that whatever you write, you are helping to raise awareness and inspiring others to join American Cancer Society in the fight against cancer.

My contribution to this effort is about an angel named Becky…

Becky was my best friend.  A wonderful mother.  And a great mom-mom.  Even though she’s been gone for over seven years, a day rarely goes by that I don’t think of her and wish she were here.  Time has helped to replace some of my grief with many lovely memories, but it hasn’t healed my anger towards the disease that took her from us.  Cancer.

I hate cancer, and I hate that my friend didn’t get a chance to be a survivor.   Why her?  She deserved to be a survivor, she deserved to have more birthdays.  She fought this disease with every ounce of strength she had, but in the end cancer took away every ounce of strength she had.

Although I’m angry, I’m also grateful for the time I did have Becky in my life.  She was there for me during some very tough times.  I know I’m who I am today, partly because of her influence in my life.  I only wish I was able to thank her for that.

No matter how much time goes by, I will never forget the angel she was…and still is.

If you’ve posted, let The American Cancer Society know so they can feature it!  Just put a link to your post in the comments section here, or email your post to bloggersubmit@officialbirthdayblog.com.  You’ll be showing your support for More Birthdays and bring visibility to your blog.