hello

It’s been a long while since you last heard from us. We are still here but we have taken some time off for me to get into a routine with two children (2 1/2 & 7 months). Drew was born in December and joins big sister, Jordan. During my time off from traveling we have worked on our website and it will go live in a few weeks. After 3 years since the booklet and website were introduced, we decided it was time to give Myself: Together Again a different look - we hope you love it as much as we do! Our website especially continues to be an amazing resource for women all over the world so it is so important to us that we keep it fresh and current.

I have also spent the last few months preparing myself to have an Oophorectomy (ovaries and fallopian tubes removed) at the end of this summer. Given that I have a BRAC mutation, it is important to have this surgery to strongly reduce the chance of me developing ovarian cancer. Those of you in the BRAC world know the statistics and since I am 37 and done having children, it seems like it is time. Now that it is fast approaching I find myself very uneasy about heading into menopause so young, but I have done my research and will continue to educate myself on how to best cope with all that will lie ahead. I am open to hearing other people's journeys down this road so please feel free to share. The surgery is scheduled for the first week in August.

Since we have not been traveling with the project I do not have as much to report. Our team has decided that since this will be a slow year, (for all the reasons I mentioned above), rather than sending quarterly newsletters we will just send what we are calling e-blasts - when we have something to report. I have accepted a few speaking engagements for the Fall - the events are in other states but close to home (see below for details). We have been pleased with booklet sales so far this year and we really hope that our new website will touch many women and give them hope and peace of mind as they take on reconstruction (or not).

Thank you for reading our first e-blast and for staying connected to this project. We need the support to keep doing this work.

Have a wonderful summer.
~Debbie

coming up

Fashion Fights Breast Cancer: September 13- Lux Salon, a trendy hair salon in Raleigh is teaming up with Raleigh Fashion Week's Jamie Powell and Fantasia Boutique to put on a hair show displaying the latest styles of hair. It will be a night of entertainment with many art forms showcased. Proceeds from this event will be given to M:TA. Debbie will be speaking at this event as well. If you live in Raleigh and want to attend, purchase your tickets at Lux Salon by September 1st.

Debbie will be speaking October 12th in Richmond Virginia at Henrico Doctors Hospital for their Pink Mondays series. The discussion will be entitled "Reconstruction or Not: Options After Breast Surgery".

Debbie has also applied to be an exhibitor at The Women's Conference, the largest two-day gathering of women in the country. It will be held October 26th and 27th in Long Beach California. Maria Shriver organizes the conference and this year she has invited Elizabeth Edwards and Kelly Preston to be panelist for a discussion about loss. It will be the only platform where Kelly Preston will speak publicly about coping with her son's death. One of M:TA's goals for 2009 is to exhibit the project to a different type of audience than just patient's, survivors, and medical professionals. We hope that we are accepted into this conference and can use the project to inspire and offer hope to all participants.