For Mother’s Day: Flowers, Chocolates – and Cervixes?

    Posted May 7th, 2009 by

    Seems strange to talk about cervical cancer on Mother’s Day? Well, imagine this. You’re 26 years old and you’re diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. You think you’ve beaten it, but two short years later your cancer returns and you have to have a radical hysterectomy – along with painful chemotherapy and radiation – and your doctor tells you that you’ll never be able to bear your own children.

    This is what happened to me. So I think Mother’s Day seems like the perfect time to discuss how to protect your right to be a mom!

    I tell you all this because this Mother’s Day will have special meaning for me. I was fortunate to be able to harvest my eggs before my treatment began. And now, five years later, after multiple attempts, my husband and I are connected with a surrogate who is about 12 weeks pregnant with a baby. It’s been a long and exhausting road, but we’re finally set to fulfill our wish of becoming parents. And the take home message – this no longer has to happen to any woman!

    Which brings me back to cervical cancer. This year, more than 11,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with this disease and more than 4,000 women will die of it. Worldwide, it’s the second-leading cause of cancer in women. But no woman should lose her life or her fertility to cervical cancer! It is completely preventable if every woman knows about and benefits from the tools – the Pap test, HPV test and HPV vaccine – now available to protect them from this disease.

    That’s the message that the Pearl of Wisdom™ Campaign to Prevent Cervical Cancer wants women to get – and share – in honor of Mother’s Day on May 10.

    Here is what every woman should know to help protect themselves from this disease:

    • Girls and women ages 9-26: Ask your healthcare provider about the HPV vaccine. It protects against the two types of HPV that cause the majority of cervical cancers. Even women who have been vaccinated will still need to be screened.

    • Women age 21 or older (or within 3 years of becoming sexually active): Get the Pap test, which detects abnormal cells that can lead to cervical cancer.

    • Women age 30 or older: Get the Pap test and the HPV test together as part of routine cervical cancer screening. The HPV test detects the virus that causes cervical cancer, identifying those women at increased risk who will need to be monitored more closely.

    The campaign urges women to take care of themselves by talking to their healthcare provider about screening and vaccination. And spread this message! You can help do this by wearing a Pearl of Wisdom, the global symbol for cervical cancer prevention – particularly on Mother’s Day.

    More information is available at here. Visitors can also send Mother’s Day e-cards featuring “virtual” pearls of wisdom about cervical cancer prevention through the website to special women in their lives. Pins are also available for purchase at the website, with all proceeds going to the U.S. Pearl of Wisdom Campaign Fund, which supports U.S.-based cervical cancer prevention activities.

    Please help me get the word out! Tell your mom, your friends, your colleagues about the Pearl of Wisdom campaign and how they can protect themselves from this disease. And on Mother’s Day, wear a Pearl of Wisdom pin in support of cervical cancer prevention. Visit PearlofWisdom.us for more information.

    Thanks – and have a very happy Mother’s Day!

    Permalink

    2 Comments

    May 8, 2009 at 11:41 am by Del "Abe" Jones

    Mother Time

    They say, “Time will heal all.”
    Well, I’m not sure that’s true
    For each year on Mother’s Day
    There’s still nothing, I can do.

    I can’t go and visit Mom
    I can’t, give her a call
    I can’t send a card or flowers
    There’s just the memories, that’s all.

    The times that I remember
    Aren’t, a certain Mother’s Day
    It’s all those many, special times
    We shared, along the way.

    Some memories are funny
    And some of them are sad
    There were times, of learning
    When, I was that young lad.

    Now, that I’ve grown older
    And now that Mom is gone
    I think of all I wish I’d said
    Before, she had passed on.

    Del “Abe” Jones
    05.07.2009

    These are all past Mother’s Day pieces

    MILITARY MOMS

    This year on Mother’s Day
    We should think of offspring lost
    And Mothers of all those Troops
    Who paid the ultimate cost.

    They’ve watched Sons and Daughters
    Sent off to a foreign land
    To fight wars and give their all
    In some conflicts so ill planned.

    But no matter what the reasons
    They’ve always stepped up to the line
    To give their lives for Freedoms
    Enjoyed by all of yours and mine.

    We must Honor all those Mothers
    Of all those who have Served
    And Sacrifices that they made
    With our, “Thanks!”, so well deserved.

    It takes a very Special Lady
    To let Her Child go off to War
    Or just to join the Military
    With the pride and fear and more.

    There’s too many Gold Star Mothers
    And if you might know of one
    Please send Her a special wish
    To praise Her Daughter or Son.

    Military Moms are the Greatest
    With a strength beyond compare
    Who hope and pray their loved one
    Comes Home safe, from over there.

    So, let’s keep them in our thoughts
    And hope their prayers come true
    All those Moms and all those Troops
    Who stand Strong and Proud, and True.

    Del “Abe” Jones
    5-10-2006

    IF SHE’S STILL WITH YOU
    In Memory of Margaret Rader Johnson

    Just a few days ago
    A friend lost her Mother
    And as we all know
    There will never be another.

    She’s one of the few things in life
    That can never be replaced
    She’s led us down those life’s paths
    That can never be retraced.

    Too many take their Moms for granted
    And think they’ll always be around
    They don’t know how She’ll be missed
    When, one day She’s Heaven-bound.

    Why we celebrate this special day
    Only this one time a year?
    When everyday our Mom is special
    And we should tell Her, make that clear.

    So, if you are a lucky one
    Whose Mom is still with you
    Tell her everyday you love her
    For, that’s the least that you can do.

    Del “Abe” Jones
    5.9.2007

    Mother’s Day

    There were some different beginnings
    To what we know as, “Mother’s Day”
    One woman, Anna Reeves Jarvis
    “Mothers’ Work Day Clubs”, her way.

    They focused on sanitary conditions
    And provided medicines for the poor
    They promised to care for all Soldiers
    From both sides in the Civil War.

    After that War that had divided
    The new-found peace would take her
    To healing families and friends
    And she became a real peacemaker.

    Then, in the Eighteen seventies
    Something we could sure use now
    “Mothers’ Peace Day” was started
    By, Julia Ward Howe.

    A famous woman of the time
    Reformer, lecturer, and writer of note
    “The Battle Hymn Of The Republic”
    Is something that she wrote.

    A woman’ suffrage association
    Voted her their first President
    And hers, the first suggestion
    To have a Mother’s Day event.

    Then there was Frank Hering
    In the year Nineteen ought-four
    Of the Fraternal Order Of Eagles
    Who claimed to open the door.

    In Nineteen fourteen Woodrow Wilson
    Recommending a Federal Mother’s Day
    Signed a joint resolution
    That we now observe each year in May.

    No matter who takes the credit
    It was a long time overdue
    To honor all those Ladies
    Who gave life to me and you.

    So, those who still have theirs
    Should remember those times passed
    And thank Her now for all those things
    She’s done for you in the past.

    For those whose Mom is gone
    It’s a time to reflect and say,
    “Mom, I love and miss you,
    On this, and every other day.”

    Our Mothers shape our being
    And have an endless wealth to give
    And She will be a part of us
    For as long as we may live.

    Del “Abe” Jones

    FOR MOMS

    She was there at the beginning
    When the world was new to you -
    She was there to turn to happy times
    Those when, you were hurt or blue.

    She was there to listen to your thoughts
    And when you asked, to give advice -
    She was there to tell you, “Those don’t match!”
    Or, “Hon, you sure look nice.”

    She was there with you at nighttime
    To help you say your prayers _
    She was there to tell you, “It’s alright.”
    When you had a dream that scares.

    She was there at morning time
    To get you up and out of bed -
    She was there when you didn’t feel good (or did)
    To say, “You’d best stay home, instead.”

    She was there when you were hungry
    And when you had those dirty clothes -
    She was there when you needed her
    (How she knew? Only heaven knows.)

    She was there at the beginning
    And she’ll be there your whole life through -
    She’ll be there in your mind and heart
    Just like a mother is supposed to do.

    Del “Abe” Jones

    MY ROCK
    (Mom)

    Sometimes I catch myself
    Thinking, “When I phone,
    I can talk of this or that!”
    Then remember, I’m alone.

    She was always there
    To answer my calls -
    To listen to my “small talk”
    Or when I climbed the walls.

    At times, I didn’t feel like talking
    And somehow, she understood -
    Didn’t say she wished I’d call
    Or make me feel like I should.

    Now, I wish I would have
    More times, to show I cared -
    To say, just how important
    Were, all those times we shared.

    I could have shown my love
    So much more than I did -
    I never, did it enough
    Even when I was a kid.

    Now it’s too late to do or say
    All those things I wish I had -
    No way to ease the pain inside
    When my heart is sad.

    She was my “anchor” to this life -
    The “rock”, that I clung to -
    The place, where I could turn
    When, nowhere else would do.

    Now, the ravages of time
    Have worn my “rock” away -
    And all I have to cling to
    Are memories of yesterday.

    Del “Abe” Jones

    IN PASSING

    Sometimes Mom in passing
    Would pat you on the back
    And sometimes in passing
    She’d show you the right track.

    Sometimes Mom in passing
    Would say, “You sure look nice!”
    And sometimes in passing
    She could, make you, think twice.

    Sometimes Mom in passing
    Would lightly touch your hair
    And sometimes in passing
    She’d show you what was fair.

    Sometimes Mom in passing
    Would ask, “What do you mean?”
    And sometimes in passing
    She would get in between.

    Sometimes Mom in passing
    Would give you, “that look”
    And sometimes in passing
    Would give you what it took.

    But this time, Mom is passing
    From this world to the best
    And this time in passing
    She’ll pass the final test.

    And when Mom has passed
    And the pain is so unkind
    Just look and you’ll find her
    There in your heart and mind.

    Del “Abe” Jones

    STILL IN THE HEART

    I have this Lady friend
    Whose Mother passed away
    Moving to a better place
    And, a peaceful day.

    I know about the pain
    That, she is going through
    Because the loss of “Mom”
    Is the saddest, that is true.

    Sometimes, it is a blessing
    When their “life” is in decline
    Not, what it used to be
    When, “everything” worked fine.

    But still, it hurts so much
    When Mother goes away
    When you know you won’t see Her
    For, forever and a day.

    But the memories will be there
    And will help, to get you through
    When, you’re thinking of Mom
    And, feeling kind of blue.

    Del “Abe” Jones

    [Reply]

    May 8, 2009 at 10:30 am by Debra

    My daughter was diagnosed with cervical cancer, she has displesia and the cells turned cancerous. She was only 16 at the time. She has to be checked every 6 months. The doctor told her that if she waited another month she would had to have a hysteroctomy and chemo. My heart goes out to you and will keep you in my prayers.

    [Reply]

    Leave a Comment

    Your name is required
    An Email address is required

    Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail

    x
    READ OTHER MOMSRISING STORIES