Guest Post from Aislinn: National Infertility Awareness Week

It is National Infertility Awareness Week, and I am hosting a guest blogger today. Aislinn from Baby Makin' and I got connected through my friend Lauren at Our Crazy Ever After. If you go to Lauren's blog there will be a linkup of all the guest posts she set up for this week. Thanks to Lauren for the idea, and to Aislinn for the guest post.

RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, established in 1974, is a non-profit organization with the only established, nationwide network mandated to promote reproductive health and to ensure equal access to all family building options for men and women experiencing infertility or other reproductive disorders. RESOLVE founded the National Infertility Awareness Week in 1989.
RESOLVE improves the lives of women and men living with infertility. 

One in eight U.S. couples of childbearing age is diagnosed with infertility. RESOLVE addresses this public health issue by providing community to these women and men, connecting them with others who can help, empowering them to find resolution and giving voice to their demands for access to all family building options.

We have a winner!

Thanks to all of you who voted for Mayowood. The winners were announced today and Mayowood was among them. If there are opportunities for community members to volunteer in the work being done, rest assured I will be there.
Thank you.

Vote for Mayowood!

This is Mayowood Mansion.

If you go here, you can vote to save it.

This is a beautiful piece of the history of my city. I would appreciate your vote to help restore and preserve it. Voting ends November 30.

Thank you.

Revolutionary!

I just joined a fantastic group in my community.

Family Service Rochester is sponsoring a Time Bank.

The basic premise is that everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, and each hour is the same value to each of us. People can register (there is a background check in case this sounds scary) and then they list services they can offer to people and requests for services they need provided to them.

For example, right now there are listings offering babysitting, party planning, homework help, language tutoring, cooking, wardrobe consulting and more. And there are requests for car detailing, mending, video editing, horseback riding time and guitar lessons, among others.

You get a few Time Dollars (TD$) for registering, the background check, and the orientation (which is about an hour and completely painless). After that you earn 1 TD$ for each hour of service you provide to someone. Those TD$ can then be "spent" on a service you want or need.

It's a great community building tool plus a way to save some money (and who isn't interested in saving money in the current economy?). Check it out -- I have brochures if you're interested. If you're not in Rochester, check the website anyway. There are Time Banks sprouting up all over the place!

Know a family that needs a computer?

The qualifications are as follows:
Attend a program on September 6th
Must attend Rochester Public Schools
Qualify for free or reduced lunch
Attend a computer training workshop
Do not have a computer in home
Have not received a computer from this program in the past

I am sending this out in an email as well but if you know of anyone who might be interested and qualify, please refer them to me and I will get all of the details to them.

Thanks.

Almost forgot to mention....

I made our reservation for the annual Sail Leukemia fundraiser at the Lake City Yacht Club today.

Reservations can be made by calling the Lake City, MN Chamber of Commerce at (651)-345-4123. You pick a day (Saturday or Sunday, July 26 or 27) and a time and tell them how many adults and kids are in your party, and you arrive at the yacht club at your designated time and get a ride on a sailboat on Lake Pepin (which is really just a wide spot in the Mississippi River) for a donation. They provide the life jackets and it is really a worthwhile cause.

We had a great time last year, and I highly recommend it.

Running Start for School

It's that time of year again -- there were a ton of back to school sale ads in the paper this weekend. We took advantage of the 1 cent folders, the 10 cent notebooks, the "buy a backpack, get supplies free" deals and ended up with a bunch of supplies. We have almost everything our kids need and a pile for me to take to the United Way later today or tomorrow.

That's where they are beginning to collect supplies for Running Start for School, a program that is run by the United Way, the school district, and other community agencies and businesses. Kids who qualify for free or reduced lunch can get a backpack and the paper, folders, pencils, markers, crayons, and all the stuff that really can be expensive for parents, especially when there are classroom contributions, new shoes and clothes, and all of the other expenses that come with kids and school.

So, another shameless plug for this program -- I have volunteered with them before, and the excitement of the kids as they fill their new backpacks and binders with glue, rulers, scissors and crayons is more than adequate payment for my time. Please visit this link -- there is more information on the program, how you can volunteer, and what items they need. There are drop off spots around town -- just look for the yellow logo above -- or you can drop stuff at the United Way. Give if you can -- your money, items you've purchased, or your time. It's important.

Thanks.

Shameless plug

My mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor.

My dearest and most long-standing friend is fighting it right now.

A friend in California died from it far, far too young.

I once participated in a scrapbooking event in which dozens of volunteers made pages for a woman fighting breast cancer. She lost her battle, but her young daughters have the journaling she did for many hours after we made the pages. They have the stories of their lives from her, even though she is no longer with them.

Another friend whose mother had a mastectomy several years ago requested that I add a link and this message to my blog in order to spread the message further. Please read on and take action.

Thanks.

A friend sent this package to me and for obvious reasons I really want to

encourage you to:

1) sign this electronic petition to Congress via the attached website and

2) forward this email to everyone you know.

From a nurse:

I'll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I

had to tell them they had to go home with the drains,

new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the

Doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer,

only to hear that they would, but their hands were

tied by the insurance companies.

So there I sat with my patients, giving them the

instructions they needed to take care of themselves,

knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was

saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look

spoke louder than their quiet "Thank You".

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in

order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you

know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know

that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards.

Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an

outpatient procedure.

Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the

hospital for 2 days after surgery.

It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important . . .

If there was ever a time when our voices and choices
should be heard, this is one of those times.

If you're receiving this, it's because I think you

will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue

and send it on to others you know who will do the

same.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient

Protection Act which will require Insurance Companies

to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients

undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the

'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to

go home just a few hours after surgery, against the

wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia

and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their Web

page with a petition drive to show your support. Last

year over half the House signed on.

PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the Web site

below.

You need not give more than your name and zip code.


Breast Cancer Petition

Jennifer here again. While signing the petition is a good thing (as is forwarding this to all your friends and family) because it will bring some attention to the issue, even more important is the next step:

Contact your Senators and your Representative in Congress about this.

The bill is known as the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007. In the House, it is H.R. 758 (a related bill is H.R. 119) and was referred to a subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor in May 2007. These Representatives are members of that subcommittee.

Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions

Democrats (13)

Robert Andrews (NJ), Chairman
George Miller (CA)
Dale Kildee (MI)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY)
John Tierney (MA)
David Wu (OR)
Rush Holt (NJ)
Linda Sanchez (CA)
Joe Sestak (PA)
David Loebsack (IA)
Phil Hare (IL)
Yvette Clarke (NY)
Joe Courtney (CT)

Republicans (10)
John Kline (MN), Ranking Member
Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (CA)
Kenny Marchant (TX)
Charles W. Boustany, Jr. (LA)
David Davis (TN)
Peter Hoekstra (MI)
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA)
Tom Price (GA)
Virginia Foxx (NC)
Timothy Walberg (MI)

If one of these is your Representative, PLEASE write him or her a letter or send an email.

In the Senate, it is S. 459. It has been referred to this committee.

Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

Democrats by Rank

Edward Kennedy (MA)
Christopher Dodd (CT)
Tom Harkin (IA)
Barbara A. Mikulski (MD)
Jeff Bingaman (NM)
Patty Murray (WA)
Jack Reed (RI)
Hillary Rodham Clinton(NY)
Barack Obama (IL)
Bernard Sanders (I) (VT)
Sherrod Brown (OH)

Republicans by Rank

Michael B. Enzi (WY)
Judd Gregg (NH)
Lamar Alexander (TN)
Richard Burr (NC)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Orrin G. Hatch (UT)
Pat Roberts (KS)
Wayne Allard (CO)
Tom Coburn, M.D. (OK)

Again, if your Senator is listed above, PLEASE contact him or her. This bill has died in committee several times.

All your letter or email needs to say is that you were made aware of the bill (use the numbers given above -- both numbers when contacting your Representative) by an email and that you have signed the Lifetime petition but this issue was of such importance to you that you felt compelled to contact him or her as a committee member to be sure the bill moves forward. Feel free to add a personal note about why it is important to you if you wish. Make sure you include your full name and address in your correspondence. Some members of Congress (though not all) make a sincere effort to respond to communication from constituents. If you want a reply, send a letter via snail mail and ask for a response. Actual letters have the most impact. Using the numbers indicates you are at least a little knowledgeable about the issue. Including a brief personal story about your interest in the issue is wonderful, but the letter should be ONE page.

I know this is a ton of information but I wanted to be sure to give everyone the resources to take appropriate (and quick) action. If you have any questions, leave a comment or email me at jennifer [dot] my3sons [at] gmail [dot]com.

This link is on the right, as well, under "Cancer Sucks."

Man, does it ever.

One More Thing

On the right is a photo of an adorable baby boy and a link to his blog, "Baby James." This little guy and his family have had a pretty rough go of it for a while now. He has a form of cancer called Wilms' Tumor.

Fortunately they live here and have access to the amazing docs, nurses, and staff at Mayo. Unfortunately, little James' prognosis is not great. He has a wonderful mom and dad and a big sister named Mira. This family has been so strong, but I am sure the stress over James' health, finances, and life in general is getting harder to deal with every day.

There is a fundraiser in Stewartville coming up June 23. They need your donations, your attendance, your support.

Visit the blog. Read the story. Offer up a prayer or a wish for health. Send a check. Donate something. Go to the auction.

Thank you.