Welcome back Friends! And, welcome to 2014! A brand, spanking, sparkling New Year! And, with that New Year comes new possibilities, new opportunities, new achievements, new hopes, new expectations, new dreams, new beginnings and new accomplishments.
This New Year can be filled with progress, change, growth, determination, courage, confidence and success. It can be filled with friends, family, love and joy. It can be filled with health, and the knowledge and power to protect that health! Because as we all know, cancer is common! Cancer is here to stay AND it’s not going away.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and the World Health Organization one and a half million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year. And, by the year 2020 one out of two people on this planet will have or have had some type of cancer. So, let’s make 2014 a year of learning everything we can about cancer – so we can do everything we can – to protect ourselves – and our loved ones!
This is such an exciting time in the history of cancer education and research. This New Year brings with it amazing new technologies, new treatments, new screening procedures and new insights into the prevention and survival of cancer in all its forms. This year the five year survival rate for those diagnosed with colon cancer will rise to over sixty-five percent. This year the five year survival rate for women diagnosed with breast cancer will rise to over ninety percent. This year the five year survival rate for children with leukemia will rise to over ninety-three percent. And, this year the five year survival rate for men with prostate cancer will rise to almost one hundred percent!
For as we continue to learn how to prevent and treat cancer, we also are learning to live with cancer – and live well!
I’ve lived with cancer, the treatments for cancer or the threat of cancer for the past twenty years. And, I’ve lived well! And… I’m not alone! There are so many of us. My colleague in arms – the fabulous gymnast Kate Foster – was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of twelve. After losing a leg to the disease she returned to her beloved sport and now – at the age of fifteen – heads up her own cancer awareness and fundraising organization, CrossFit For Hope. And, then there’s Senator John McCain. He’s been fighting and living with melanoma for twenty years – and yet throughout that time he’s remained an important and influential voice in American politics and even found time to run for President! And, there’s Kris Carr – an inspiring woman who has been living with cancer for the past ten years – and still manages to write, speak and share with others the full benefit of her daily experience.
So, join me in embracing and rejoicing in this New Year! For this is the promise of 2014. The promise that we will continue to thrive in spite of the health challenges we face. That we will continue to overcome the obstacles. And that we will continue to live successful, productive and fulfilling lives in a year rich with renewal, revival and restoration!
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