Wednesday, October 30, 2013

You suck, cancer, but my friend is still here

This is my 200th post! I can't think of a better use of that milestone than to celebrate someone who's been through the ringer but still plugs away with humor, sarcasm and yes, sometimes rage and tears.

Fellow bloggers understand what it's like to meet new friends online and develop relationships even though you've never met in person. Way back in ye olden days of 2000, I met a group of women online. Many of us are still in contact to this day and most of us have met others in real life. Honestly, some of my closest friends are part of this group, and I've talked about some of them before (one of them is Steph).

We've seen each other through marriage, divorce, children, death and illness. More than a few women have had bouts with cancer (and one is currently going through a second bout, different than the first). About eight years ago our friend Lisa was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. She was 42 at the time, with a five-year-old son. She has beaten the odds and she's still with us.

We gave her the nickname Lisa Lisa (as in the Cult Jam) and still refer to her as LLCJ. When we first "met" my screen name was GAC23 and she said it reminded her a a cat hacking up a hairball. I changed it, but she still sometimes calls me GAC. In 2001 I was fortunate enough to go to New York City and sing at Carnegie Hall with the Columbus Symphony, and I was even more fortunate to be able to meet Lisa and a couple other "imaginary friends" for lunch.

Me, Lisa, Karen, Alyssa
April, 2001


Lisa actually cringes when October rolls around with all its breast cancer awareness and pink vomit. She says "fuck awareness, find a damn cure." But when the Today Show was looking for breast cancer patients for a makeover segment, they contacted Lisa's doctor, who nominated her.

That segment aired yesterday and the clip is below. Please watch my beautiful friend and see her transformation and her story. For me it brought back a flood of memories, because I've known her through all of this.



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Love you, LLCJ!

Happy Gwensday!


5 comments:

  1. Love it! It brought back the same for me, thinking about all the shit we've seen together as a group.

    xoxo

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  2. Love it! And I love all of you nice ladies! :)

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  3. Oh Gweeen - thank you! I'll never forget how all of you helped me. I absolutely adore my imaginary friends.

    Love, LLCJ

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  4. this is so cool!! and she looks amazing! and i agree, fuck awareness find a cure.

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  5. I'm on my iPad, so I can't see the video, but I will watch when I get home.

    I admire a women who handles hardships with adversity and tenacity.

    I can't believe next week you will no longer be an imaginary friend!

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