Christmas Ornaments

This year our one large Christmas tree is filled with lights and ornaments, there is no ribbon, garland or tinsel to be found.  After many years of marriage, the ornaments represent memories through the years including older family ornaments,  hand-made ornaments from our children and grandchildren and ornaments from places we have visited.

My grandson was looking at the tree and asked if this ornament really was a bell. 

 

Yes, inside it is a tiny bead clapper. It makes a sweet sound. Like the bell in Its a Wonderful Life("When a bell rings an Angel gets its wings" fame. That bell ornament hung on my tree when I was growing up. 

Then I pointed to this ornament from my childhood. 

 

It is made from an egg shell that has ribbon, glitter and paper glued on it. My guess is that it is from the mid-1960's.  This is the last of its kind so it hangs high on the tree.

Then he found this ornament, holding a photo of our first pug, Kona. 

He looks a little smaller than my grandson's new black pug puppy who is pictured below waiting for a treat with his brother Walter and cousin Amber.

 

At times, looking at those older Christmas ornaments, decorations and Christmas dishes made me think of loved ones who are no longer here to share these memories with - my sister, dad, Aunt Dora and Nick's mom, dad and brother. Our family traditions -  such as  making my Aunt Dora's Christmas Love Knot cookies and hanging those old ornaments on the tree helps to keep their memories alive for all of us. 

Wishing my readers, JOY this holiday season! Thank you for letting me share my holiday with you.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing !

Eleven Years of Supporting and Educating the Gynecologic Cancer Community

In 2013, Christina Lizaso and I founded the #gyncsm chat and community on Twitter/ X. This year, eleven years later, we made the difficult decision to cease hosting the #gyncsm chat. You can read more about our decision on the #gyncsm blog.  Our last chat will be Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 8pm ET with special guest and long time #gyncsm chat supporter, Cervivor. 

 We have done so much - in addition to changing our logo through the years.

We held a total of 108 chats (including this December chat).  We covered many topics including risk factors, caregiving, parenting, working while being a cancer patient, personalized medicine, treatment side effects, how to work and communicate with your health care team and survivorship.  These chats were possible because of the many individuals, organizations and groups that supported us. 

We had support from gynecologic oncologists who volunteered their time to be our  health care moderators and others who joined the chat as guests sharing their expertise. We had researchers join us to talk about their research and new treatments available to women diagnosed with gynecologic cancers. We chatted multiple times about every gynecologic cancer including the more rare types such as vulvar, sarcomas, GTD and primary peritoneal cancer. We held two digital health fairs and invited cancer support organizations to share the resources they provide to cancer patients and their caregivers. We've talked to cancer health equity experts about how to best provide cancer health care to all women. We've had chats focused on the emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis, fear of recurrence and how to talk to your children and family about your diagnosis. We've talked with genetics counselors about hereditary cancers, genetic testing and mutations. We raised awareness of pelvic health, pre-habilitation and nurse navigators. We discussed types of advocacy from research advocacy to advocating for yourself or your loved one. We talked frequently about clinical trials from the types of trials to how to search for and enroll in a trial. Annually, we shared the latest research news from the ASCO and SGO annual meetings. And we can't forget about the insights gynecologic cancer patients provided to each other and to researchers during our chats.

Personally, I have been blessed to be part of the  #gyncsm chat. I am so grateful to have worked with Christina these past 11 years to bring support and education to the gyn cancer community. Working on the chat and sharing information has opened doors for me to expand my advocacy work. I not only meet some of the top gynecologic cancer researchers in the world but have had the opportunity to work with them. I've co-authored a book, presented at oncology meetings, and worked on SGO, ASCO and NCI committees. I also have had the opportunity to be a patient advocate on a number of clinical trials. And  I learned from the gyn cancer patients and caregivers in our community- what a courageous and motivated group. I am sad to see the chat end but so appreciate the opportunities provided to me by the chat. 

I will continue to share research information on X using the #gyncsm hashtag and our blog will remain active so that members can have access to the resources and chat transcripts. 

You can find me here and as womenofteal on X, , Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky. 

 

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing