I AM NOT a Republican. I repeat, I AM NOT A REPUBLICAN. If I were then I’d have a hard time bumping fists with brother Barry O. With that said, I am a fan of Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, his place in US history and his battle against Hodgkin’s Disease.
In 2006 I participated in the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Livestrong Day in Washington DC and had the chance to visit with Senator Specter’s office. I did not meet the man himself, but just having the chance to sit in his office lobby and view all the photos of Senator Specter with both political and sports legends from the past 40 years made up for him blowing us off.
Fast forward a few years and Senator Specter has recently announced that he has a reoccurrance of Hodgkin’s. For those of you non-politicos, it was nearly impossible to miss the Senator from PA going through treatment the first time around while still managing to participate on the Hill inbetween chemo treatments. Truly remarkable stuff. Now he’s got it again and spoke about it briefly this morning on 610WIP Sports Radio where he calls in frequently to talk about the Philadelphia Eagles.
Like I said, I am not a Republican, but you have to admire this one for his in-your-face approach to dealing with and surviving cancer.
Check out Waiting Room Magazine’s very own Elizabeth Daniels on Vital Option’s Cancer Talk Radio 1-3pm Pacific, 4-6pm Eastern. The programs theme is Young Adults with Cancer and Creativity and will also feature:
- Matthew Zachary Concert pianist and composer, 12-year survivor of pediatric brain cancer who has taken on the establishment to globalize the cause of young adult cancer advocacy via the I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation, a TIME Magazine Best 50 Website for 2007
- Christine Baze Executive Director of The Yellow Umbrella, cervical cancer survivor, and musician.
- John Schrader Musician and testicular cancer survivor.
-Erin Ley Young adult cancer survivor and author of The Will to Live: The Perks of Cancer Through the Eyes of a Survivor.
A little bit about Patrick Swayze from our friends at Gawker.
I have not written about grassroots cancer organizations outside of North America since Americans & Canadians (especially Canadians in my opinion) have a lot to offer as far as creative cancer projects go. I have a long list of things to write about like the “I’m Gonna Wear it” project, Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Cancer film and about Tamika Felder who is one of the coolest (like Aretha Franklin-cool) cancer survivors I have ever met. Today, however, I am putting that list aside for what I feel is a truly remarkable, awe-inspiring cancer story from the United Kingdom. The story is about Sarah Yates – tag name Sazzelli (more on the tag name later) and her fight against Leukemia.
At about age 18 Sarah was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and in her own words she knew that “life as I knew it would never be the same. I once identified myself with descriptors such as ‘graphic designer,’ ‘college student,’ and ‘daughter.’ Now I choose ‘leukemia survivor,’ ‘advocate,’ and ‘blessed.’ “. I am sure that most people reading this can identify with Sarah’s sentiments and would agree to a point that being diagnosed with cancer defines us all is one way or another. Sarah’s Cancer Diary is well documented with photos from the day she entered Christies Hospital in for treatment all the way through to her arrival home in a ‘whig & sunnys’ nearly 6 months later.
Besides being a cancer survivor, Sarah, rather, Sazzelli is a smoking hot graffiti artist. She’s just launched a new website called Fauna Graphic where you can check out all her fine work and goods.
