Sunday, July 22, 2018

The White House

I have requested the Presidential Proclamation for National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month from the White House for the past couple of years.

In 2014 and 2015 I received it. In 2015 there was a letter from President Barrack Obama with his support. Also a signed card. I will never know if it was him personally or auto penned. Either was a Proclamation that is now framed!

I have requested from President Trump's office that same Presidential Proclamation since he took office in 2016. Sadly every September I have been let down. I have even offered to go to Washington, DC to pick it up. It is so important to the Prostate Cancer Survivors and families to know that they have the support for Education and Awareness. So that one day there will be a cure for prostate cancer and our loved ones will not have to hear those dreaded words. You have prostate cancer. 

164,690 men in 2018 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and roughly 29,430 men will die from the disease. I am the wife of a Survivor, Mother of 4 sons and Grandmother of 2 toddler grandsons. One is Bi-racial with prostate cancer on both sides. 

When my husband was diagnosed June 1o, 2009 with an aggressive form of prostate cancer I was clueless to what this disease was. You hardly hear anyone talk about it like the other cancers. There were many questions asked by the Doctor. One of which. Is there a family history of prostate cancer? No. So then we were trying to nail down why we are hearing this horrible news. 

There is one possible explanation. Ray was in the Military. His first four years as a firefighter, then he crossed trained into Weather. While doing research I learned that some of the Installations he was assigned to were contaminated from Agent Orange in the United States. Sadly he was denied Agent Orange compensation as he was never stationed in Vietnam. 

Ray is in Remission and I am greatful. His cancer spread outside the prostate into the lymphnodes. So I can never say cured as we know this disease can rear its ugly head at anytime. We live one day at a time!

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