Don’t miss the first of what we hope to become an annual celebration of surviving cancer – First Friday in October (Friday, Oct. 2, 2009) 6:30pm at the Emma Kelly theater in Downtown Statesboro.  We (Lori Grice Photography) are sponsoring this celebration concert – so it is Free to the Public.  If you are a cancer survivor, caregiver, relative or friend of a cancer survivor – come CELEBRATE with us.  No matter where you live – come join us.  We hope to pack the house and rattle the windows with our joyful voices of celebration.

The concert features four community quartets – One Voice (First Baptist Church), Light House (Primitive Baptist Church), group from Pittman Park Methodist Church and a group from Brannen Chapel.  The concert will include a sing-a-long session as well.

This event provides a wonderful opportunity for survivors to get together as a group and celebrate LIFE.  We have so MUCH to be thankful for!

A special Thanks to Eddie Olliff for coordinating this incredibly special event. 

One of the burdens and opportunities of surviving cancer, or any other horrible disease or accident, is the ability to use this gift to help others.  Earlier in the year I was contacted by the PKIDS organization and interviewed by them to be considered for a series of public service announcements and radio and TV interviews to be used to promote the importance of vaccines.  I was thrilled to be selected and traveled to New York today to share my story of survivorship.  The producers and staff at the production facility were wonderfully talented and passionate about the PKIDS mission.  This is the first national TV interview that Edie Grace has been able to tag along with me.  I assumed she would be impressed with the studio and control room – but her favorite was the green room – and the ping pong table. 

For those of you who have never been in a large TV production facility – I am including some “behind the scenes” pictures for you to enjoy this experience with me.

I will keep all of you, my faithful blog readers, posted on how and when the commercials are used.  Thank YOU, PKIDS, for this wonderful opportunity.

  Today we flew into New York.  I am here doing advocacy work for the HPV Vaccine, photographing clients and enjoying a few days with Edie Grace and DeWayne in the Big Apple.  This trip is part of Edie Grace’s 8th birthday celebration.  After an adventurous day of travel we finally arrived.  We were delayed in Charlotte and then again in the air because of bad weather which caused them to shut down the Newark airport.  The weather is great and tomorrow morning I will be interviewed for a series of PSA’s promoting the importance of the HPV vaccine.  I am here at the invitation of PKIDS (Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases) a wonderful organization founded by a wonderful mom.  We had dinner tonight with other parents who will also be featured in this series.  Their stories were heart warming and very powerful.  I knew tonight that this is a fight I must continue with renewed spirit.

If this vaccine will prevent only one child from experiencing cancer – my fight, time and effort is well served.

The Diamond Ball Saturday night was such fun!  The food…the dancing…the person that won a REAL diamond….it was ALL amazing!

I was so excited to help out by emceeing the event.  One of the best parts of being emcee was the “cinderella experience” that my “fairy god-neighbor” Scott Marchbanks and his team at Frills and Fancies gave me!  They literally dressed me from head to toe!  (see the shoes below!)  Girls…if you are having a bad day this is enough to adjust any attitude!

Back to the Ball…”The Headliners” performed, Frazier’s Florist decorated and Bernard’s Jewelers donated a diamond that was nearly a carat as a give-a-way.  You could purchase a flute of champagne for $20.  All the flutes had a cubic zirconia except one…that lucky one had the REAL diamond in it!!!  Polly, from Bernard’s staff, hand tested each one until the lucky winner was found.  Oh what a night it was for her!!!  If I felt like Cinderella can you imagine how she felt with a new beautiful diamond???  (she is in the green dress below)

The most important part was the $$$ raised to fund cancer research.  I asked everyone in the audience that was a survivor to stand.  Way too many people stood up.  Cancer affects so many lives.  Research is the way the cure IS going to be found.  Please consider giving to the next event…Relay for Life.  As a survivor myself…I know first-hand just how valuable research is…it saved my life and may save yours one day too!!!  (or it may already have!)    

Edie Grace decided a good while back that she wanted to donate her hair to “Locks of Love”.  I, however, was a tiny bit reluctant.  Don’t misunderstand…I totally believe in the cause.  I just had become really addicted to her having beautiful, LONG hair.  Over a week ago, a faithful blog reader and friend was in for a consult and told me that as a child she always wanted to cut her hair but her mom wouldn’t let her.  That helped me decide that it was time to let Edie Grace have her wish.  “Locks of Love” requires eight inches as a minimum.  Part of my delay was allowing time for her hair to grow so it would still be shoulder length.  (less of a shock for a mom’s heart)

Well, the verdict is in:  she’s soooo happy and I didn’t freak out…all in all it was a  win-win. 

Our prayer is that some very special person will wear a wig that has some of Edie Grace’s hair.  May they become victorious over Cancer and live a long, wonderful life.    

Many of you have emailed and called about updates on Beverly.  From previous blogs you have read the story about this amazing couple and her shocking diagnosis of breast cancer at 30.   Many of you have asked for ways to help them.  A group of her family and friends have put together this event in her honor.  This will be a great event to help them and bring awareness to how cancer can strike at any time.

We hope to see you at the event on January 31st.  A special thanks to Abbigails and Emma’s (Chef Jason Scarborough) for the leading role you are taking in this event.

You can follow Beverly’s progress and learn more about this event by visiting her blog by clicking here.

As you will read in previous blogs - this couple have really touched my heart as I know they will yours.  They are a special couple that I believe God is using in an unbelievable way.

Last Monday I posted a blog about a client and friend of ours that was undergoing breast cancer surgery.  She is 30.  Many of  you tried to email her and the emails came back.  I had the email address incorrect in the original post which has been corrected now.  Here it is again: beverlybarr2@gmail.com

Please take a second and email them both.  I kept every email, card, note and letter from my cancer journey and have them in a note book.  When I am having a challenging day - I still go to these for inspiration.  You really do not know how much a few seconds of your time will mean to them.  Even if it is simple five word email - "I am praying for you!" this will touch them and encourage them by knowing that hundreds of people - even strangers are pulling and praying for them.

Here is an update directly from her husband Dustin:  "Hey guys, we got the pathology report back from the hospital today - Overall I was pleased with the news.  First of all, the report confirmed that the cancer did not spread to the lymph nodes on either side.  So we’re definitely thankful for that.  We also learned that due to the size and the grade of the tumor, it is very likely that she’ll have to undergo Chemotherapy at some point in the near future.  We really won’t be certain about the treatment plan until we have our first appointment with the Oncologist. 
Bev needs to do some recovering before that happens though.  These past 4 days following her surgery have been tough on her, but she’s hanging in there.  She’s been woozy, light-headed, very sore and tender, and has had some bad headaches.  Hopefully over the weekend some of these symptoms will start fading away and she’ll also start eating more. 
Also, I know it’s always an awkward situation when someone’s in bad shape and you think, "If i visit them, i’ll be a burden, but if I don’t visit them, they’ll think i’m a bad friend."  So I’ll make it easy for you (at least for the next few days) - give Bev some air until i send out an email giving you the ok that she’s up for visitors.  It means a lot whenever anyone offers to sacrifice their time and come over, but right now she needs uninterrupted rest all day every day until she gets better.
Finally, even though she’s had to give the computer a break for a couple of days because reading worsened her symptoms, Bev has not been deterred from enjoying all of her email and regular mail and all the other cool stuff that’s being sent.  So thanks again, all of you."  Her email again is: beverlybarr2@gmail.com

Tonight the Savannah ABC affiliate WJCL TV named Lori a “Champion of Change.”   Lori was nominated and selected because of her cancer advocacy.  Lori has become internationally recognized for her efforts to raise awareness for cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine.    In fact if you Google Lori I think even you would be stunned at how sought after she is as a spokesperson for cervical cancer.

Casey Jones the anchor for the ABC affiliate did a masterful job in telling Lori’s powerful story.  There is so much more to be accomplished.  Thank you for your continued interest and support of Lori and this wonderful cause.

Click here to see the story.  You will see the text and on the right you can click the play button under the video on demand bar to see the story.

She has a MAJOR interview coming out very soon with a HUGE media outlet.  She has already taped the interview and we are waiting on the Executive Producer to let us know when the interview will be used. Stay tuned!

Every day the when the phone rings - we continued to be stunned at how God is using Lori in such incredible ways.  Your emails, call, letters and contributions to Lori’s fight have become the inspiration that Lori continues to draw strength from.

We will be forever grateful for your friendship and support!

DeWayne and Edie Grace

  Last night DeWayne and I accepted an invitation to join Senator Hillary Clinton in Atlanta as she made a stop over there for a political event.  She graciously gave me the opportunity to share my passion about cervical cancer and the importance of addressing this issue at a national level.  We have a wonderful opportunity to attack this deadly disease in an incredible way through the HPV vaccine, education and early detection.  Senator Clinton shared with me her passion for all women’s health issues to be brought to the forefront - including the HPV vaccine.

She and her staff really reached out to us. There were thousands of people attending a dinner that she was speaking at.  She met with us and a small group of her friends just prior to speaking to this large group.

Regardless of where you are politically in the presidential campaign - I hope you at least recognize how special this opportunity was for me.  More importantly I hope you are as thrilled as me that the leaders of our country are reaching out to advocates such as us - for all issues affecting women.  It is a remarkable time in history when we could possibly elect a woman or an African American as our President.

I also had an opportunity to visit with several legendary civil rights leaders last night.  Congressman Charles Rangel who authored one of my favorite books “And I haven’t had a bad day since.”  and Congressman John Lewis who is one of the most dynamic speakers you will ever hear.  He lived history working as a close friend and lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement.  We also visited with Ambassador Andy Young, former Mayor of Atlanta, Congressman and leader of the civil rights movement.

We spent time with so many others who were all very receptive and supportive to our fight against cancer.

January is national cervical cancer awareness month.  My calendar has been busy for the last several weeks with speeches and interviews about my journey  surviving cancer.  A centerpiece of my advocacy is education and reassuring women about the importance of taking control of their personal health.  The best ways to survive cancer are through early detection and prevention.

Through this journey I have met a couple of wonderful cancer advocates at Emory’s Winship Cancer Center in Atlanta.  Jennifer Daly who hails from Savannah is a key player in helping secure funding and spread the word about the great - I mean PHENOMINAL - work being done at Emory’s Winship Center.  Partnered with her at Emory is Dr. Kevin Ault.  Dr. Alt is the public face of the HPV vaccine Gardasil.  He ran the clinical trials for the vaccine and spends a tremendous amount of time trying to dispel the myths of the vaccine.

Through these two wonderful champions - many incredible doors have been opened for me allowing me the opportunity to reach a broader audience with my story.

Recently I was interviewed in Atlanta by Dr. Gregg Orloff who is on staff at Emory. After his wife’s diagnosis and survival from breast cancer he founded CancerQuest.org.  CancerQuest is a web site full of information on cancer.  It is a one stop shop for information regarding cancer.

One of the new features on this web site is streaming video testimonials from victims of all types of cancer.  DeWayne and I were fortunate to be interviewed and have the opportunity to tell our story on the site.

This is a tremendous step forward in winning the fight against cancer.  I wish this amazing resource was available when I was diagnosed!

You can click the link below to see my entire interview and hear my story first hand.  Hopefully my story will help encourage other cancer victims and give them hope for survivorship.

http://www.cancerquest.emory.edu/index.cfm?page=2823

This link takes you directly to the media page.  Under the heading Caner Quest Interviews - there is a drop down menu  “choose an interview” - scroll down to Cervical Cancer Awareness Advocates - Lori and DeWayne Grice