Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    On the Wings of Pink Angels
    On the Wings of Pink Angels
    On the Wings of Pink Angels
    Ebook124 pages1 hour

    On the Wings of Pink Angels

    By Dawn Colclasure

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    "You have cancer." These are words people dread hearing. But when worse comes to worst, push comes to shove, something wonderful happens. More people come together for support and encouragement. More people participate in "Race for the Cure" events, and more people discover an inner strength within themselves that they never knew they had before. On the Wings of Pink Angels offers a gentle hand through this difficult time, sharing stories that inspire hope, strength, gratitude and courage during a time when someone must fight for his or her life against breast cancer.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC
    Release dateOct 31, 2012
    ISBN9781619500761
    On the Wings of Pink Angels
    Author

    Dawn Colclasure

    Dawn Colclasure is the author of five books, among them BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: How We Survive as Writing Parents and 365 TIPS FOR WRITERS: Inspiration, Writing Prompts and Beat The Block Tips to Turbo Charge Your Creativity. Her articles, essays, poems, book reviews and short stories have been published in regional and national newspapers and magazines, as well as online. She lives and writes in Oregon with her husband and children.

    Read more from Dawn Colclasure

    Related to On the Wings of Pink Angels

    Related ebooks

    Self-Improvement For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Hardest Post

      Sep 26, 2020

      The Hardest Post
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Letter To My Younger Self: I Couldn’t Have Gotten Here Without You

      May 10, 2020

      — Dear Chris (circa 1994),  I have just finished watching episode 2 of Kelly Turner’s Radical Remission docuseries produced by Hay House. And I have found myself cheering, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” These are the types of healing stories that your pioneering w

      4 min read

    • Article

      Embrace The Change

      Oct 20, 2021

      Embrace The Change
      10 min read

    • Article

      Stuck With Yourself

      Jun 12, 2020

      Stuck With Yourself
      7 min read

    • Article

      Stuck With Yourself

      Jun 12, 2020

      Stuck With Yourself
      7 min read

    • Article

      Hope Springs Eternal

      Apr 20, 2021

      Hope Springs Eternal
      10 min read

    • Article

      What I Learned From Cancer

      Jan 10, 2019

      What I Learned From Cancer
      7 min read

    • Article

      A Tsunami Of Love

      Mar 7, 2022

      A Tsunami Of Love
      4 min read

    • Article

      Putting Up a FAIR FIGHT

      Dec 29, 2023

      Putting Up a FAIR FIGHT
      8 min read

    • Article

      Honest Reflections

      Nov 1, 2018

      A week after I found out my wife was pregnant, I realised I was going through a hyper-accelerated version of the seven stages of grief. Shock? Check. Depression? Check. Miscellaneous crying jags? Very much check. At one point, my wife asked me whethe

      7 min read

    • Article

      To Breed Or Not To Breed?

      Apr 23, 2020

      To Breed Or Not To Breed?
      4 min read

    • Article

      Finding Her Silver Lining

      Jun 1, 2020

      Finding Her Silver Lining
      5 min read

    • Article

      Men’s Rites

      May 24, 2020

      Men’s Rites
      10 min read

    • Article

      I WON’T LET Cancer Win

      May 30, 2023

      I’ve always been fond of the saying ‘when your mind is calm the body follows’, but the words truly hit home for me when I was waiting to find out if I had cancer. For me, the not knowing was worse than getting the diagnosis, and I did everything I co

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for On the Wings of Pink Angels

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      On the Wings of Pink Angels - Dawn Colclasure

      Contents

      Copyright Page

      Dedication

      Acknowledgments

      National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

      Book Review: Straight Talk About Breast Cancer

      Residents of Nebraska Join the Battle Against Breast Cancer

      Five Myths and Misconceptions about Breast Cancer

      Pink Ribbon Breakfast

      Organization spotlight: Ruta Pink

      Breast Reconstruction Procedure Reaches New Heights

      Teresa’s Family Cleaning: Cleaning For a Reason

      Breast Cancer: It’s Not Just a Chick Thing

      Dellani Oakes: One-year (and counting!) Breast Cancer Survivor

      Memories of Carri Morrison

      Short Story: Telling Tatiana

      Bibliography

      About the Author

      On the Wings of Pink Angels

      Triumph, Struggle and Courage Against Breast Cancer

      Written and Edited by

      Dawn Colclasure

      All rights reserved

      Copyright © April 21, 2012, Dawn Colclasure

      Cover Art Copyright © 2012, Charlotte Holley

      Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

      Lockhart, TX

      www.gypsyshadow.com

      No part of this book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      ISBN: 978-1-61950-076-1

      Published in the United States of America

      First eBook Edition: October 31, 2012

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated to everyone who has fought, and continues to fight, against breast cancer.

      Acknowledgments

      First and foremost, I would like to thank the two very talented and inspiring ladies behind Gypsy Shadow Publishing, Denise Bartlett and Charlotte Holley, for their support

      and dedication to this book.

      I’d also like to thank Peter Shankman and the HARO team (Help A Reporter Out) for making it possible for me to reach out to so many with first the blog series, then the book.

      Thank you to Carolyn Howard-Johnson for spreading the word about this project and taking the time to share her experiences for this book.

      Thank you to Elizabeth Burton for encouraging me to read Cheryl Swanson’s inspiring book and thank you to Cheryl herself for having the courage to share her story.

      Many thanks to Sue Chehrenegar, Caitlin Varley, Courtney Thomas, Jeff Rinke, Karyn Margolis, Allison Warner, Andrea Samacicia, Michelle Zeigler, Kathy Garfield, Stacey Hirvela, Florence Ivy, Donna Hill, Jenn Greenleaf, Vicky Marshall, Meca McKinney, Julie Gallegos, Valerie Breslow, Maya Patel-Stewart, Brooke Peterson, Saretta Brown, Norma Wolf, Diane Radford MD,FACS,FRCSEd, Nicole Lee, Pamela Haven, Karen Whittier, Stephanie Hackney, Dellani Oakes, Kim Posekany, Diana Hoffman, and Tara Chevrestt. I am so grateful to you all for taking the time and supporting this book.

      Thank you to Isa Jennings for accepting the offer for proceeds of this book to go toward supporting Courageous Kids (http://www.courageouskidsoregon.org/).

      And I am especially grateful to my husband and children, especially my daughter, Jennifer Wilson, who, despite still being so young, has supported this project and shared her encouragement that one day we will find a cure for all cancers.

      National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

      National Breast Cancer Awareness Month was founded in 1985 by a variety of health and medical organizations promoting the message of breast cancer awareness.

      You can visit the site here: http://www.nbcam.org/

      And here is the Wiki page:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Breast_Cancer_Awareness_Month

      Since its inception, businesses and charities across the globe have stepped up to do their part in the fight against breast cancer. Major corporations such as ValPak, Walmart and Lands’ End have participated in NBCAM in some form or another. They have distributed flyers and informational documents about breast cancer among employees and customers, created support groups to help those with breast cancer and created an in-house breast cancer screening program. Even the government has done its part in participating in NBCAM, by including a message about breast cancer on government employee pay stubs during the month of October.

      Over the years, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been a month of challenges, inspiration, support—as well as controversy. A local breast imaging center in Eugene, Oregon started a Make Time for the Girls campaign during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 2010. The idea of calling breasts the girls was met with a public outcry, spurring many residents to complain to their local newspaper about such insensitivity. Still, the campaign persevered. Another year when NBCAM rolled around, many people on Facebook shared a status update saying, Let’s find a cure for ALL cancers, not just breast cancer. The purpose of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is to promote awareness and support for anyone fighting for their life against breast cancer. Yes, we do want an end to ALL cancers one day, but let us remember that this special month was not created to slight the other cancers, or even to dismiss the struggles of those afflicted with other cancers. Let us march forward with our pink ribbons spreading the message that the fight against breast cancer, and indeed all cancers worldwide, must continue to go strong.

      Beating Time At Its Own Game: Life Begins With Cancer

      by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

      The day after my biopsy, my husband and I drove to Las Vegas on a business trip, never thinking about possibilities. We stopped at the state line for a ride on the giant Ferris wheel. We shelled giant prawns for lunch at the Stardust buffet. We slid quarters into a slot machine—the old fashioned kind I like with spinning cherries that will surely triple my money and spill the winnings into a silver trough.

      That was not a bad approach at the time. There is no reason to assume the worst, to project abject possibilities that may never come to pass onto the present. Denial is sometimes very useful. On the other hand, it often keeps one from examining one’s own behavior, one’s own motivations. I share this anecdote because it illustrates how thoroughly denial had become entrenched in my life.

      I was raised in times that were not easy for women. Most of the barriers I faced were ones that couldn’t be seen nor acknowledged because I didn’t know they were there. They crept up silently on padded feet and, if I sensed them at all, I chose not to turn and face them.

      This faculty for denial was intact and very healthy when I was diagnosed with cancer. By 3 p.m. that day, the picture was not so jolly. We had to return home so I could begin autogenous blood donations. The risk of AIDS in the blood supply was still high; my doctor believed that we should have my own blood on hand in case it was needed.

      My first reaction was true to pattern. I reassured myself that everything was going to be just fine, that I wasn’t nervous, that cancer was not a terrifying word. Unfortunately, my doctor had not sounded especially positive when he demanded that we set a surgery date in that moment, over the phone.

      My husband was also up to the task. We won’t work today. We’ll just take off, have some fun and drive back tonight. We were two peas in a pod. We’d both try anything other than just saying, Gee, I’m scared.

      I almost went along with that plan. Instead, I used the time on the open road to meditate. In that time, I realized—sort of knew at a cellular level—that I had to do more than donate blood to myself and that cancer doesn’t just happen.

      Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe those of us who have it are being punished but I do believe that it follows those of us who haven’t taken care of our own needs. The way we relate to ourselves, more than the way we relate to the world, is a factor in our illness, or for that matter in our health. When I tried to excuse myself out of those thoughts, that was only another indication that I needed to look through the glass in my kaleidoscope one more time—at its fragmentation as well as its beauty—and to make sense of the patterns I saw there.

      I began to read. At first I chose books that helped me deal with my fears. My favorite is Love, Medicine and Miracles, by Bernie Siegel, M.D. I also liked some of the practical skills offered by Louise Hayes in her books. I read books on how to deal with grief. Even though most of them explored grief that follows death, the understanding of it and the coming to terms with it are the same whether we are grieving for a lost parent or pet or career or health.

      As I began my recovery, I utilized some hatha yoga I had done in my youth and continued with a vitamin regimen (with the permission of my doctor) that I started when I first found little chicken scratches in the skin around my eyes. I used vitamin E oil on my incisions.

      You’re healing so quickly, my doctor said. "What are

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1