i'm bleeeeeeeeeding for america!

yes, i spilled my blood for this country yesterday. and i'm not even in the military (and lucky for you i'm not, trust me)

no i am not crazy. but i am really getting in the spirit of this helping out thing. first the poll worker assignment and now this. what is this?

the american cancer society's cancer prevention study-3 (CPS-3). talk about an easy way to help people.

a little background: i come from a very small family. i am the only child of only children. i have no sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles or cousins. i was raised by my mother and her mother (my nanny)!

being from a small family, being a somewhat introvert (yes, i AM!!) who doesn't have a lot of friends, i have kinda been blessed in the fact that i have not had to face a lot of sickness in my life, either my own, my family's or my friends.

however, my stepfather died of pancreatic cancer and THAT is something i wouldn't wish on my worst enemy for the pain it inflicts on the person who has it, and their loved ones.

so, come to think of it, i have been affected. so when this opportunity came up, i jumped at it. why? mainly, and honestly, because it was sooooo easy! all i had to do was fill out a questionnaire (okay, they asked questions that i really had to use my memory for, but other than that it was okay). then i went over to my local hospital, gave 70 gallons of blood (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration since the human body only has about a gallon and a half, but it was a still a lot...okay, it was only 4 vials but it looked like a lot).

oh, yeah, the most traumatic part of the whole thing . . . they took my waist measurement!!! grrrr...

that was it. took less than 15 minutes. well worth the half day off from work that i took for the purpose of serving my country. :-)

sadly, statistics say that 1 out of 3 people will be affected by cancer at some point in their life.

i'm glad this study came along and i'm glad that because of the blessings in my life, i can participate. in this study. i know i am in a minority of folks. hopefully, my blessing will be a blessing to others.

if you are between the ages of 30 and 65 and have NO personal history of cancer, please consider joining this historic study. with a presidential election a week old, veterans day a few days passed, i can't think of an easier and better way to give a little for something that affects so many.

If you are interested in becoming a member of this historic study, please see the Locations of Enrollment page that highlights the various locations in your community that will be conducting CPS-3 enrollment.

and then you can walk around with a big smile on your heart . . . like me!