Rolemommy

Gal to Gal Virtual Walk

The Pampered Chef to Give Back to Gal to Gal

The Pampered Chef is teaming up with Role Mommy to make a difference in the lives of stage IV breast cancer patients and their families. Click on the Pampered Chef site today and enter the code: RYA2. Every time you order a product for your kitchen, a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Gal to Gal Foundation. And, if you haven't registered for the Gal to Gal Virtual Walk, then pay a visit to www.galtogalwalk.org and join celebrities on a 31 day cross country walk to raise funds for families battling stage IV. With your help, we can make a huge difference in the lives of men and women courageously battling incurable breast cancer.

For more information, watch the video below:

Posted in: Blog, Gal to Gal Virtual Walk on 10/22/2008

A Tribute to Dorit Shapiro

Dorit Shapiro, wife, mother of two and president of the Gal to Gal Foundation, lost her brave battle to breast cancer yesterday. She was 38 years old.

It was Dorit's hope to spread the word about the Gal to Gal Foundation and their mission to help grant wishes and provide informational resources to patients and families struggling with this deadly disease. Even in her final days, Dorit worked tirelessly to get the message out about the importance of lending support to the brave men and women who are currently living with stage IV breast cancer. If you'd like to honor Dorit's memory, please lend your support by joining the Gal to Gal Virtual Walk today.

"My goal is to honor the memories of all the women who have lost their battle to this tough enemy and that women and families battling stage IV breast cancer are never forgotten and receive the support they need and deserve. I hope you'll join me in supporting this wonderful organization until there comes a day where we are not needed because we have found a cure and no one must face living with this diagnosis."
--Dorit Shapiro, 1970-2008

To find out more about Dorit Shapiro, please read Living with Breast Cancer, by Jeanne Muchnick.

Posted in: Blog, Events, Gal to Gal Virtual Walk on 10/13/2008

Living with Breast Cancer by Jeanne Muchnick

Nine months. That's how long Dorit Shapiro had with her just-adopted daughter, Leah (then 10 ½ months old), when she discovered she had breast cancer. And not just any cancer: but stage IV metastatic breast cancer: one of the most dire diagnoses you can get. "We had just celebrated probably one of the happiest days in our family's lives by completing a family and having two daughters (oldest daughter, Mara was then nearly five)," says the 38 year old Pennsylvania resident, "and then months later we were facing a road of uncertainty and fear and realizing that I not only had breast cancer, but that my prognosis was metastatic breast cancer and that the statistics were against me."

But instead of wallowing in self-despair, this former freelance medical writer took it upon herself to get involved. "My doctors were not being aggressive with my treatments.  Before they realized it spread, they recommended an aggressive course that included double mastectomy, chemo, radiation, and reconstructive surgery, but once they found that it spread they said we would balance quality of life with keeping the cancer from progressing.  The doctors told me that they could not cure me, but could only manage my condition similar to the way you would treat a chronic illness." 

At first, Dorit joined a few online groups but as a young woman raising children, she felt alienated. "It just seemed like my concerns were different than some of the other women who seemed to be older, or had had a recurrence, where for me, this was my first experience with breast cancer. My diagnosis came as a complete shock.  I had been leading what I thought was a pretty healthy lifestyle.  There was no history of any cancer in my family, and I had no known risk factors." She felt just as much of an outsider when she joined area support groups where "everyone was going around the room saying 'Thank God, my breast cancer never spread,' or 'I don't know how I'll handle more aggressive treatments' but for me, it had spread, and I was in the midst of all these difficult treatments, and my situation was more serious, so I couldn't really relate to them."

And that's when she discovered the popular online stationery website Design her Gals, Dorit learned that the company donated a portion of its sales to the Gal to Gal Foundation, which assists patients and families battling stage IV breast cancer.  She instantly connected with the site's founder Jeanne Fitzmaurice and after sending a letter to her about featuring a "Beat Cancer" t-shirt on the site, Dorit was surprised to find out that her request was granted.  Last year, Dorit discovered the Gal to Gal virtual walk where women create their own likeness and walk in an effort to support women with stage IV breast cancer, and she took it upon herself to write a letter to the editor in her hometown newspaper. The letter was published, the local CBS affiliate reached out to her, and that's when she suddenly went from in-her-pajamas-observer "behind the scenes" who spent her "good" moments tapping away on her laptop, to an active supporter of the organization. "I felt like it was so important to get the message out to women like me with stage IV: that there are options, whether it's resources or support material."   Even, if it's just a way to explain to your children why mommy looks different, is tired all the time, has lost her hair, and spends so much time at the doctor's office.

This active role as now President of the Gal to Gal Foundation has helped her immensely as she's finally connected with other women like her-and more importantly, been able to connect women who previously like her, felt alone and a bit lost.   And despite four treatment failures, four different chemo regimens, one month of radiation therapy, and hormone therapy, she's still fighting and "hoping" this treatment will work - with her husband and two daughters beside her. "Mara loves dressing the gals, and having her see other 'women' on the computer helps her better understand what I'm going through and that it's not just her mom who is battling this disease. Leah, on the other hand, is still young and this has really been her life since Day One." All of which makes Dorit go "overboard" for their birthday parties "because I never know if it's going to be the last birthday I'll share with them." She and her husband also recently took a cruise without the girls, just the two of them-something they never did before her diagnosis. "I'm just trying to make the most of every day," she says, "and really work hard to realize that a birthday or a vacation doesn't have to always be a 'special moment,' because if we make each day special, they're just as important."

Sage wisdom for someone who admits "we're getting to the point where we're starting to run out of options."  As for how cancer has changed her (the question everyone wants to know but is afraid to ask): she says that after she got over the shock of dying, she started to look at breast cancer as "something that really opened my eyes to a lot of different things; things I never would have considered about my life, like in terms of investigating whatever I could do to help myself.  I've embraced ideas and treatments I never thought I would support or pursue and I feel that I've opened my mind and my heart to consider different possibilities."

In her life before cancer, she says she was often angry about things. "I was very temperamental.  It took facing up my illness and my mortality for me to re-evaluate my life and realize that there were things I wanted to change, and by changing them, I feel like I have achieved peace."

 "I'm grateful to my cancer for leading me down a path that I feel is better than where I was before. So it hasn't been all negative because it's really forced me to evaluate a lot of different things in my life.  I used to say 'I just want my life back" but I don't want the life I had before back, I just want Life.  I'm really happy with the person that I've become and the things that I've changed.  I know that none of that would have happened without my diagnosis.  I just make the best of every day and I always believe that there will be a tomorrow.  I just keep going. I think that that's all anyone can expect. I just have to keep going."

To watch Dorit Shapiro at the NYC Gal to Gal 2nd Annual Virtual Walk event, click here. To register for the Gal to Gal Walk, click here.

Posted in: Gal to Gal Virtual Walk on 10/07/2008

Our Latest Celebrity Video for Gal to Gal

Join Team "Guiding Light," Molly Sims, Maria Sansone, Sarah Bernard and more on the Gal to Gal Virtual Walk. Watch our latest celebrity video below and find out how...

Posted in: Gal to Gal Virtual Walk on 09/27/2008

A Letter from One Mom to the World...

Dear Friends,

I am a wife and mother to two beautiful daughters, ages 4 and 8. I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer at the age of 35. My diagnosis came as a complete shock since there was no family history of any cancer and I was leading what I thought was a healthy, though stressful, typical Mom lifestyle. A few weeks after my diagnosis, during routine pre-chemo testing, the news went from bad to worse--the cancer had already spread and my initial diagnosis was stage IV breast cancer. We were devastated! At the time, we were told that only 20 percent of patients with my diagnosis lived another five years.

(Listen to an audio excerpt below on how Dorit shared the news with her daughter)
doritanddaughters.mov

Initially, I thought I was just told that I was dying from breast cancer. Now, I believe that I am living with advanced breast cancer, waging a battle against a tough enemy. My cancer diagnosis has brought about a significant transformation in my life. Some of its impact is obvious--enduring treatments and tests, physical discomfort, and some sleepless nights. But other changes may seem surprising, such as acceptance of my situation, perseverance to beat a formidable opponent, and appreciation of the blessings I have in my life. Before my cancer diagnosis, I got caught up in trivial details that now seem so unimportant, like how others perceive me. I believe that my cancer diagnosis has been a gift; it has changed my life and helped me realize that I have so many things to be grateful for, like my family and good friends.

My Involvement with Gal to Gal...
I first heard about Design-Her-Gals and the Gal to Gal Foundation in May 2006, more than two years ago. I had been diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer six months earlier, and I was very excited to hear about an organization that was working so hard to raise awareness about women and their families living with this serious condition. And the gals were so cute and glam--my then-six-year-old daughter just loved creating gals, and I admit it, I did too. Since I was in the midst of my first chemo regimen, I was glad to find a scarf option that my gal could wear. I remember writing to DHG, asking if a "beat cancer" t-shirt could be created, as that had become my mantra during my tough battle. Jeanne Fitzmaurice, the Gal's Gal, wrote back to me and that began a virtual friendship that has blossomed over the past two years.

In October 2007, when I heard about the virtual walk the Gal to Gal Foundation was conducting, I enthusiastically joined with my daughters and husband. I felt so deeply that the world needs to know about what living with stage IV breast cancer is like, that I wrote to my local newspapers and television stations. My letter to the editor was published in our neighborhood paper, and my oldest daughter and I were interviewed for our local news. The story was eventually shown by nearly 15 affiliates around the country. My involvement with the Gal to Gal Foundation shifted from huge fan and supporter to Board Member, when Jeanne invited me to formally participate in the Foundation and bring my skills and enthusiasm to enhance our mission.

In May 2008, exactly two years from when I first heard about DHG and GTG, Jeanne and the Board of Directors asked me to serve as President of the Gal to Gal Foundation Board of Directors. I am truly humbled by the honor to represent an organization who lends a voice to women like me who are living with stage IV breast cancer every day. I feel a strong, personal connection to our mission, and my participation with GTG has given me a new-found purpose and inspired me to speak up for the women who may not feel comfortable using the term "survivor," but are surviving every day, facing obstacles with courage and hope. Though I never had the privilege of meeting Robin and Janis, the inspiration for our Foundation, my goal is to honor their memories as well as the memories of all the women who have lost their battles to this tough enemy so that women and families living with stage IV breast cancer are never forgotten and receive the support they need and deserve. I hope you will join me in supporting this wonderful organization until there comes a day when we are not needed because we have found a cure and no one must face living with this diagnosis.

Right now we are busy planning for our next Virtual Walk, which will begin on October 1, 2008. We are working with our generous sponsors and hope to bring you a virtual walk with new features, more fun, a Facebook Group and an even greater purpose that will directly impact the lives of women and men living with stage IV breast cancer.

With Love and Gratitude,
Dorit Shapiro

To receive the Gal to Gal Walk newsletter, Click Here and then register at www.galtogalwalk.org on October 1 and join us in exciting cross country virtual walk to make a difference in the lives of stage IV breast cancer patients and their families.

Posted in: Blog, Gal to Gal Virtual Walk on 09/24/2008

Older Entries