When I began my Let's fight cancer series on March 9, I was inspired in large part by Jane of Fire Dog Lake, Dreaming of Better Days and station wagon. My diaries so far have focused on getting people to write Congressional leaders for research funding. Other diaries will encourage people to write to newspapers and to raise funds for local hospices and Meals on Wheels.
With this diary, I'm trying to get a sense of how big of an issue this is for the Daily Kos community.
Since that first diary, numerous other diaries by others on the news of cancer returning to Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow led numerous other people to post that they either currently have cancer, have been treated for cancer or have an immediate family member or loved one with cancer.
Here's a special request to help with my tallying. If you currently have cancer or have been treated for cancer, or someone in your immediate family (and I mean family in a Whedonesque sense) please put an * (asterick) in your subject head. If you have told your story before, please include it in this diary so I have just one diary to go through and count.
In the body of your comment, if you wish to participate of course, what type of cancer you or your family member had and what type of treatment was involved? Please include any other information you wish.
In addition, what should the letters to newspapers say? I've found it helps to give people the framework of a script to use to write their own message around.
Thank you.
UPDATE: In the poll, just vote if you have or have had cancer. Please put info about self or family member in the coments.
UPDATE 2: Whedonesque definition of family would mean: If you are a man and you consider someone your husband (or a woman and someone is your wife), that is your family even if not recognized by law. If your best friend is the brother or sister that you always wanted, he or she is your family. It's a broad definition of family, but you know it when you see it.