[Lolly]

YES, we are all LIVING examples of courage under fire.

I do think that someone in Elizabeth Edward's position can do so much to change the general public's perception of Stage IV disease precisely because she is such a very public figure. Literally millions of people will be watching her and marvelling, and that will translate into the people we interact with in our daily lives perhaps being a bit less taken aback when we share our stories, and more understanding of how it is we can manage to live positively.

People who are new to our aquaintance are almost always somewhat shocked, sort of at a loss for words, etc etc, when we share my condition. Then after we finish with the little "Recurrent Cancer 101" tutorial we've developed, they're ok. I'm glad to be an ambassador, but it'd be encouraging if more people were aware of the changing face of cancer. Less "shock and awe" would be nice!

<3 Lolly

P.S. My comment about less "shock and awe" is not meant in any way to diminish what we do to live our lives day to day. I do, however, think that more awareness of how many of us live with recurrent cancer would serve to channel more dollars into support and research, a cause dear to all of us.
I hope to be helping with fund-raising efforts for a new integrated cancer-care center in our community, and I really feel that donations will be helped along by the understanding that these new centers will be providing supportive care for more and more recurrent cancer survivors, and that's a powerful message that someone like Elizabeth Edwards can help convey.