September Means a Birthday Giveaway

September is my birthday month and as I've told you all before, I love birthdays. I've just quit counting them up. Not enough fingers and toes to count on for that. :) I'd have to call the fire department if I had a cake with candles. But if you don't count them, then you can consider Satchel Paige's question. "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" So, what do you think is the perfect age? 25? 35? 55? Or maybe the perfect age is whatever age you actually are.

I just sent out a newsletter with all the details, so if you're on my newsletter list, you may have already entered. (If you want to be on my newsletter list, just let me know.) I've gotten lots of e-mails, but since I had surgery yesterday, I haven't started going through them yet. The surgery went well. I'm sore, but the surgeon thought everything looked good. They will run more lab test to be sure they got all the cancer and I will have to have some followup treatments after I heal for a while. I do appreciate all your prayers and sweet concern. After I tell you about the Birthday Contest, I'll tell you another story, I think you'll like. But first the contest.

I do enjoy having birthdays and it's even more fun when I celebrate getting older by giving something away to my reading friends. This time I thought and thought and came up with nothing exciting to give away - well, other than my books. :) Then I remembered how green always fits. So 1st prize in my Birthday Giveaway is a $50 gift card to the winner's favorite online book place (Amazon, B&N, or Christianbook.com). Plus the winner gets his or her choice of one of my books. Two 2nd place winners will get a $25 gift card and their choice of one of my autographed books.

How to enter? It's easy. Just send me a message. You can send me a message from my website or leave a comment on a post here on my blog in September with a way to contact you. That's very important for without the contact info, I can't get in touch with you should you be one of the lucky winners. Comments on blog posts don't automatically include your return address. Deadline to enter is September 30 at midnight EST. You must be 18 to enter. For fun and for a bonus additional entry, you can tell me a birthday story. It can be about your birthday or someone else's birthday. You don't have to share a story to enter - any kind of message will do - but I enjoy reading your stories when you want to share one with me. I sometimes share a few of them forward here on my blog but I won't without your permission.

Now for the other story. Last night after my surgery, I was missing Mom. The other times I've had surgeries, Mom was always there for me, helping me with whatever needed to be done, sympathizing with me, loving me. Moms are just good at that. So I was missing her and when I went to bed, I was thinking about her and it was as though I felt a hand gently caressing my hand. It only lasted a minute, but I couldn't help thinking that Mom had reached down a little comfort to me. Just writing this today brought tears, but it was good.

Thanks for reading.

 

1 in 8 - The C Word

Turns out I'm the 1 in 8. A couple of weeks ago I heard the "c" word no one wants to hear. This week I'll have surgery to remove a cancerous lump from my breast. The lump is very small and the possibility of a complete cure is very good. But I'm still 1 in 8. 


My mother had breast cancer when she was a couple of years older than I am now. And yes, that's definitely a risk factor and the reason I've always been diligent about doing mammograms - at least until Mother needed someone to stay with her all the time. Then there was never enough time for all I needed to do with her care and my writing deadlines and .... well, you know, everything I wanted to do. 
 
I put off the mammograms for three years. Not a wise decision. So I feel blessed that the lump is small and that my delay in getting a mammogram may not have mattered. It probably wouldn't have shown up last year anyway. But the mammogram did show up a lump when I went for what I thought would be a routine test after Mom died. Further tests confirmed the diagnosis. And now on to surgery and radiation treatments. Not something I'm looking forward to, but something I know some of you have already faced. You may have faced even more drastic treatments.

There's a young woman I know in our community now who is taking her second round of chemo. Another dear writer friend, Judy Sliger, just passed away after a heroic fight with cancer. Not breast cancer, but ovarian cancer. She did years of chemo and was ever a spiritual light to her friends. She wrote a book, Take Heart, Prayers for the Terminally Ill. (See it on Amazon.) I just got my copy in the mail and the next day hear that she's gone on to heaven.  

Since my diagnosis, I have been humbled by the many people who are praying for me. What a special gift to give me! Their time, their moments with the Lord. I know you will be praying for me too and I thank you in advance. 

Kaelyn and me

You may remember my blog posts a couple of years ago about my great-niece, Kaelyn when she got to have her no more chemo party at St Jude after three years of chemo treatments to fight the leukemia that was trying to steal this beautiful child from us. She was diagnosed when she was five and she was covered with many prayers. Some of you prayed for her too. She's ten now. A couple of weeks ago I saw her when we went to a revival service her father was preaching. The first thing she said to me was "Aunt Ann, did you hear the news? I'm cured." St. Jude had given her that news a couple of weeks before when she went for a check-up. Now that's the "c" word we all want to hear. And one I expect to hear in due time. 

Thank you for reading. I do so appreciate each and every one of you. Also, if you're on my newsletter list, watch for one to show up in your e-mail boxes this week with a new giveaway chance. If you're not on my newsletter list, you can be. Just sign up here, http://bit.ly/Annsnewsltr.