Love is all we need

For over thirteen years I have been raising money with a team of great friends and family members for The American Cancer Society Making Strides event. 
Lulu loving life's purpose is to  help find a cure and provide services for breast cancer patients. I enjoy every year the celebration of life that the walk represents.
 This year, I want to do something different and I still need your help!
This year my lovely friend Victoria has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. A lot of you  have known Victoria since she was a child and as she has blossomed into the beautiful woman that she is now.
Victoria and Michael have not even reached their first year of wedded bliss and are now facing great challenges ahead. On top of fighting a serious illness, they are also dealing with the stresses and uncertainty of being able to afford treatments, paying huge copayments for services and dealing with loss of income as Victoria had to step back from working to concentrate on fighting cancer. 
 Not too long ago, I was in Victoria's shoes and everyone's love  nursed me back to health. From visits from friends, food, crackers, candy, bottled water, reiki treatments, prayers, pajamas, headbands and funky wigs, cheesecakes, mac and cheese, chocolate, two offers to pay for my chemotherapy treatments, a fundraiser from coworkers and friends at CVS, an offer to donate a day of work by each of my pharmacist friends so that I could have time off without losing income , someone even paid anonymously for a brain  MRI! ... offers to help me and my family financially. I will never forget. Your love sustained me  and  now I hope we all  can help someone else.
 GoFundMe seemed an appropriate platform to help them. No donation is too little, no act of love is ever too small. You can contribute here, or you can also help with your prayers, companionship, good meals, music, encouragement, positive vibes, laughter, chocolate!
 You can also privately and anonymously send Victoria your help. Contact me and I will provide you with their address in Hartford.

Attached below is her story in her own words, copied from her facebook page on world Ovarian Cancer Day: 

"As today is World Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day, I would like to share my most recent story in order to raise awareness.
Many know that I’ve spent a lot of my high school/college years as an active and persistent athlete and runner. I felt invincible and my fitness ability was at its all time high. As parts of my life and schedule had changed throughout the years, fitness and running were still an important part of my life but at a slightly different level. But that was okay... until about a year ago.
My running and exercise were significantly affected and I had no idea what was wrong. All of a sudden, I couldn’t run more than 2 miles without severe pain in my side. Even playing saxophone, deep breathing, and some yoga poses didn’t do the trick and I felt like I couldn’t breathe properly because of a giant pain in my side. I thought maybe it’s just me being “out of my normal shape” and I subconsciously changed a lot of my fitness habits due to that.
After our beautiful wedding last summer I was (and always will be) on cloud nine. Definitely took advantage of “treating myself” and enjoying life which totally compromised my strict eating/exercise regime that I had pushed through for so long. The pain didn’t go away though- it got worse.
In October, it was time for my husband and I to run the annual Hartford half marathon as it one of our little traditions. The day before that race, I went to the doctor because I literally felt like I couldn’t breathe from this side pain and my doctor told me to cancel the race. My stubborn self ran it it anyways- we made it through and my husband held my hand the entire time even though it was the most painful race I’ve experienced in my life. That’s when I started to ask more questions.
I went to 3 different facilities for tests and X-rays and was told that nothing was wrong with me. First they thought I might have gall bladder disease, maybe some torn muscles, but still nothing really to raise a red flag for. By thanksgiving time I was so wrapped up in finishing out my first semester of grad school, I figured what the heck I’ll stop running and just focus on getting school and work done since that’s the priority for right now. The pain and breathing got better, so maybe that did the trick. Nope.
In January, I started noticing a lump in my left lower side. I could literally feel it when I was lying on my stomach/doing yoga and when I was stretching. I would lie on my back and could see a huge bump in my left side that was significantly bigger than the right. My light running was still difficult but I guess that was just me being “out of shape” after the slight hiatus. I made so many excuses for myself and had no idea that something was seriously wrong. But this was not normal- it was time to get this thing looked at.
Many, MANY different doctors later, we ruled out that this lump was a benign cyst. Scary, but not a big deal, right? Lots of women have these and they’re manageable with a simple surgery. So surgery was scheduled and we had a plan. When surgery came around, I woke up to the doctors telling me that they couldn’t take out what they needed to because they confirmed that the mass is actually an aggressive form of ovarian cancer that has invaded other organs in my stomach and the immediate action is to schedule chemotherapy ASAP and begin the long road to recovery. Plus, turns out that there was scarring in the right side where I had the previous pain during the past year-- one was a cause from the other. Complete shock to say the least....
So, now, we continue to meet with doctors, get second opinions, plan our chemo schedule (2 rounds down baby!) and schedule another (and successful ) surgery. On top of trying to finish out my first year of grad school, to say that the past month has been a stressful one is a complete understatement, but you know what, it’s all gonna be good . I wouldn’t be able to say that without the incredible support from my family/friends and amazing medical team. I would not be here without any of you and owe you everything I have.
I want to share my story because I believe so strongly that it is absolutely necessary and essential to listen to your body. I made excuses for myself about my physical health because I thought it was my fault for not being as active as I normally was and that was a result of why I wasn’t feeling “myself”. Now that I’ve become more aware of this disease I’ve learned that most of the time, women don’t have a clue that something like this is going on until it’s aggressive and noticeable just like my story. That is not right at all.
Moral of the story: listen to your body. Don’t make excuses. Do not take your health for granted. Love yourself and listen to yourself all day and every day. My voice has power today and every day. Yours does too. ❤️" 

Thank you for consideration and your love! We're #Vickystrong