Monday, July 27, 2009

FINALLY...My magazine debut...

It's been months since my big "photoshoot", you remember the one where the photographer joined me at my monthly luncheon for Ovarian Cancer survivors, a great treat organized every month by The Ovarian Cancer Alliance of FL. For those of you just joining my blog, I'll give you a brief recap of that magical day. After channeling my inner America's Next Top Model all thoughout lunch, the photographer then followed me home to catch some shots of Dan and I, kind of like something you'd see in "Ladies Home Journal"...shortly before the shoot I was interviewed for this same article where the writer would ultimately tell my story in an "as told to" format...which reads as if I'm speaking/writing in first person. The article would appear in the July issue of "All You Magazine", a magazine that you can only find in Walmart. I'm all for anything that creates awareness for OVCA, like many of you...that's my number one goal and the only way I can make since out of this dreadful disease. This article does just that! It creates awareness for the disease and reiterates that this disease does not discriminate!


Sounds good, right? A win win for all...sort of...


I say sort of, because although I'm pleased about the awareness Ovarian Cancer is getting, I don't feel like the article captures the true essence of who I am and how I've navigated my journey.

For starters, the article states that the hardest thing for me to process was the fact that I had to have a hysterectomy. For anyone who's a regular reader, you know that's simply not the case. I won't lie, the idea of having a hysterectomy at the age of of thirty-four totally sucks. No kids, instant menopause, and sleepless nights all thanks to my lack of ovaries...ovaries that I've had for over thirty years and as I told one class of nursing students that I recently spoke to, the WORST part is the fact that I had to contend with horrible periods for over twenty years...now where's the justice in that!

I've said it once and I'll say it again, my hysterectomy was the EASIEST decision I ever made, as it was a matter of life or death and I CHOSE life. For ME it was the only decision. The article made it seem like my whole world was wrapped up in having children and a family of my own. I'm a smart, strong, confident woman and above all else I know that a family is what you make it.

The article also mentioned how I'd cry for days on end when I had treatment...yes, I admit tears would start out of no where, as chemo made me pretty emotional...but crying for days on end, even if I wanted to...Dan would never let that happen...not on his watch anyway:)

I wrote an e-mail to the lovely woman who interviewed me, not to complain or bitch...but to thank her for bringing OVCA to the limelight and to voice my concerns over some of the articles contents. She completely understood where I was coming from and although she did her best, once the piece leaves her hands it goes through a vigorous editing process, from there it's all out of her control. Having worked in the entertainment industry for years, I too know how these things work. Maybe I was too positive for someone dealing with such a hideous illness, maybe the idea of a young, newly married woman, struggling with the fact that her right to have children had just been taken away from her, would sell a few more magazines...who knows. I just know that I owed it to myself, my readers, and anyone out facing the same situation to speak up and speak out.

As soon as I can figure out a way to upload the article, I will...

*Okay-Here I am again, I think I got it. I had to upload the pdf to a media share sight, when you click on it it will take you to the file, from there you will be able to read it(hopefully)

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=4853ac6c7e15c38ee7ba8e3c6e11ce20e04e75f6e8ebb871

8 comments:

l'optimiste said...

eee Kia!! You look so gorgeous in that photo!! and actually, the article is a good one - it shows a positive, pro-active approach to beating this stupid disease. Good for you! Yay, spreading the word!! ;o)
x

PS: I am posting it on my blog too!

WhiteStone said...

Hi, Kia, just found your blog and I intend to go back and read it all. I'm OC, III-C but I'm in my 60s. Just finished 6 rounds. Doing well. God bless you.

nat said...

Excellent Kia! What a great article - with a lot of valuable info (despite the whole - 'lost my reproductive abilities and nearly lost my purpose in life' reporting).

I am so proud of you, and the good work you are doing to spread valuable information about OVCA to the masses! You are my hero! :)

Hua said...

Hi Kia,

This is such an inspiring article! You look amazing in that photo! You are doing great things to spread the word of OVCA! I'm Hua, the director of Wellsphere's HealthBlogger Network, a network of over 2,000 of the best health writers on the web (including doctors, nurses, healthy living professionals, and expert patients). I think your blog would be a great addition to the Network, and I'd like to invite you to learn more about it and apply to join at http://www.wellsphere.com/health-blogger. Once approved by our Chief Medical Officer, your posts will be republished on Wellsphere where they will be available to over 5 million monthly visitors who come to the site looking for health information and support. There’s no cost and no extra work for you! The HealthBlogger page (http://www.wellsphere.com/health-blogger) provides details about participation, but if you have any questions please feel free to email me at hua@wellsphere.com.

Best,
Hua

Glynis said...

Hey beautiful Kia. Stunning. That post chemo look is ravishing on you my dear. I really appreciate the article on you, too. Can I post it on my blog? Thanks for all you do to help bring OC to the forefront. x

Denise said...

Hello. I am surviving Ovarian Cancer. I enjoyed your blog!

Sophia said...

Amazing...and beautiful! I love it!

Shopping Kharma said...

Wow! Kia! You are so incredibly beautiful and you make me so proud!

I think the whole crying for days and the desire for children is just putting more women in your shoes; you really are a very, very strong woman and stronger than most; I kind of think the writer felt some compassion for you and may have wrote about what she would have done had she faced what you faced. That's just my thought on the whole ordeal. Sometime magazine do that to change the story a little bit so that it relays with their readers. Hope that makes sense.

Despite my hatred of Wal-Mart will have to go there specifically to purchase the magazine for myself and my mom. It was still a great article to read and I'm so glad that more are spreading the word on the awareness of this disease. You are much stronger than me because I did cry for days and days at not being able to start a family with my husband.