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CELEBRATE LIFE Ladies Cancer Support Group Carol Davidson , 941-575-0956, dcdavidson@earthlink.net

In November, our Celebrate Life
ladies and husbands met for a pot
luck party in the Punta Gorda Isles
Civic Association pavilion. Everyone
enjoyed good food, good stories,
and many laughs. Our Chinese
auction raised $50 for Relay for Life
and we all enjoyed our prizes. We
expressed our gratitude for good
health and good friends in the spirit
of the upcoming Thanksgiving
holiday.

I was talking last week with a friend who is battling cancer. We
talked about the Celebrate Life women. He had some
questions about our group that reminded me of questions I Pot Luck Party
received last year from a local oncologist-radiologist. It occurred
to me that many people may have similar questions about our group.

I met the doctor when I accompanied a Celebrate Life member for her appointment to discuss her radiation treatments
after breast surgery. We talked about our Celebrate Life group. The doctor was very interested in our group, but could
not understand how our support group could include all kinds of cancer. He said that each cancer is so different, as are
the treatments for each. After leaving his office, I sent him a letter. I said, "I think the common bond is that we are all
women.” I continued that, as women, we are accustomed to being caregivers and not asking for help. Also, each of us
has experienced that moment when a doctor says you have cancer and your outlook on life immediately changed. Our
support for each other extends through radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. We discuss medications and their side
effects, expenses, skin care, and basic daily survival. I think sometimes doctors don’t understand how going for
treatments, radiation, or chemotherapy disrupts a woman’s lifestyle. So, we invited him to come to meet our group and
talk with us, and he did. He spent an hour talking and answering questions. He has promised to come back in 2018. So,
if you are a woman and have experienced any cancer, maybe you would like to come and join us for a meeting on the
first Wednesday of each month at the PGICA.

There will not be a meeting in December at the Civic Association, as
our group will celebrate our annual Christmas luncheon. We are looking
forward to seeing Santa come for his usual visit, bearing gifts for all our
ladies.

Wednesday January 3 will be our next meeting at 10 a.m. at the Civic
Association. Dr. Margo Roca, MD will be our speaker. She is a
diagnostic radiologist. She will talk about the newest developments in
radiology and answer questions from the Celebrate Life Ladies. Please
consider coming to visit us.

For more information, call Carol Davidson at 941-661-0417 or Diane
Mabey at 941-661-0990.

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