The extra mile is what this organization does provide.  They often listen to a parent, of a young cancer patient, express their fears, anxieties and questions about what to expect when cancer hits their family.  Mark and Deloris Bailey, founders of the organization know what it is like as they have been in that position when their son was diagnosed and treated for cancer.  So they created Friends Like Us to meet the needs of young cancer patients by providing them with a chemo bear. 

This chemo bear comes with a medical bag which has tools that doctors and nurses can use to help explain treatments and procedures that the young child may be having to go through.  It is a wonderful tool.  This chemo bear even may have a port just like the child and can have it removed in a bear clinic when the child has his or her port removed.  In the meantime, the bear can be of service when the child is at it most vulnerable going through tests or long lonely nights in the hospital.

Because they are a nonprofit they must get their funds through fund-raising and sponsors.  It costs approximately $550 dollars for them to get 100 bears manufactured to be given to children.  Lately they have combined efforts with some other groups to add books about cancer, musical cds and blankets that wrap the child in warmth.  All of this is done in the name of healing and supporting patients while they are in the battle of their lives.

So if you are a business, a church or an organization that is willing to be a sponsor of Friends Like Us and donate one order of bears to their cause you can contact Mark Bailey  at (419) 557-8543 info@friendslikeus.org .   In exchange for that donation of 100 bears, they are willing to send you a bear with a t-shirt that says Friends Like Us , we helped make a difference, a card shipped with each chemo bear that says generously donated by “your company, church or organizations name on it” and three months of advertising on their front page of their website.

Not only would your business, church, or organization be helping 100 children and their families but you would also be getting exposure for yourself by the willingness of Friends Like Us to promote your name and give you credit for your generosity.   You will be instrumental in helping a child to heal and help to encourage a family who is dealing with a major medical crisis.  Thank you for considering this opportunity to be a friend to Friends Like Us and helping them to fulfill a vital role in the lives of those who are trying to recover their health and well-being!

Friends Like Us is a wonderful non-profit organization which makes it their goal to help support children and encourage their families in their battle against childhood cancer.  The organization was first started after Mark and Deloris Bailey began the journey of helping their own son heal from his battle with leukemia.

The chemo bears come with accessories.  There is a small medical bag that helps to educate the child as they go through their own treatment program.  Doctors, nurses and family members can use the accessories to help demonstrate some of what the child will be going through themselves in their journey to healing.  There is even a bear clinic that will remove the chemo bear’s port as the child gets his/her port removed; returning the bear to the child with it’s very own small scar resembling the child’s new battle scar.

There are times when a child is being treated for cancer, when they must face alone time either through testing, procedures or just moments when family members must go home to attend to siblings, household chores or something as basic as getting a shower and returning phone calls or earning a living.  These separations are hard for everyone.

The chemo bear can provide comfort during those moments and are invaluable.  They cost approximately $30 dollars and donations are always welcome.  When a chemo bear is purchased, you receive not only the bear; but you receive the accessories, a child’s book on living with cancer and a colorful bandanna.  This is really a great way to encourage a child.  The chemo bears are suggested for ages 3-12 because there are small parts which could lead to a choking hazard for younger children.   Siblings are not left out of the equation either.  The Bailey’s understand how delicate the balance is in meeting the needs of all of the family members as they try to meet everyone’s physical and emotional needs during this time.  Chemotherapy can take up to 2 years for a female childhood cancer patient and up to 3 years for a male.  This can be very difficult.  It is their desire to provide comfort and support during this challenging time in the life of the childhood cancer patient and their whole family.

Both Mark and Deloris spend large quantities of time on the phone with family members supplying them with emotional support as well as information on resources and just practical tips on coping with the stress of having a child with cancer.  The work they do cannot be underestimated.  It is their personal goal to have chemo bear program available in all children’s hospitals around the United States.

Friends Like Us relies solely on donations and purchases of products through their gift shop to fund their organization as they do not get grants or any type of federal funding.  Volunteers are also needed to help sew the medical bags that are included with the accessories that come with a chemo bear.   Won’t you please consider volunteering, donating or purchasing products to help keep Friends Like Us helping families?  Spreading the word about the work that they do costs nothing and it may just get the information about Friends Like Us into the hands of a family in desperate need of support and encouragement.  Thanks for visiting!

       In any case, Jessica Angelique who is on Twitter as @DefinitveVoices and as @Jesicaangelique is a person who shines a light on organizations and non-profits that help people better the world through better living conditions, better self-esteem, and through building people up, one person at a time.  She is a strong voice for cancer-livestrong organization, for children, clean water, self-esteem & empowerment, and for foster care.  She is an author and a speaker; and, she is not afraid to connect to people who are in the position to effectively make changes that open the doorway to a better life for thousands of people everyday.   She puts her money where her mouth is and donates money to help children in foster care.

        She needs your help to win this grant.  Pepsi is running a voting contest and you can go here to register and vote to help her to implement her vision in a large way; should she win the vote.  http://www.refresheverything.com/definitivevoices  Once you arrive there, at the bottom of the screen there will be a sign in spot.  Sign in by entering an email and create a password.   She is entered to win the $250,000 category to educate.  Please help.  Lives will be changed and improved and children will especially be blessed. 

        Jessica has connections with people from all over the globe who are like minded; it will be a powerful television show.  Again I say, why can’t television be used to build people up instead of tearing them down?  Be a vessel of empowerment…please register and vote daily until the 28th of February, 2010.  It is very important to do this; you won’t be sorry that you took the time to do so!

        For children, pets provide companionship, responsibility, compassion and they encourage physical activity.  For adults…surprisingly they provide the same thing.  The bond that can develop between human and animal is an amazing thing.  Pets have been shown to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol, a sense of loneliness or emptyness…as well as lowering a person’s triglyceride level.  Pets need to be walked and groomed…this encourages exercise for both the pet and the owner.

         People who are struggling with chronic illness/disease such as cancer or diabeties; or are isolated from an active social life really tend to bond with their pets.   In some nursing homes, there is a resident cat or dog who can provide an emotional connection for the elderly, or terminally ill, who are not able to bring in their own pets to the facility.   These pet/human relationships are healthy and supplies them both with a mutual nurturing relationship providing comfort and care.

         In some cases, pets can serve a dual purpose in that they also function as a service provider for the disabled when properly trained.  There is a great organization called Paws With A Cause that is celebrating 30 years of  positive impact.  I applaud them and the work that they do.   You can learn more about them and the work that they do here:  http://www.pawswithacause.org/history.asp .  If you can provide them some support please do.  You wont be disappointed because the work that they do gives back to the community and the individuals in it.  Do you know of a special relationship between a person and their pet that you could share with the readers?

           That is powerful considering how many people PAY to go, either daily or weekly, to tanning salons. Many people believe that having a tan makes them healthier by providing them with vitamin D; however, recent studies have shown a relationship between using tanning beds; and an increase in malignant melanoma cancers, which can be deadly.  

            A person can increase their vitamin D levels , on the advice of their doctor, by taking vitamin/supplements and drinking more milk; without the risk of getting skin cancer from the tanning bulbs.  If you would like to read more on the subject…check out the page on the World Health Organization site: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs287/en/index.html  Be informed, be wise and be healthy!

       Frank McCourt was well loved by both his students and by those who were captivated by his works.   Frank McCourt started life in the most humble of circumstances and by most accounts his ordinary life was rooted in misery and poverty.  As a young child living in Ireland, that poverty was ordinary for many families.  Frank’s father was an alcoholic who drank all of the family money away, which normally would have gone to support and feed his wife and children.  Frank’s goal was to get to America and begin an ordinary life and help support his family.   He took on the responsibilities of a man in his teenaged years. 

           Often you see this kind of strength of character in a young man who has lost a father to death, to disability or some other difficult life circumstance.  They take on the role of the father as a supporter, often a disciplinarian for younger siblings and an encourager for the mother figure.   His “ordinary life” became extra-ordinary when he documented his struggles to survive in the book, Angela’s Ashes, which was published when Frank was in his 60′s.  His ability to communicate and use descriptive words in his creative writing helped him to achieve success.   That is along time to wait for financial and literary success.  However, he had success in other areas of his life.

        Frank did get to America where he taught creative writing in New York.  He enjoyed teaching his students and sharing his life’s stories with them.  He got an agent in 1996 which resulted in getting the book published.  It created quite the sensation; and eventually became a movie.   His skillful writing took his orndinary life and turned it into something extra-ordinary…it created a responsive reader…one who could empathasize with the child, the situation and the journey of overcoming!

           Mr. McCourt began to get alot of attention once his book was published.  He once expressed his dismay at all of the attention.  What both shocked and dismayed him was the reaction of people he had known for a long time; he said, they looked at him differently.  He pondered why they had never looked at him that same way when he was ONLY a teacher of students.   It is something that continues to amaze many people…books seem to afford their authors credibility that other life skills do not.  It elevates the author to the status of an expert in the eyes of many readers.

         The ability to experience some of the worst life has to offer a child & young adult; and, still write it in a way that not only moves the reader through a range of emotions powerful enough to make them feel as if they need to rescue the characters; but, also skillfully finds humor and explanations is a rare gift.  It is one that Frank McCourt had.   He wrote of a life of poverty (many have experienced it’s sense of despair) and made people react to it.   His writing skills will be missed…and for those who knew him, so will he.

           Farrah Fawcett first came on the scene as a model/actress.  She did many commercials and bit parts on television shows.  She married Lee Majors, of The Six Million Dollar Man fame,  in 1973 ; they later seperated in 1979 and divorced in 1982.   In 1982, Farrah began a long term romance with Ryan O’Neal, an actor, that continued until she passed away today.   Ryan O’Neal is an actor who is famous for many roles including the movie, Love Story.  It is powerfully ironic that the storyline of that movie was about a couple who struggled against the female love interest Ali McGraw’s fatal illness.   In an interview with Barbara Walters, Ryan vowed to marry Farrah.  It does not appear that it was able to happen in the last weeks of her life.    In 1985 , Farrah gave birth to her one and only child, Redmond O’Neal. 

          But before all of the roles she played as Redmond’s mother and Ryan O’Neal’s long term girlfriend…Farrah became an American icon by taking on the television role of Jill Monroe on Charlies Angels.  She became a role model for many women in the world of beauty by posing for her famous poster of her in a red, one -piece swimsuit and she spawned a whole new hairdo with her famous blonde hair “feathered” on the sides of the face. 

            Of course, as time went on Farrah went on to do more heavy hitting acting roles during her career.  She amazed many with her acting skills as it was perceived for a time that she was somewhat flighty and ill suited to stronger roles.  Farrah worked hard to put those myths to rest.  She came across as a southern bell but she developed a strong inner personal grit that served her well when she was diagnosed with cancer and when she had a re-occurance.

            Farrah was a spiritual woman, who believed in God and who fought her battle with cancer in a variety of ways including using alternative methods in Germany.  She believed there was a reason that she became ill with cancer and she tried to make good come from it.   Farrah was a woman who inspired loyalty in her relationships.  She had many relationships that spanned 20 or 30 years outside of her family.  Alana Stewart was a long term friend who helped Farrah film her documentary on her battle with cancer.  She remained friends with her co-stars from Charlies Angels Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith through the years.   Farrah lived long enough to see that documentary air just last month.  It was her hope that her journey with cancer could help someone else with their struggle.   

          Farrah, we will miss you and your spirit.  I hope that your son Redmond can overcome his battle with drugs.  It is unfortunate that Redmond could not be there in person to say goodbye to Farrah as he is at present incarcerated for drug possession.  I am sure that Ryan and Redmond could benefit from grieving together.  From all news reports Redmond is torn apart that he could not be with his mother during these last weeks.  In early May i believe it was he was allowed a supervised visit with his mother before he was sent back to jail.  He was not told how badly Farrah was doing…Farrah was not told that Redmond was in handcuffs during the visit.  If anything good can come out of this terrible loss for this family, let’s hope that somehow Redmond can turn his life around now knowing and understanding how much his mother loved him and wanted him to be free of his addictions.    If Redmond can find the strength to battle his addictions by the inspiration of his mother’s love he will do her legacy justice; let’s hope he can love himself enough to honor her love for him.

          And so, it is with sadness that America says goodbye to the beautiful blonde haired Angel named Farrah.  Please keep all of her loved ones in prayer.  No matter who you are, rich or poor, famous or not…losing someone you love is hard and it is painful.

         This is groundbreaking news in this fight.   The statistics are frightening…1 out of every 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime; for men, it is even worse, 1 out of every 2.  So unless you are a family of one, with no friends and you are the luckiest person in the whole wide world…cancer is going to touch someone you care about, at some point.  If you haven’t had to deal with the enemy cancer yet…consider yourself blessed beyond reason.   Everyone is touched by cancer whether it be personally or by knowing someone who has had to fight the fight. 

         This is a declaration of war that is being announced.  For the first time, all of the right elements are coming together…the funding, the research, the awareness, the treatments…and hopefully, the positive outcomes for millions of people around the world.  You can learn more here http://www.standup2cancer.org/ .  See what you can do, spread the word, donate, support research, help someone who is fighting a personal war by being a volunteer.  Thanks ahead of time!

           Daniel and his mother chose to run away rather than face the forced chemotherapy.  That is what people often do when they feel threatened or afraid; who can blame him.   His father begged for them to return in the media.  It is supposed that they were on their way to Mexico for alternative treatments; although, I dont believe that was confirmed.  Regardless they were gone and everyone was worried about them disappearing.   However, when a warrant was issued for the arrest of his mother…they chose to come back.  I am glad that the family is reunited during this difficult time.

            Today, a judge has ordered that Daniel Hauser start chemo on Thursday.  Please pray for this family and Daniel’s healing.  Not only will he need medical support but the whole family will need emotional support as they travel this journey!