I love the terminology used by those behind the scenes at Hurricane Voices. This is where I first read the words breast cancer dancer and where individuals have gathered to advance the rebellion against breast cancer. The content on this site is powerful, edgy, and truly inspiring -- it incites public action. And it makes me want to jump up and do something -- now. To break down the barriers to progress in pursuit of the causes and cures for breast cancer -- which is the whole purpose of Hurricane Voices.

Hurricane Voices began because of one woman -- Lois Egasti, a wife and mother living with metastatic breast cancer. Lois, who passed away on April 15, 2003, knew she was not alone and felt the need to take a stand against the disease. So she put her urge into action and formed this not-for-profit organization. And in just four years, a great community of voices emerged -- voices that have helped raise support and participation in far-reaching programs and events.

Hurricane Voices offers on its website a family reading list, a regular newsletter, an empowering overview of breast cancer and its statistics, and a sampling of various myths surrounding breast cancer. Hurricane Voices provides direction for involvement in unique conferences -- such as When a Parent Has Cancer: Strengthening the School's Response which helps school systems support families affected by parental cancer and Breast Cancer: Truth & Consequences, a conference that challenges the status quo concerning breast cancer. Hurricane Voices initiates thought-provoking public awareness campaigns and strives to inform the public that the disease we call breast cancer is a very serious illness.

Every day, more people are being diagnosed. Every day, more people are dying. Yet we are not beating this disease -- in fact in the time it takes to brush our teeth or drink a cup of coffee, another person has died of breast cancer. And this is what Hurricane Voices wants us to know. This and the fact that well-meaning, misconstrued survival rates in the 90 percentiles only extend for five years. And five years is just not enough.

Powerful -- that's what Hurricane Voices is -- powerful. And each of us can contribute our own power to this organization by becoming a Hurricane Voice. So speak up -- by simply clicking here.

There is no doubt that the new cervical cancer vaccine -- Gardasil -- is revolutionary. But writer Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council, shared yesterday on the washingtonpost.com that the public should consider two cautions when digesting the news of this breakthrough medical advance. He urges us, first, to understand that the vaccine is not 100 percent effective. It is 100 percent effective for the strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) it targets -- but it leaves 30 percent of HPV strains that cause cervical cancer untouched. And it does not prevent all cases of genital warts either. So it is largely effective. But it does not completely eradicate the disease.

Sprigg also believes that parents should determine whether or not their young girls get the vaccine -- that it should not be mandatory. Mandating the vaccine might be in order if HPV was spread through blood or casual contact. But it is not -- it is spread by sexual contact. And families of young girls might best address this issue through education on behavioral issues alone, without interference from the government.

The wonder of the cervical cancer vaccine is not in question by this writer and the council he represents. But there is often a full picture that lingers behind good news and sensational headlines. And Peter Sprigg offers his take on what he believes lingers behind.

Hearing the words "You have cancer" is a traumatic experience for most adults. Having to tell your loved ones and friends that you have cancer is just as hard. Being a parent and having to tell your young child that you have cancer is one of the toughest conversations many adults face. The American Cancer Society reports that one in seven women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer during their lifetime, and roughly a quarter of them will do so while they still have children living at home. That is just one statistic of one form of cancer and there are more to consider. 

So what do you tell your young child and how much detail should you get into? Most children have seen commercials, heard conversations, experienced some form of educational material on the subject already. Should you tell the truth, hide some facts, or try to avoid letting them know all together?

Wendy Schlessel Harpham, MD wrote a book called When a Parent Has Cancer: A Guide to Caring for Your Children. In this book she states that one of the biggest mistake parents make is trying to hide the truth from their children. "Even small children will figure out that something is wrong, even if you don't tell them," she says. "Kids are observant and smart, and if you give them too little information they will try to figure it out on their own. If you don't tell them, you lose control and you are less able to guide the child through the changes in their world in healthy and hopeful ways."

Telling the truth, giving them understanding and the support they need, and educating them about your cancer may be the toughest conversations you will ever have in your life, but it will help you and your child in gaining the confidence to cope with the challenges that you both will face.

St. Jude doctors were able to transfuse a father's natural immune system killer cells to save the life of his 3-month-old infant daughter who was struggling to survive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. According to St. Jude researchers, this procedure has been successful in older children, but not so much for infants. The St. Jude researchers reported that, after 16 months, the young girl is still in remission.

“This is in marked contrast to the invariably fatal outcome we see in infants with ALL who receive a hematopoietic cell transplant after they relapse following an initial treatment,” states Wing Leung, MD, PhD, Hematology-Oncology.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital pediatric treatment and research facility has a worldwide reputation of being able to treat the most challenging cancer cases. All pediatric patients accepted are treated without regard to the family's ability to pay.

I met Nigel Gooding this morning by way of a comment he left regarding the blog post about men being twice as likely to die of cancer than women. As a man, he found the study to be a patronizing generalization that might be factually incorrect. As I am normally allergic to patronization and generalization myself, I took as second look at the study and the way the post presented the information. Because his entire comment was both fair and intelligent in the points he had to make, I emailed Nigel with my take on it, and then went for a visit to read his blog. Gooding is a 42, single, co-father of Will and Ellen, and a throat cancer survivor who blogs The Ferryman's Column. He describes his blog as, "a quirky, light hearted approach which documented my treatment, and now recovering and living with a cancer that kills one in two people that get it."

Gooding's last post is in regard to the bird flu and cancer, that starts out with "It has been a few days since I posted and no I have not been rounding up dead swans in an attempt to rid the World of bird flu." Before I read further, I knew I was going to enjoy his writing and I was going to like this person. He describes the fundraising marathon he was gearing up for and participated in, as well as his observations and thoughts about life in general. In my opinion, the single best aspect of the blogosphere is in the connections you can make, and in the people you find. Gooding may describe his blog as quirky and lighthearted -- I would add delightful, insightful, inspirational and real. The Ferryman's Column is on my short list of blogs to read now.