Adriene Hughes was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after her 44th year of living. She found her lump after participating in a 5K walk, which for some reason, caused her breast to swell. The swelling led her to the lump -- and that's how she discovered her cancer. Adriene lives in Southern California, works as a media specialist, and spends her time taking photographs, knitting, and baking cookies and breads.

I have never met Adriene, have never spoken with Adriene. But we have communicated through our on-line journals and through e-mail ever since November 2004 -- when we each received a breast cancer diagnosis that changed the course of our lives forever.

Adriene is a gem, a treasure, a true inspiration. And here are her words.

I ran on my treadmill today while listening to a song by the band Green Day. I have always liked the song -- Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) -- but I like it more at this moment in my life than ever before because it speaks about looking back on the past in light of unexpected journeys -- and because my unexpected journey with breast cancer makes me look at everything differently. And when I look back at my life one day, I want to say that I had the time of my life. And that's why I like this song. And that's why I share it here today. Because I hope that in the end, we all can look back with the crystal clear knowledge that we had the time of our lives.

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

During Hearst Magazines 30 Days of Fashion and New York Fashion Week, thirty fashion photographs showcased in the photography exhibit titled Getting Ready: The Art of Choice will be auctioned by Jamie Niven of Sotheby's to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) whose mission is devoted to research, raising awareness and finding an ovarian cancer cure.

In 1994, Sol Schreiber founded OCRF to honor the memory of his wife, Ann, who fought for five years against ovarian cancer. The late editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar Liz Tilberis is credited for her influence in gaining attention for OCRF due to her numerous contacts in the worlds of fashion, beauty, and entertainment.

The photographs that will be auctioned feature works by well-known photographers Bryan Adams, Tina Barney, Patrick Demarchelier, Jessica Todd-Harper, Karl Lagerfeld, Peter Lindbergh, Matthew Pillsbury, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Vee Speers, and Timothy White.

Celebrities for Stem Cell Research is an organization committed to funding research of all types of stem cell therapy. They promise that all profits after operating costs will be given as grants to those researchers who have proven to be making strides in stem cell research.

Anthony M. Salas writes on the website "I am one of the lucky ones who took a chance with stem cell research and won." Anthony's heart was injected with stem cells and because of this new blood vessels have grown allowing him to have a positive flow of blood to his heart. He feels that he has been given a new life because of stem cell research.

Celebrities for Stem Cell Research is opening Memories Cast in Stone by Laser Creations. This gallery will feature celebrity photographs engraved on pure black polished marble. These engravings will be produced in limited editions and available to the public in exchange for sizable donations.

Lori Raimondo set off on a cross country journey in May with the goal of raising $9,490 -- one dollar for every day that her mother battled breast cancer. And just yesterday, she reported that her trek is over, that she is back home in New York City after her amazing adventure in search of hope. I think she found the hope she was looking for because she not only met her goal -- she exceeded it. She raised a grand total of $12,610.90 while traveling 10,334 miles -- and every cent was donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation where hope for a cure just got a bit sweeter.

Lori coined her trip the Road for a Cure and what a road it was. She crossed many state borders, met charming and kind and outrageous locals, visited with friends along the way, ate at tucked-away restaurants and slept in quaint places, toured roadside stops, and while accompishing her fundraising chronicled it all through words and photographs that appear on her own personal blog. It's inspiring -- that Lori would give of her time and effort and spirit to help others. All in honor of her mother, who lost her battle with breast cancer, and in support of those currently fighting their own battles. I am truly thankful -- as a breast cancer survivor -- that the research that might one day save my life may be a result of Lori's courage and bravery and hard work and generosity.

Welcome home, Lori. And congratulations on a road well traveled.

In the majority of skin cancer cases, skin cancer develops on a part of the body most exposed to the sun. However, that is not always the case, and dermatologists suggest a regular self examination of your entire body skin surface.

To begin a self examination you will need a full-length mirror; a handheld mirror; and a private well-lit room. The full-length mirror allows you to exam the skin areas easily viewed and the handheld mirror gives you the chance to see skin areas not as easily seen, such as the back, scalp, underarms, genitalia, palms, soles, and areas between the toes and fingers. When you visit the Skin Care Physicians skin cancer self examination webpage, you will find an illustrated step-by-step guide, complete with body positions, to carry out a successful self examination.

The obvious danger signs of skin cancer are changes in the size, color, shape, or texture of birthmarks, blemishes, or moles. More specific, signs that should catch your attention are a sore that never fully heals; a translucent growth with rolled edges; brown or black streak underneath a nail; cluster of slow-growing, shiny pink or red lesions; a waxy-feeling scar; flat or slightly depressed lesion that feels hard to the touch or moles that bleed or itch. Photographs of suspicious looking skin growths and moles are also published on the skin cancer self examination webpage. To me, cancerous moles and lesions look nasty and seem easy to identify.

A final note from the experts, and another reason to perform regular self examinations -- if detected early, skin cancer is highly curable -- and the earlier skin cancer is diagnosed, the less scarring from surgical procedures when removing a cancerous growth.

New photographs of Kylie Minogue have been published on the Kylie Minogue website, showing a radiantly beautiful breast cancer survivor on her road to recovery. On a weekend break in Portofino, Italy, as a guest of fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana, her boyfriend Olivier Martinez took the first photographs -- following her chemotherapy hair loss -- that have been publicly released showing Minogue without a head scarf. As is normally the case, cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy suffer an almost complete hair loss.

According to the statement published on her website, these new photos are a way to show her fans how well she is doing. A message posted for her fans reads, "She wanted to send a big hello and all her best to the many Kylie.com regulars." I remember those days, when the energy begins to return, and the hair begins to grow back in, when you have come through the darkest time of life -- so close to death -- to reemerge renewed into the technicolor of life. Minogue looks simply stunning. Every breast cancer survivor I know has this same inner glow that radiates into the world around them.

During the last year of breast cancer treatment and recovery, Minogue had stated one of her goals was to write a children's book. She has met that goal with Showgirl Princess, set for release in September.

Heroines: Transformation in the Face of Breast Cancer, a book of photography and poetry chronicling the spiritual odyssey and transformation of women, from 33 to 73, who have faced breast cancer, and who have had the courage to define and create their own sense of reality. The photographs are breathtakingly beautiful, the poetry moving. Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, introduces acclaimed photographer and photojournalist Jila Nikpay's artistic project as a book with an essay written for women recently diagnosed with cancer.

From the author Nikpay in the book Heroines: Transformation in the Face of Breast Cancer: "The soul, obscured by ego and encased in the body, expresses itself in the most unlikely ways and in the most unexpected places. In my search for this elusive human quality, I have crossed the land of health into the land of illness to meet with those who have experienced breast cancer. My subjects have realized beyond this hinterland of suffering, lies a body of water in which the spirit caresses their soul and heals their wounds. Caught between the profane and divine realities, my subjects have faced their own mortality, mourned the loss of their breast and moved into the land of grace."

You can order this book from the Heroines: Transformation in the Face of Breast Cancer website. Pages of the book are featured on the website as well. As a breast cancer survivor, I highly recommend this inspirational and spiritually soothing work of art in book form, as a gift to yourself as a breast cancer survivor or as a gift for a woman in your life who is facing life with breast cancer.