A mother who lost her daughter to cancer had something to say on her blog about the depiction of childhood cancer and other cancers for that matter on television. I wanted to share her words.

Think about this:

I have just finished watching the new episode of "House." It was about a teenager who was facing a bone marrow transplant (his younger brother was to be the donor). So many things were unrealistic -- don't they consult with real doctors to get the facts? I think it was a couple of weeks ago that the episode of "Grey's Anatomy" also dealt with the topic of childhood cancer and a bone marrow transplant. It was even more unrealistic. One of the doctor's, "Izzy", ended up being the little girl's biological mother. The same day that she discovered that she was, they did a quick blood test and then harvested her bone marrow without any anesthesia and moments later they were infusing it into her daughter. Not quite the way it really works! It is quite frustrating to think that people are watching these shows and will get a false sense of reality -- and so many of us a working hard to get the word out about childhood cancer! Oh well, I am going to try to do my part to get the truth out. I am going to start working on a documentary that will share the reality of what so many families are living with.

Sabrina Weill, CEO of Weill Media and former editor-in-cheif of Seventeen, accomplished a big thing on Monday. She launched her own website. And she hopes it will inspire others to do big things.

Weill is partnering with newspapers, television shows, magazines, radio shows, and websites and is asking professionals at these media spots to add a Halo Link to stories they feature about individuals in the midst of personal crisis who represent larger social issues such as autism, child neglect, poverty, cancer, crime, and natural disasters -- and who need financial assistance as they journey through difficulty.

The Halo Link will deliver readers directly to Weill's website where they can make a difference in the lives of those who need a little boost.

Weill's motivation comes from a news story she heard about a mother who saved enough money from recycled cans to send her four children to college. Weill wanted to send this woman a check but didn't know how to locate her. The next day, a friend shared she wanted to do the same thing but was stuck. Weill and her friend wanted to help. They just didn't know how to reach out.

Weill wanted to make it easier for others to locate potential recipients of their good will. And so ProjectAngelMom.com was born.

"In the wake of recent tragedies, and with the holidays upon us, I keep hearing people say they are looking for more personal ways to make a difference," says Weill. "Even if someone only has $5.00 to give, it adds up and can make a huge impact."

I've never had a problem with crying. My tears of joy and sorrow have always flowed easily, and I have never regretted shedding any one of them. I once told a college student I mentored who was hesitant to cry over a work-related scenario that I cry all the time. She later told me my confession sticks in her mind -- my ability and willingness to cry freely, without reservation. I told her I consider crying a cleansing, therapeutic process. I told her that I always feel replenished after a good cry. And I still believe this, years and years after my encounter with this student.

I cried just a few days ago while talking to my doctor and then my mom about how cancer may prevent me from having another child, if not physically, then emotionally. I just don't know if I could peacefully experience a pregnancy with the fear of cancer recurrence. And this makes me cry. Because I want another child. But I don't think I will have one. I cried at my oncologist appointment the other day while talking about the death of a friend. I cry while reading certain books and while watching sad movies and television shows. Two nights ago, I cried while watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, about a breast cancer survivor. I cry when recalling the births of my babies and while marveling at my little growing boys. And I know I will cry when I read a journal a friend just shared with me, written by his uncle who lost a daughter to brain cancer.

Tears cleanse my soul. And sometimes, they complicate matters. They make me wonder how well I am, two years after my cancer diagnosis. I interpret my tears now more than ever, in an effort to determine how well I am coping with life in survival mode. I wonder if the tears that frequently well up in my eyes are normal or if they are indicative of the depression that prompted my oncologist to prescribe an anti-depressant. I consider that perhaps I should be better able to handle some topics, some situations, some tough experiences without becoming weepy. And I also realize that perhaps my tears are completely normal, that I could be ultra sensitive to my every emotion, that as long as I feel happy and function easily, I am just fine.

I plan to iron all this out at my next and final counseling session that I need to schedule. This closing session will allow me to wrap up two year's worth of cancer issues, to close one chapter of my life and begin another. I just need to make the appointment. Which I have yet to do. Because contemplating the end of something so healing seems so daunting. And for better or for worse, this makes me cry.

We are all adults here. I am assuming we are all adults here. If not, before you follow the link to this video, you might want to do it when the kids are not in the room. Not because there is anything they should not see, but because knowing kids the way I do, they might ask what the lady in the video is doing with the plum.

There are times when you just don't feel like being creative enough to explain innuendo in a way that prevents the school calling the next day to discuss what your child is discussing in class about daddy watching the lady with the plum video. The translation of double entendre can take interesting detours when repeated during graham crackers and milk time.

After all, as a parent, you are already explaining away the sexual innuendo of children's shows like Cow and Chicken, Dexter's Laboratory, Ed, Edd n Eddy, The Fairly OddParents, Johnny Bravo, The Ren and Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Back to the lady with the plum. It's a bit of genius if you ask me. Rachel Gets Fruity! is part of the Everyman campaign to raise awareness on the ease and simplicity of a testicular self exam. It's short, sweet and to the point. Starring pop star Rachel Stevens, the video is sexual suggestive in a soft porn kind of way. There is no nudity. It's likely to grab attention of the audience it is aimed at and effectively raise awareness. Because awareness needs to be raised.

According to a survey, only 28 percent of men check their testicles regularly for signs of testicular cancer. The Everyman campaign is attempting to change that in innovative and creative ways. Here's the Rachel Gets Fruity! video. To find out more information on the Everyman campaign and other efforts Everyman is involved in to raise awareness, go here.

In 1999, Art beCAUSE, a non-profit organization was founded by two best friends, breast cancer survivor Eleanor F. Anbinder and art gallery owner Joyce Crieger. Anbinder had been diagnosed with breast cancer and over the years of her cancer survivorship she had watched other women die from the disease.

When Anbinder was diagnosed, she did not have a family history of breast cancer. In becoming active with Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, she began to wonder what was causing the increased rates of breast cancer diagnosis.

With her best friend, Joyce Creiger owner of Creiger Dane Gallery on Newbury Street, the two decided to use a percentage of the profits from art sold in the gallery to fund research to look into the environmental causes of breast cancer. Art beCAUSE supports three organizations: The National Breast Cancer Coalition, Silent Spring and Seed the Scientist. You can visit Art beCAUSE on the web to learn more about the organization's events and activities.

Former New York City cab driver and NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Benny Parsons said in an interview that when people find out he has been diagnosed with lung cancer, the first question they ask is, "are you a smoker?" At one time, yes he did smoke, but he quit in 1978. Parsons says since quitting he grew to dislike smoking so much that he prohibits his golf buddies from smoking around him.

Parsons is a Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 winner in addition to being a NASCAR champion. Today, he works as a NASCAR television and radio commentator. He was diagnosed with lung cancer after he developed trouble breathing and went in for a checkup. He plans to keep working as an analyst on NBC and TNT's coverage of Nextel Cup racing and hosting Fast Talk with Benny Parsons on the Performance Racing Network while undergoing cancer treatments.

In 1989, Parsons won the CableACE Award for the best sports analyst on cable television in his first year in broadcasting with ESPN. In 1996, Parsons won an NASCAR Emmy for his NASCAR racing telecasts is called The Professor because of his humorous remarks and relaxed personality.

I'm not much of a camper -- vacationing in an RV is the closest I've come to camping really but I wasn't much for that so the rougher, tougher version of camping is not what I've set my sights on. But if I was a kid -- and I had cancer -- I think camping might peak my interest.