The following post is one of a series of posts appearing Monday through Friday on The Cancer Blog. This feature -- Today, I am grateful -- allows me to share with readers my appreciation for all the treasures in my life, both big and small. It's healing for the soul to be mindful of the good in our lives. It is my pleasure to share my gratitude with you.

Both of my little boys are in school now. Joey is in first grade. Danny is in Pre-K. And I am at home -- all alone, for four and a half hours, five days per week, in total and complete silence. I get to exercise, read, write, fold my laundry, wash my dishes, run errands, whatever my little heart desires.

It's been six whole years since I've been able to go to the bathroom by myself, take a shower without the distant sounds of fighting and tormenting in the background, and eat lunch with slow, purposeful bites. After all these years as a full-time mom, my new-found free time is glorious.

Today, I am grateful for the stillness and silence that fills my house when my little wonders are at school.

Cancer sent me into a state of depression. And it took more than a year of counseling and treatment with an anti-depressant to bring me back to a balanced and healthy level of functioning.

My type of depression -- the kind that shows up just after a cancer diagnosis -- is not uncommon. And neither is the spillover that depression can leave on the children of moms depressed because of their disease.

A study at the University of Pittsburgh -- the first to examine the relationship between children's concerns and a mother's cancer-related depression -- found children of depressed breast cancer patients were more likely to be concerned or anxious about their mother's cancer and about how the disease affects their families.

It's not surprising that kids worry about their moms during times of illness. What startled researchers, though, is the fact that children's' anxieties extended to concerns about the entire family.

The results of this study, funded by the National Cancer Institute, has clear implications. As a society, we need to think about how depression affects whole family units. Oncologists must learn to spot depression early and must swiftly assist women in finding appropriate treatment. And parents should talk openly about cancer and it's emotional side effects with their children in an effort to protect them from withdrawing, hiding their concerns, and suffering in silence.

Most estimates indicate nearly one quarter of women diagnosed with breast cancer have young children. And about 100,000 kids will be affected by a cancer diagnosis this year alone.

Menopause naturally happens in a woman's life some time between the age of 45 to 55. In the case of chemo-induced menopause, there is no traditional timeline. For younger women, menopause brought on by chemotherapy can be a temporary phase or permanent transition. For women already nearing the age when menopause might start to occur, chemotherapy can push them into it a few years early. But -- however a woman reaches the menopause phase of life -- the experience of menopause is universally the same. Knowing this, Jeanie Linders, a writer, produced the first Menopause The Musical in 2001. According to information provided on the show website, "Since its first performance, the show has evolved as a grassroots movement of women who deal with life after 40 and all the challenges that result in the mental, physical and spiritual freedom of over 38 million baby boomer females." According to the audience, it is hilarious!

Janet Rigdon wanted to see the musical, but it wasn't going to be touring anywhere near where she lived, so she emailed Linders to ask if the show could make a stop in her town. That's the beauty of email -- you can do that sort of thing. Rigdon told Linders she was an ovarian cancer survivor who felt the musical was something women cancer survivors like her and her support group of women friends could relate to when she said, “I told her we could go to dinner and then play, and take our minds off cancer for one night. We want to laugh too.”

After getting to know Rigdon through email conversations, Linders decided to use the show to raise awareness and research funds for ovarian cancer. Through the musical's Women Foundation, a national ovarian cancer campaign was launched under the banner Menopause the Musical Out Loud: Breaking the Silence of Ovarian Cancer. Rigdon and her friends got to see the show, and through the wonder of web email, a new campaign for cancer was launched -- in the form of a laugh out loud musical.

Thanks to Sue of My Menopause Blog for the introduction to a musical about menopause! Who knew.